Wedding Rings

Anne Marie and Rob are going to be married on May 23rd. They commissioned me to make their wedding bands (an honor that I will not soon forget) and I decided to take some pictures of the process.

I started out with half round wire for the rings, 6ga for Robs, and 10ga for Anne Marie's. I cut a length that gives me a little play room in case I mess up with the stamping...which did happen on Anne Marie's (10ga is tiny to stamp on, especially wobbly half round wire).

For stamping and general manipulation of the metal, it needed to be annealed first. This process makes the silver molecules loose so that they will take a stamping much easier than if this step is skipped. I actually had to anneal these rings many more times throughout the process.

I stamped on a hockey puck (from my nephews bar mitzvah...don't tell him!) so I didn't mar the outside of the wire too much. The wire gets a little funky when you stamp it. This looks awful, but no worries, it all works out in the end.

After I got the insides of the rings stamped with the inscriptions, I use my ring mandrel to eyeball the length of wire I need for the size of ring I want, and saw it away. Then I formed the bands around the mandrel to get them sort of roundish so that I can solder them closed.

I shape the bands as much as I can turning the cut ends in to form somewhat of a straight edge to get ready to solder. The 10ga was easy, but the 6ga definitely needed some more annealing. I couldn't even move it anymore from the position it is in the photo above, even with leverage! So annealing I go again...

After the soldering, there are some solder spots/pools left on the metal, I have to file that off, inside and out. I also filed into the edges on the inside, making the rings very smooth, and comfortable for always and forever wear.

Here is my fancy ring mandrel, isn't she pretty? I use a rawhide hammer to make the ring a circle and then to size the ring, hammering the ring down, turning the mandrel all the time until it is at the correct size I desire.

Now it's time to sand, sand, sand...and then polish. My mandrel has sizing grooves that leave little marks on the inside of the rings, not to mention all the other accidental tool marks from the forming. I start with #80 sanding paper, and work my way down to #30 finishing paper. In sandpaper terms, that might be 320 grit to 600 grit.


It's a lot of work sanding the inside and outside by hand, but the results are wonderful. When the finish is desired, it's time to polish. I am using tripoli to polish these rings to a mirror shine, inside and out.



Here they are finished.


These were really fun to make, I hope to be asked again!

Photo Tutorial :: Piercing Framed designs

Recently I went into production mode making some pendants, and I thought I would document the steps.

I am making some pierced square framed pendants in different designs, I hope you enjoy the process.

First, I cut sections of 20 gauge sterling silver sheet into the finished size I desire. Here I am making 5/8" square shapes, so that is what size I saw out of the sheet.

File and sand all the edges and make the corners rounded and smooth.

Then I use dividers to locate the area that I will not touch. This is the square part that frames the design. The dividers are set to 1/8" for a nice border. The center design will ultimately be 3/8" square.

With the outline in place, it is time to scratch in a design making sure that each side has areas that touch the square, this way the center will be very secure and there is no fear of over cutting or weakness.

With my designs scratched into the square, I make divots in the metal where I need to drill holes to insert the saw blade. Making those little divots is very important because if you don't, the drill will just skate across the metal and leave you with a whole lot of sanding and filing to get the scratch marks out.

Now insert the blade into one of the drill holes and start sawing out the design, being careful not to cut through the sections that will hold the inner design inside the frame of metal.

Once you have all your designs cut out, sand the surface and use needle files to clean up the inside cuts.

This picture has some 1" pendants in this photo, too. But the 5/8" pendants are what we are making right now.

After you have cleaned up the pendants with needle files and sandpaper, it is time to solder on some sort of bail. Here I have soldered on a simple oval jumpring bail right on the backside so it is not visible from the front.

After pickling in a mild acid solution to get rid of the firescale and oxidation that soldering produces, the pendants get sanded once again and then have a time in the tumbler to harden and shine up.
Here they are finished.

And here are some of them complete with chains and ready to wear.

I hope you enjoyed!

Flower Pendants Start to Finish

I am in production mode, as you can see. I am getting ready for the Boston Handmade Marketplace show in Somerville.

I thought I would take some pictures of the process of piercing. Everyone likes start to finishes, right? These are freehand flowers as you can see from the first photo, I only drew an outline for where I want the stamens, the rest was left to chance.

First I make a divot where I am going to drill. I have also drilled out a hole for the bale. The first pendant does not have the petal holes drilled yet.

Then I use the smallest drill bit I have to drill the holes out.

I thread the saw blade through the hole and start piercing out the petal.

I keep removing the blade and re-inserting it into the next petal hole and pierce out the whole flower this way.

Then I get into the petals with needle files and smooth out all the edges and then sand them until all the tool marks are out and they are nice.

I coiled up some 14gauge 1/2 round wire on a 4.5mm mandrel and cut them just like jumprings with my jumpring cutter, and then soldered them closed in the holes I drilled out earlier.


Now I only have to string them onto a chain or cord.
I think I got pretty good at making them. I can see the progress if I really study the photos of them all together. I'll definitely be making more of these.

Riveting tutorial

With these basic techniques you can make any layered design.
I chose a simple 4 petal design. I used 18ga sterling silver sheet, 20ga copper sheet and copper wire 1/16"thick (I don't know what gauge it is).

First, draw a design on your silver sheet then drill a hole somewhere in the design that looks good to insert the saw blade. Pierce out your design. Saw any extra silver away.




Clean up the surface of your pierced design and file and sand the edges making sure to round the corners slightly (if there are corners).
Decide where you would like your rivets, and using a spring loaded punch or an awl with a hammer, make small indents where you are going to drill. This step is crucial because the drill bit will just skate across the metal if there is no guide for it.



Drill out all the holes in the top piece, and only one hole in the bottom piece.



Using wire that is the exact same size in diameter to the hole you drilled, cut the rivets to a length that will only allow a small amount to poke out each side of the rivet. If you have too much wire coming out the top and bottom, you will have a sloppy rivet that will most likely distort your design.



Clean up both ends of the wire rivet. I accomplish this by grasping the rivet in my flat nose pliers and rubbing the cut end on sandpaper.

Insert the wire rivet into the drilled holes of both top and bottom. Use the business end of your riveting hammer to gently make a bunch of cross hatched notches in the top (or a star pattern will work). Be careful, you don't want to mar the surface of your design, you only want to stretch the rivet out. Turn the piece over and do the same to the back of the rivet. You will still see a small bit of length on either side. Now turn the hammer over to the square flat side and hammer gently to flatten the metal, turning the piece over a couple of times to keep it even.



Now drill out the other hole. If your design had more than one rivet left to do, you could drill out the rest now. That first rivet is tight enough to hold it together. We waited until the first rivet was done so we could be assured of nicely lined up drilled holes. The rivet wire is exactly the same size as the hole, so any variance would make it impossible to insert the wire had it shifted.



Perfect hole for riveting.



Rivet the next holes the same way as the first.



Now finish sawing out your design then file and sand the edges. Sand the face to remove a bit more material to make it flush. I do this by turning the piece upside down on a piece of sandpaper 240 grit, then 320 grit, and so on until I reach the finish I desire, always sanding in the same direction.

Now you can either solder a bail onto the pendant, or since we are doing a cold connection, just drill a hole for a jumpring.



Hope you enjoyed.

Make your own Headpins

Headpins are a necessary supply for jewelry designers of all skill levels. With the rising cost of silver, they have become quite expensive. So why not make your own? It is easy, doesn't require too much equipment and they are a fraction of the cost of buying them. All you need is wire cutters, a small torch such as a butane creme brulee torch, a heat resistant surface, a glass jar or crockpot with a mild acid (warmed vinegar mixed with salt works well), and a pair of tweezers. Always wear eye protection and work in a nicely ventilated area.

Try them, you may never buy headpins again.

I am using 24 gauge sterling silver wire, but this method will work with any smaller gauge wire you want to use.
First, get yourself some wire and cut a bunch of lengths.






Hold the small piece of wire in a pair of tweezers just outside the blue cone and slightly above the flame until it balls up. You can adjust the size of the ball by how long you let the silver melt. Be careful though, the ball can easily fall off creating a splash which is dangerous. So hold the wire very close to the heat resistant surface.



The wire is so thin, that it is unnecessary to quench, they cool off very quickly, I just lay them out until I have a whole bunch.


Now scoop them all up and toss them in the mild acid bath. I use a crock pot so I don't have to keep warming the solution when I am working for a long time. A plastic container submerged in the pot with holes drilled in makes for easier removal.
Keep them in until they are all cleaned. Usually just a few minutes.



Rinse them off and voila! Headpins!

You can now sand them and polish them, or just leave them like this.
I tend to like the more organic look so I just tumble them for a little bit for strength.
They look like tiny little silver pearls at the end of the wire.