Badges? We don't need no stinkin badges!

Well... they're not exactly badges but they are inspired by the old Sherrif badges of days gone by....

I ran out of bezel wire not too long ago but I still have some Silver and Copper sheets so I decided to try my hand at Piercing... a funny name for cutting patterns in Silver with a jewelers saw....

Here's a few shots of the process I used to make the badge pendants...

First thing is to cut out the pattern.... I used some wood (white) glue to afix the pattern to the Silver (not pictured) and then drilled holes to start the inside cuts.

The blades I'm using are so small that you can't see the teeth! Have to use my fingers to feel the direction of the teeth in order to set the blade properly in the saw frame...



Next thing is to dome the piece using a nylon hammer and a machined part I picked up at the office (top of pic). One of our vendors gives those things to our engineers to promote the product so they are all over the place here at the office. The hole in the center didn't cause any problems or marks...



After the piece is domed... I use a Dremel tool to give it some texture... I'm just using the cutting bit that came with the Demel...



Next... I beat the tar out of a flat piece of Silver with a hammer for the backing.. I use the small end of a Chasing hammer now instead of the one pictured here...



After all the cutting and hammering is done I solder the dome to the backplate... then a quick dip in the Pickle solution... Once all the firescale and flux is removed by the pickle it's ready for patina... I use Liver of Sulfer to give it a nice dark patina. Then I sand the high spots and the dome face using some finishing sand paper I picked up from Home Depot... it's wet sanding paper used for final sanding paint jobs on automobiles.

Here's a few that I've completed so far:

Thunderbird


Kokopelli




Texans Logo




Thanks for lookin!
Dan