Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Aug 19, 2005 14:39:29 GMT -5
Well after a few HECTIC weeks, I finally have a moment to myself to share a few photos of what I did while at my silversmithing class at William Holland Lapidary School. I was quite lucky to have a teacher named Bill Cady. He's very gifted and I learned so much that my brain hurt! Here's what I finished while I was there...I have others that I started, but won't photo them till they're finished. I've ordered more supplies and materials and am still setting up a silversmithing area. Managed to get some great buys at their tailgate party. Anyway...here's the photos.... The last piece I made while in class using my first free-form cab that I shaped and polished. I windowed the back to show off the stone a bit better.  The back  This was relatively expensive to make...but was really a good lesson on twisting, hammering, shaping, cutting and soldering silver.    This isn't the best stone to set... It's tigers eye...but I wanted a small cab and couldn't find another stone that size...so I stuck with this one.  The shank on this ring is REALLY cool! I felt like such a jewelry designer when we did it!  I still have LOTS to learn about photographing jewelry. The light bounces EVERYWHERE! |
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Post by Alice on Aug 19, 2005 15:09:48 GMT -5
fantastic job Emerald.
I love them all!
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Post by Cher on Aug 19, 2005 15:11:44 GMT -5
Wow, very nice job.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 19, 2005 15:12:26 GMT -5
Wow! Really pretty settings for your stones. I've got to take one of those classes sometime!
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phoenix1647
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
Posts: 186
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Post by phoenix1647 on Aug 19, 2005 16:49:48 GMT -5
way kewl....great job....
The wife just said a person could get a little jealous about that....
Pho
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Post by Tweetiepy on Aug 19, 2005 17:23:05 GMT -5
OOOOOOOOOO i like very much. You're fantastic at this
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Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 19, 2005 17:23:19 GMT -5
Incredible job, Helen. You got that down cold!
cookie
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pekesmoke
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2005
Posts: 145
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Post by pekesmoke on Aug 19, 2005 18:50:58 GMT -5
Wonderful work ! now WHY did you have to show me this !!!!!  something else to get enthused about and MORE supplies to buy ! <G> very nice,,,,,, guess I will have to look locally for classes or at least someone doing this type of work to watch ..... |
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Post by docone31 on Aug 19, 2005 19:07:08 GMT -5
The big trick is to not flood with solder. That is one of the first things I look for. You had good control of the solder. The entire set of pieces really came out well.
I will give you some advise hard learned from experience. Use only Hard solder! If you ever get to the level I found myself at, you will know why. Hard solder also matches the colour of sterling after it has been worn. Even hand making the shank like you did, the setting bottom of the plate looks great.
Good job.
Another trick. Before pushing the bezel down, anneal the entire piece. Get a stainless steel fork. Cut off one of the outside tines. Get an handle for a graver, drill an hole into the base, and drive the large end of the tine into the graver handle. On a leather wheel, polish the tip of the tine. You now have a micro bezel pusher. Stainless steel won't scratch most stones.
Good job.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Aug 19, 2005 19:12:41 GMT -5
oh i hate i didn't get to take this class with you. maybe next time. you did a wonderful job on your pieces. i kept watching on saturday for you to post as i was so wanting to know before i left what you thought. were you as mesmerized with all the different classes especially wire as i was?
kim
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 19, 2005 19:19:02 GMT -5
wow, Em, you did a fantastic job there!! there must be some fantastic teacher there also...
hey Doc, good tip on the micro pusher.....i SO wish you could do pictures, they'd feature this stuff in Lapidary Journal so us textually challenged persons could SEE.
KD
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Aug 19, 2005 22:02:27 GMT -5
Ahh thanks all!
I have to say...I had a TERRIFIC teacher!
The projects he selected for us to do were ALL well thought out and gave us enough skill with manipulating the silver to get a bit creative!
I have found that all teachers are not created alike. There was another silversmithing class going on and the differences between teachers was amazing!
I learned a few IMPORTANT things...
Doc...you're right on about Hard Solder! It's not as difficult to work with as I thought it would be. Trick was not to focus the heat on the bezel or other thin areas...preheat the silver and then "pull" the solder to where you wanted it to flow. So size and placement of the pallion and heat is hugely important!
ALSO: If you need to heighten a stone... cut a piece of plastic from the lid of a margarine tub and use that as a spacer. The plastic will not deteriorate over time and loosen. Other teachers talked about using cardboard and to me...that's a no-no.
So much to share with you. Silver is an amazing material.
About which to use..hard/medium/easy
I used hard on the shanks
Bezel hard
Bezel to the backing plate - Medium
Hard on the twist wire
Medium to fuse it to the bezel
Easy to bond the bezel to the shank I betcha I could have gotten away with using hard all the way through. Honestly it's a toss up as to their initial differences. (Paste flux works well for me)
I had some pallions that didn't melt on the first and even 2nd go around. Since we were using class materials...I noted they were kinda dark and dingy. I think I wouldn't have had as much trouble with doing the Graveyard Plume Pendant if I had clean solder. (it took me about 3 times to seal the bezel to the backing material.) So...I think I'm going to be sure to pickle the solder if I have any problems with it. I would have loved to have done that in class...but alas, I didn't have a coffee filter handy.
I do have to tell you all a story about a gal I met there that was making wedding rings for herself and her fiance. We were in different classes and her teacher had her use easy on a solid 1/2 round ring. The seam was invisible...only for a few hours...then...you saw a black line. Buff it out...but it comes right back up in a short while. On plain bands or a joint that shows I really think you HAVE to use hard. It would have been invisible. Such a shame. The rings were beautiful too! I suggested she cut them out and resolder with hard. Then resize the ring on a mandrel. Not sure if the silver will stretch that far...but the black line looks sooo bad! I wonder if it might have been not enough flux, dirty solder or the fact that she used easy solder.
I will have more to show...but all in good time.
Thanks for your support guys..it was a fun week! repeat...I was so lucky to have such a terrific teacher.
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Post by docone31 on Aug 19, 2005 22:34:44 GMT -5
Emerald, Hard solder is much easier to use than Easy. The melt point is only a few degrees. The advantage, except for the blackening, is that if you need to repair, or touch up the piece, reheating will not "pull" the solder into the joint like it will with easy. Also, I use business card stock for setting the stone. I have found, plastic makes the stone push out from the bezel during time wearing. Also, an ultrasonic cleaner will make it expand, pushing the stone out.
I do not pickle during the fabrication. I use Rio self pickling flux. It is like Batterns but I found it easier to use, especially on large projects.
You did real good.
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Post by creativeminded on Aug 22, 2005 9:12:14 GMT -5
You are doing a great job in your class, sigh I wish I could get into another class like that.
Tami
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 22, 2005 12:31:09 GMT -5
Wonderful!
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Rose
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2004
Posts: 875
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Post by Rose on Aug 22, 2005 12:49:58 GMT -5
Beautiful Emerald, I love the first pic  Your very talented |
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Aug 22, 2005 14:41:09 GMT -5
Fantastic work. I'm going to have to take some classes on silver smithing too one of these days. I'm learning how to cut opal and naturally I'll have to learn how to make settings for my cut stones.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 22, 2005 14:52:27 GMT -5
James tell us more about the opal!
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Aug 23, 2005 3:09:33 GMT -5
Well, I can't say much now, because I haven't got my cabbing machine yet. I have rough opal and plenty of ambition though.  Of course, I'll need to make my own settings too, so it might be awhile...  |
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 23, 2005 9:37:58 GMT -5
Tease!!! I just worked a bit of precious boulder opal- Incredible stuff! but soft- oh and the ironstone is messy messy messy!
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Your very talented 
Of course, I'll need to make my own settings too, so it might be awhile... 
