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A newbies journey into the jewellery world- finishing touches!
Finishing Touches!
So after six weeks of doing my silversmithing course I seem to have a lot of projects on the go, I have bangles, pendants and silver domes all waiting for their finishing touches if they are ever going to make Christmas presents. Thankfully this week we learnt a few different techniques which once perfected will mean that I’ll actually have a few finished projects!
Granulation
I wanted to fill the domes I had made last week with small silver balls to make them into a more unusual pair of earrings. I was really surprised at how easy this was to do, by far the easiest thing I’ve done to date! I simply cut small, even amounts of silver wire and placed them on a supabloc, then using the gas torch I heated until they began to melt, once melted they spring in to a ball shape. I then removed the heat, quenched and pickled. In total I made 6 balls, 3 for each earring. This method is called granulation, something I will definitely be doing again!
Next was the task of soldering them in to the dome. Using a paint brush I spread flux in the bottom of the dome and then heated until it bubbled. I then placed 3 of the balls in to the dome and put tiny bits of hard solder around the balls (I used hard as I would be soldering this piece again to make earrings.) I heated the piece carefully, keeping an eye on the balls, until the solder melted. This was definitely the more difficult part of the project as the balls tended to move slightly with the torch blowing them, eventually I cracked it though and they were ready to be made in to earrings.
Adding earring posts
Next we learnt how to solder on an ear post, something I was a little wary about considering the size of the post! Once again our tutor made the process look simple and I was ready and raring to have a go at soldering my ear posts onto the domes. Firstly I picked up the ear post using reverse action tweezers to grip it tightly and dipped it into flux, I then picked up a tiny pallion of easy solder (as I had used hard already to solder the silver balls to the domes) using the ear post, the wet flux meant that the solder stuck easily to the post.
Using a gas torch I then heated the post until the solder melted onto the post (the first time I attempted this it hadn’t quite melted which meant the rest of the process didn’t work!) Next I placed the dome upside down on the supabloc and pushed it in to give the balls an extra bit of protection from heat so as not to break the solder. I then brushed flux over it as I would when soldering a joint. After heating the flux until it bubbled I then heated the entire dome, ensuring that the heat kept even across the dome. I was holding the ear post in the tweezers nearby at this time (I think I’m becoming ambidextrous!) Once the dome had heated to the correct temperature I lowered the post on to the dome and carried on heating until the solder flowed, then removed the heat, quenched and pickled.
I was told that it is always important to heat the largest area when soldering two objects together such as this so that the smaller piece doesn’t melt or change shape. In hindsight, looking at the first ear post I soldered on I left the heat on a little too long after the solder had melted and so the post had started to melt, meaning that the post is now very thin near the joint. This however can be corrected by heating the post and removing it and then doing the process again with the new post….practice makes perfect I guess! One of the balls inside the dome had also started to move for the same reason, this too could be corrected easily.
To finish these off I brought some Liver of Sulphur. I mixed a little of it with water which produced a foul eggy smell! Then using a paintbrush I carefully painted the inside of the dome (whilst holding my nose!)being careful to stay away from the balls as much as I could. The liver of sulphur began to oxidise the metal turning it darker, I continued to layer it on until it had gone to the colour I wanted. I then rinsed the earrings under water and dried them off. Using polishing papers on a flat surface I then rubbed the edges of the domes and the balls to bring them up to a high shine silver to create a contrast. And after popping them in a presentation box that was one piece done and dusted!
Although this week was a little more challenging I feel confident that I now know the methods for the future. Next week I’ll be attempting to create a toggle clasp so I can finish the link bracelet I started in weeks 3 and 4.
To see our newbies previous posts on making pendants and doming, please click here.
17th November 2010