Tag Archives: flower ring

nicilaskin 10:31 pm on July 26, 2015
Tags: , , flower ring, , , , , , , , ,   

Sterling Silver Flower Pendant with Black Onyx

This sterling silver flower necklace was sawed and constructed entirely by hand from 18 gauge sterling silver and features a genuine black onyx stone in the center to complete the botanical statement.

Embodying the organic flow and rhythm of a flower shape, the outer pedals were sawed as one continuous shape from the flat sheet of sterling silver and dapped and domed on a shaping block to capture a realistic three dimensional form. The inner whorls or pedal structure was also sawed by hand, domed, and then soldered to the outer pedals using a hydroflux welder before setting the onyx cup. Adding intrigue, a subtle patina was brushed onto the flower to produce highlights with natural iridescence that brings out shades of grey blue, grey black, and dark silver depending on the viewing angle. The last step is setting the 8 mm genuine black onyx stone in the cup and hanging the flower pendant onto a genuine black greek leather cord to complete this necklace.

[shopify product=http://metalopiajewelry.com/products/sterling-silver-flower-pendant-with-black-onyx]

nicilaskin 1:25 am on January 31, 2015
Tags: , , flower jewelry, flower ring, , , , , , , , , ,   

my project for the day

project for the day

project for the day
flower ring with ruby – time to completion 1 hour 30 minutes made entirely by hand 🙂

drew some flowers

drew some flowers

cut out with saw

cut out with saw

formed the flowers

formed the flowers

cut out a piece from flat wire and bend it to make the ring shank

cut out a piece from flat wire and bend it to make the ring shank

joining the ends together

joining the ends together

adding solder to the flowers so they can be joined

adding solder to the flowers so they can be joined

this is after soldering and welding everything together

this is after soldering and welding everything together

cleaned it up and added a bit of patina

cleaned it up and added a bit of patina

added the stone

added the stone

I love metal 🙂

I love metal :)
nicilaskin 11:17 pm on July 26, 2014
Tags: , , flower ring, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

finally got to make another tutorial – it has been a while

fun with metal – how to make a flower ring

fun with metal - how to make a flower ring
You can always look into your community college ( USA) and most of them have beginners and medium metal/silversmithing courses that are not too expensive

I start out with 18 gauge sterling silver

I start out with 18 gauge sterling silver
18 gauge is 1 mm thick . I prefer that thickness as the flowers do not bend but are not too heavy either draw a circle ( use a template – its easier )

inside the circle I drew a flower

inside the circle I drew a flower

using a jewelers saw and 1/0 blades for cutting out the flower

using a jewelers saw and 1/0 blades for cutting out the flower

cut out flower

cut out flower

I want to dome mine so I am using a dabbing block

I want to dome mine so I am using a dabbing block
mine is a square block with 30 domed indentations and corresponding hammers – put your flower in a ” bowl ” and take the “hammer with the ball that fits ” using a nylon hammer to pound on the end of that hammer if you do not have a dabbing block you can go with 20 gauge sterling which is thinner and bend your pedals with a pliers

file your edges smooth

file your edges smooth

take any wire you have

take any wire you have
I used twisted wire for the ring shank – twisted wire is easy to do or you can also buy it at riogrande or thunderirdsupply.com

cut the wire to length – file edges flat

cut the wire to length - file edges flat

take a needle nose pliers

take a needle nose pliers

bend your ring shank until edges meet

bend your ring shank until edges meet
try to get the ends as close as you can together

domed flower

domed flower

flux your ring

flux your ring
I prefer paste flux add some solder and…

….start heating with a torch

....start heating with a torch
heat until the solder flows , quench in water and clean in pickle solution

soldered ring shank

soldered ring shank

now comes the forming

now comes the forming
using a ring mandrel and a nylon hammer , shape you ring shank until its round

I prefer my rings to be flat and not round

I prefer my rings to be flat and not round
so I used a planishing hammer for flatten the ring

rounded ring shank

rounded ring shank

take some metal scrap – flux and then heat with torch

take some metal scrap - flux and then heat with torch
this is to make the little ball in the middle

heat the sterling until it forms a ball

heat the sterling until it forms a ball
here its red hot metal

turn your flower upsdide down and flux both ring shank and flower

turn your flower upsdide down and flux both ring shank and flower
heat with torch and solder together

flip again

flip again

flux the inside of your flower and add a small piece of solder

flux the inside of your flower and add a small piece of solder
heat again until solder flows – add your ball of molten sterling and again flux and heat

this is after everything is soldered together

this is after everything is soldered together

clean in pickle solution to get rid of oxidation ( blackness )

clean in pickle solution to get rid of oxidation ( blackness )

after the pickle bath

after the pickle bath
start polishing ( sand paper , steel wool )

finished

finished

I added the smaller ring to the slightly larger one I already had

I added the smaller ring to the slightly larger one I already had
hope you liked it

www.niciart.com   in case you want to see more of what I make

nicilaskin 3:20 am on April 24, 2014
Tags: , , flower ring, , , , , , , , , , ,   

flower ring from scratch

fun with metal – how to make a flower ring

You can always look into your community college ( USA) and most of them have beginners and medium metal/silversmithing courses that are not too expensive

I start out with 18 gauge sterling silver

18 gauge is 1 mm thick . I prefer that thickness as the flowers do not bend but are not too heavy either draw a circle ( use a template – its easier )

inside the circle I drew a flower

using a jewelers saw and 1/0 blades for cutting out the flower

cut out flower

I want to dome mine so I am using a dabbing block

mine is a square block with 30 domed indentations and corresponding hammers – put your flower in a ” bowl ” and take the “hammer with the ball that fits ” using a nylon hammer to pound on the end of that hammer if you do not have a dabbing block you can go with 20 gauge sterling which is thinner and bend your pedals with a pliers

domed flower

file your edges smooth

take any wire you have

I used twisted wire for the ring shank – twisted wire is easy to do or you can also buy it at riogrande or thunderirdsupply.com

cut the wire to length – file edges flat

take a needle nose pliers

bend your ring shank until edges meet

try to get the ends as close as you can together

flux your ring

I prefer paste flux add some solder and…

….start heating with a torch

heat until the solder flows , quench in water and clean in pickle solution

soldered ring shank

now comes the forming

using a ring mandrel and a nylon hammer , shape you ring shank until its round

I prefer my rings to be flat and not round

so I used a planishing hammer for flatten the ring

rounded ring shank

take some metal scrap – flux and then heat with torch

this is to make the little ball in the middle

heat the sterling until it forms a ball

here its red hot metal

turn your flower upsdide down and flux both ring shank and flower

heat with torch and solder together

flip again

flux the inside of your flower and add a small piece of solder

heat again until solder flows – add your ball of molten sterling and again flux and heat

this is after everything is soldered together

clean in pickle solution to get rid of oxidation ( blackness )

after the pickle bath

start polishing ( sand paper , steel wool )

finished

I added the smaller ring to the slightly larger one I already had

hope you liked it , please have a look around , comment and maybe even visit my shop at
www.nicilaskin.etsy.com  , thank you 🙂
nicilaskin 4:53 pm on January 25, 2014
Tags: , , flower ring, , , , , , , , , , , ,   

flower ring with blue topaz

flower ring ring3 ring ring5 ring2

I love flowers , all kind of flowers and I was thinking a ring would go nicely with that butterfly garden bracelet

Again its made from sterling silver sheet and a piece of 5mm x 1.25 mm sterling silver wire cut to length to make the ring shank. I like using flat wire stock and 1.25 mm is a nice thickness for making rings . This time i took some pictures of the process so you can see how much work is involved in it . However since I have been doing this for a while a ring like that only takes me about 1 hour .

I cut the flower out of 20 gauge sterling silver sheet and measured the wire out to 53 mm which gives me a ring size of 5 1/2 when done ( my right ring finger is a 5 1/2 my left is a 4 1/2 , yes my fingers are tiny ) the wire was bend with my pliers so that the ends meet flush and then soldered with silver solder ” easy” , You have to clean the shank before soldering the flower to it and form it so i put it into a pickle bath ( please wear gloves that stuff is very bad on your skin ) after the bath you form the ring on a ring mandrel with a nylon hammer so as to leave no marks . I chased some lines into my flower with some chasing tools , then used the dabbing block again to shape a dome , my trusted pliers took care of the rest ( bending the pedal ends down wards – use a soft pliers for the bending or it will mark the metal ) for the middle of the flower I decided to set a stone and because I am inherently LAZY i used a so called bezel cup that you can buy at any jewelry supply store > I could have made my own but again i am lazy and I wanted to be fast :)

The flower was soldered onto the ring and the cup soldered onto the the flower using ” extra easy ” wire solder . Quench in cold water and put into the pickle solution again

My husband always laughs when i say pickle solution . I am German , born and raised in Leipzig , East Germany and pickle in German means pimple . He finds that funny…………….and we will leave it at that :)

after you get the oxidation off with the pickle you need to polish the ring before setting the stone , I am using a blue Topaz from Switzerland, Polishing something that small is best done with the flex shaft so that you get in every corner . Apply patina , polish again and set the stone , carefully pushing the teeth of the cup over the stone . Polish by hand with a polishing cloth and voila

 

A ring :)

 

process of making the flower ring a2 a3 a4 a5 a7 a8 a9 a10 a11 a12 a13 a14 a15 a16 a17 a18