the prongs get pushed with a bezel pusher over the stone
finished ring with the bangle I made too
well actually I made the bangle first a couple of days ago , but I wanted a ring too hope you like it
Flower Ring with Amber
Tag Archives: handmade jewelry
Dainty bird necklace by Nici Laskin
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guitar bypass ring
made this today – gold bypass ring in shape of a guitar
I started with a mock up in bronze ( much cheaper )
20 gauge ( 0.8mm thick ) is what I use i bronze or gold as I have a hard time bending things by hand with those 2 metals 18 gauge ( 1mm thick ) I use for copper and sterling silver as both metals are softer and not as springy
I drew the shape out on a piece of label paper
make it 3 inches long as you have to “bypass ” the ends and anything shorter will look odd label paper is sticky on one side so its perfect to transfer shapes to metal for the cut outs
my trusted jewelers saw
I like to use a 6 inch saw frame ( distance from blade to the back of the frame) and 1/0 saw blades – they are very fine and will move well around the corners
cut out shape
I have several hole punch pliers with different punch out sizes – this one is a 3mm – you need a bit of strength to punch so I tend to sit on the end to make it punch though
added some texture
hardened steel punches and chasing tools will last you forever
number 2 file
I filed all edges to make the ring nice and smooth for comfort
foming the ring
I start out with bending the ring around the mandrel with my fingers and then pound it in shape with a non-marring nylon hammer , the head of the hammer has sand in it which gives you a bit more umpf you will work harden the metal when you hammer so it will hold its shape nicely
formed ring
cleaning up the inside with a flex shaft
its basically a dremel with a flexible hose the outside I polished with sandpaper first , starting with a 400 grit and then going finer and finer all the way to a 2000 grit and then ultrafine
finished
rocking 🙂
Silver cross and blue Topaz necklace
Just playing around with metal
I started out with some sketches
I always use scratch paper for the initial sketches and when i like the design I will trace the design onto a piece of label paper . label paper has already ” glue ” added to one side soI do not need to glue my design to sheet metal ( rubber cement works the best if you do not have label paper ) I always end up with a sticky mess if I use the glue
I cut out my design and stick it to the sheet metal
in this case the base cross ( or bottom cross ) which is larger was stuck to 18 gauge sterling silver sheet metal ( 1mm hick ) and the smaller ( top cross ) was transfered to a 20 gauge sterling silver sheet ( 0.8mm) Rember in terms of metal the higher the number of the gauge the thinner he metal is
I cut out the crosses wih my hand saw
Its a jewelers saw with very very thin blades , the blades I use are he 1/0 When you saw out a piece you need to remember to never ” push ” the saw into he metal . let the saw do the work….Luke….be the saw….. Lock your wrist and move your saw up and down from the elbow ,never from he wrist and keep your saw in place – move the metal you are sawing instead ( maybe I should do an instrucional video on that one )
After sawing out my crosses I put them together to see if I like it
I did like it soI went to solder
This is after soldering everything together
If you want insrucions on how to solder you can take a look a my blog http://www.themetalchallenge365.wordpress.com . I have many tutorials on easy to make things and on more complicated stuff . All tutorials of course are free
After soldering you need to clean your metal in a Pickle solution
When you solder you have oxidation , turning your pieces black . In order to ge rid of that you can either polish for hours or clean it in a Pickle solution ( you can get he salt/grain to make the solution at any jewelers supply store ) please NEVER take your pieces out with the naked hand ( its an acid and will burn your skin ,its also toxic ) and NEVER take them out wih any other metal then copper tongues
This is after he Pickle bath
Add some texture if you like
A normal screw driver will do if you don’t have anything else handy ( I have chasing tools but I also use nails , screw drivers and other things i find )
clean and polish your cross
I have a larger polishing machine where I have the same buffing wheel as on my small flex shaft ( the machine in the picture ) but If you have a setting for he stone its better to use the smaller wheel A Flex shaft is esentially a dremel with a long flexible tube ( yes I am aware hat he name is funny )
After you have done your first polishing add patina
I used a liquid that I can brush on .usually I use Liver of sulfur but I am still nauseated due to the car accident we had on Saturday and Liver of sulfur makes me gag at the moment ( stinks like rotten eggs – and no mom i am not pregnant !! )
polish again
add your stone
the little cup were the stone sits in is called a bezel cup , you can either make your own or buy them , I will make my own if I have irregular shaped stones or If I feel like making one . Most of the time i am lazy though and just use the bought ones next to he cross you see my stone setting tool , the cup has little teeth that get pushed CAREFULLY over the stone to hold he cabochon in place , start a 12 o’clock and push once , go to 6 o’clock and push some teeth over the stone at that position , then goto 3 o’clock then to 9 o’clock , the reason for doing that is so that tthe stone ges set even in right smack in the middle of the cup , take your finger and try to move the stone when you have pushed all the teeth over it . If i does not move you are done
close up of he little teeth of the bezel cup
Now you can hand polish with a cloth to ge rid of your finger prints , add a jump ring and a chain and ….tata…….. done 🙂 hope as always you enjoyed it nici
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.
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copper guitar pick
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fresh from the bench – small cross with peridot
dainty cross charm with Peridot
I love peridots , they are with sapphires and garnets one of my favorite stones . The vibrant green always reminds me of spring and nature and fresh mowed grass .
drew on some 18 gauge sterling sheet
I used a template made from plastic as I am not so good in drawing straight lines especially if it is so tiny . There are tons of templates out there , sometimes I make my own template out of 20 gauge brass . there is another small pendant i will make later on .
cut out with jewelers saw and 1/0 saw blades
I also added a little circle for the hole for the jump ring as I am terrible in soldering on rings for the bails ( I always melt the metal)
soldered a bezel cup onto the cross
threw it in a cleaning solution
the cleaning solution is called Pickle and will get rid of all the black oxidation
added some tiny flowers
set the stone and polished 🙂
my 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
cut out with saw
formed the flowers
cut out a piece from flat wire and bend it to make the ring shank
joining the ends together
adding solder to the flowers so they can be joined
this is after soldering and welding everything together
cleaned it up and added a bit of patina
added the stone
I love metal 🙂
follow your dreams
sterling silver guitar ring
following my dreams was scary and still is . 4 years ago I had to quit my job as a well paid nurse ( injured my back on the job – did not get workers comb ) The only thing I had was my hobby – metal smithing. 4 years later I am my own boss now and make what I love , even though the ups and down of selling your own creations or following your dream is scary as shit and sometimes you don’t know how to pay rent its still somehow worth it 🙂
enough with the story – here is what I do
starting out with a sheet of metal – 18 gauge sterling ( 1mm thick)
i usually draw directly on the metal
my trusted jewelry saw
I have a 6 inch saw and a inch saw but mostly use the 6 inch ( distance between sawblade and frame ) the saw blade itself is about 0.5mm thick
cut out guitar
number 2 halfround file
I filed all the edges smooth
punching a hole
I use hole punch pliers for most of the holes I need but I also have a really small drill press for when the punch needs to be bigger
added some texture with some older steel punches
I try to never forget to “mark” the stuff I make
maybe one day in 500 years someone will find one of mine and I will be in some antique jewelry book . lol
bending the ring until the ends meet
now comes the fun part
fluxing the joint and adding some wire solder
heating the ring with my hydroflux welder
My husband got me a really really nice toy for my birthday/christmas and any other holiday , its portable and pretty safe to use unlike the torches with oxygen and acetylene
after soldering the ends together
oxidation happens during heating , you an clean it up with putting the metal in a so called “Pickle solution”
after the “pickle bath”
ring mandrel and ring
I used a nylon hammer to hammer out the shape to make it nice and round and to work harden the ring
formed ring
cleaning it with my flex shaft
a flexshaft is basically a dremel with a flexible hose
added patina
liver of sulfur was used – stinks like rotten eggs ( or bad doggie farts ) but leaves a nice dark/grey patina
took some steel wool and polished the surface a bit
done 🙂
here is another angle
hope you guys liked it and if you want you can have a look at my shop
heart bracelet
anticlastic bronze cuff with copper hearts
cut a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch wide strip from 20 gauge bronze
cut lots and lots of hearts from copper
I have a heart cutter from swanstrom ,
flux the back of your hearts and add solder
I use hard wire solder for that
heat the hearts until the solder melts
and then flux the bronze strip and solder the hearts to it
quench in water
form your bracelet
Now I realize that not everybody has a metal press with the anticlastic / synclastic former ,so you can make the bracelet normal on a wooden bracelet mandrel and a raw hide or nylon hammer. I happen to have a full metal shop and have 2 hand cranked metal presses ( the hydraulic ones scare me and I do it rather by hand soI have more control )
thats my metal press
yay for awesome tools !!
you feed the bracelet through the former 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch untilyou have the bracelet form
you can see how the bracelet forms
hand cranking is a lot of work
almost finished forming
I put the bracelet into the pickle solution after I formed it
Pickle solution will clean your oxidation from metal
hearts , hearts , hearts and more hearts
