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Rock and Roll fo your arm
Sterling silver ” Rock and Roll ” cuff bracelet
I used a 20 gauge 6 inch by 1 1/4 inch strip of sterling silver for the base and 18 gauge sterling silver for the guitars and the star. The shapes were cut out with a 6 inch jewelry saw and 1/0 saw blades. Personally I prefer the german saws and saw blades as I found the quality to be outstanding , but I might be biased because I am german.
I used a template to draw the guitars right on the metal and then sawed them out .
After sawing out the shapes they were soldered via sweat soldering onto the base strip then quenched in water and after that put in the Pickle pot to clean the metal from the black oxidation.
I used an abrasive wheel to quickly file and round the edges – Cratex Medium wheels work very well for that . I like to use my polisher with the wheels because its fast and if you run a business you need to be fast but also have a high quality . I cut down my filing time from about 20 minutes to about 30 seconds .
When you are finished with filing you edges you can add texture . I have several chasing tools made from hardened steel but I also use screw drivers and other things.
Now comes the bending part . I am not very strong with my hands and that is the reason why I am using 20 gauge for my base plate, if I use anything thicker than that I would not be able to bend it anymore and would have to use the metal press.
For shaping my bracelets I prefer to use a wooden mandrel and a nylon hammer they are soft and will not leave any marks in your metal
as you can see after pounding and bending you get a nice oval shape . There are also round mandrels if you prefer a round look . I run the bracelet through my polisher one time to clean the metal and prepare for the liver of sulfur patina . The cleaner the metal the nicer and more consistent your patina gets.
Liver of sulfur gives you a nice dark gray patina. A word of caution , liver of sulfur stinks like rotten eggs so try to do it in a well ventilated area or your hair and clothing will smell too. Even though my husband always knows when I play around with it 😉
After the patina I polished the bracelet again an only left the darkness in the pattern and texture
If you liked the post , maybe leave a comment and let me know 😉
Featured in Imgu.com for the whole month :)
Stuff Made by Imgurians
by imgur
Every day on Imgur we’re inspired by Imgurians who are doing and making awesome things. In an effort to further show off the cool, real life stuff you guys are creating, we’re teaming up with a new Imgurian every month for Stuff Made by Imgurians in the Imgur store (http://store.imgur.com/products/stuff-made-by-imgurians). This month’s creation comes from metalsmith and registered nurse nicilaskin (http://imgur.com/user/nicilaskin) who originally hails from Leipzig, East Germany (yes, before the Berlin wall came down!). Now, she’s a self-proclaimed nomad who travels between Phoenix in the winter, Sedona, Colorado, with summers in New Jersey–moving the whole of her metal shop and the 3,000lbs of equipment it contains with her every time.
Start with an 18 gauge sterling silver sheet.
Cut the corners.
Each letter is stamped by hand one character at a time.
The tiny giraffe is stamped by hand, too!
Hammer in the details.
Tada! A lovely, sterling silver necklace.
Banana for scale.
You can order your very own sterling silver Imgur necklace made by nicilaskin all month long on the Imgur Store (http://store.imgur.com/products/stuff-made-by-imgurians). Be sure to check back to the store every month for a new product from a new Imgurian.
short and sweets today – bear pendant with peridot – fresh from the bench
fresh from the bench – started a new collection in my shop
fresh from the bench – made a butterfly today
I added a green Peridot
drawing the butterfly on sterling silver
I cut it out with a small jewelry saw
soldered a bezel cup onto the wing
cleaned it up a bit
added some doodles/texture
cleaned it up a bit again
added patina to make the texture pop
cleaned it up again and added a jumpring and a chain
turtle doves
turtle dove ring set
I made this ring set out of sterling silver , my hubby is not sure if guys would like a ring in the shape of a bird , but I like them maybe you guys like them too the stone I used is a swiss blue topaz
out of this 🙂
I used 18 gauge sterling silver
drew the birds directly on the sheet
cut them out with a jewelry saw
the saw I use is a 6 inch saw ( distance between blade and the back part ) and 1/0 saw blades – my eyes are getting a bit weak so I have to feel now with my thumb to make sure the teeth are in the right direction
sawed out birds with extra length so that you can make a ring shank
added texture
formed the rings so that the ends meet
the fun part is soldering
I love fire and my small welder ( its a hydroflux welder I got 2 years ago for my birthday – safer than a torch ) normally the flame is green but my flux solution is in need of replacing
soldered rings
the blackness comes from oxidation
after bathing the rings in a cleaning solution
the solution is called Pickle and will get rid of the blackness turning the metal white
now the rings are getting formed
ring mandrel and a nylon hammer will make sure you get a perfect round shape
I wanted to add a stone to the smaller ring
I am lazy so I used a bought bezel cup to hold the stone and soldered that to the ring
almost finished they just need to be polished
I use a so called flex shaft ( dremel with a hose ) which is basically the same thing your dentist has for the drills
cleaned rings
added some black max ( patina )
polished again
added the stone
i saw that the ring with the stone did not have the patina for the eye so I had to do that
ring for her
ring for him
hope you liked it 🙂
nici laskin
infinity wedding bands
I cut 2 different width flat wire stock to length
5mm and 4 mm width
stamped the infinity symbol
filed the ends flat and formed them so the ends meet flush
add flux and solder
start heating with a torch
quench in water and then clean in pickle solution
the black is oxidation that happens during torching
after the pickle bath
now start forming
use a ring mandrel and a nylon hammer first
after forming the ring you can use a ball peen hammer to make the dimpled texture , polish the inside I polish my rings by hand using different grit sand paper and polishing clohs
done 🙂
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
silver tie bar with brass arrow
draw your arrow on the metal sheet
or draw it on a piece of paper and stick the paper to the metal sheet . I just like to draw the easy shapes on to my metal directly
cut out with your jewelry saw and 1/0 saw blades
clean the arrow with steel wool for easier soldering
cut a 4 inch long piece from sterling silver
I used 18 gauge ( thicker then that and it gets hard to bend into shape )
flux your arrow and add your solder
I use extra easy wire solder ( silver )
fire up your torch
Did I mention I love fire 🙂
heat until your solder “flows” ( melts)
flux your sterling silver strip and put the arrow onto it solder site down
heat again until solder flows ( I took a pic of the red hot metal -its so hot that it is red in color ,much more heating and it would start melting )
clean your strip and start texturing
use a dremel with a buffing wheel ,or a polisher or a flex shaft for cleaning , add texture with a screw driver
flip the strip over and start bending
use a pen or something similar to bend the tie bar around it
bend so that the arrow is a bit longer then the lower part
flip down and put your pen on the edge and press with your finger at the middle
you can bend it a bit more with your fingers
pound with a raw hide or nylon hammer on the right hand ( the bend end )
enjoy your tie bar
