Week Five - Metal/Silver Smithing Classes

Following one week off from classes, the group met for Week Five!  I can't believe we are half way through already!  It was a morning split between our first project, the layered pendant, and project two, a layered ring.  Having already done most of the sanding, we went on to adding some patina to highlight the dents and lines.  I did not want a mirror finish on either side, so that eliminated having to take the pendant to the polisher.  I personally prefer a more satiny finish, especially on this yin and yang pendant.  Our instructor, Jo, gave me a  bottle of brown/black blackening agent and a paint brush and told me to paint it where I wanted it to darken the pendant.  Having only used liver of sulfur, this patina was a new experience....and I probably add "just a little" too much  But never fear, we were able to clean it up with a brass type Brillo pad...excuse my lack of proper terminology!  But this is the final result.  I plan to add a double leather cord to it and wear it to my next class. 

On to the next project -  a layered ring with design and metals of choice.  I decided to go with the same metal contrasts I used in the pendant - copper and silver.  Having traced out my  design, I set about preparing my piece for sawing.  Now, sawing is still not my strong suit, but I am less intimidated by it and overall, I don't think I did too badly.  I  will let you be the judge.  I completed the sawing and did a little clean up.  This is the result.  I will probably have to do some more filing and will probably lessen the width of the bands.  That's it till Thursday (this week).  I lost a week due to illness, but I am hopefully on the road to recovery.  Questions and/or comments are welcome!  Thanks for stopping by.  Blessings.  Anita

Metalsmithing - Week 4

As you know from my previous posts, I am taking my metalsmithing class at the Appalachian Rock Shop in Harmony, PA.  Well, before I go any further, you must check out their new web site!  It's beautiful!  There is something for everyone:  the mineral and fossil collector, casual and/or metalphysical rock enthusiast, jewelry collector, artist, children and educators! Click on the shop's name above and have a visit!
Back  to my classes.  Today we continued working on the bail for my pendant.  I decided to add some texture to the bail so I took a ballpeen hammer and added some ball-like indentations.  Of course, this hardened the metal, so, once again, we had to go through the annealing process. We then continued the process of shaping the bail so that it would fit snugly onto the pendant - pinch, squeeze, hammer - it's a process! After fluxing the entire piece, front and back, it was secured to the firing block. In this step, we used medium solder and small pieces were placed around and within the bail and it was fired, quenched and placed in the pickle for cleaning. Now for the hard stuff - the sanding begins. I went to the bench pin and began this process. Whoops - a little error here - not realizing, I turned the piece over to do some sanding on the back side without protecting what I did on the front - nothing major, but in doing this, the front got scratched from the bench pin that I was using to stablize the metal while I worked. Before turning it, I should have protected what was already done by covering it with masking tape! That was today's biggest lesson for me!! By this time, three hours had gone by and it was time to shut down for some festivities! The shop celebrated three birthdays today and we had pot luck - cheese, crackers, chicken croissants, jambalya, ambrosia fruit salad, cake, cheese cake, cookies, artichoke dip - these gals KNOW HOW TO PARTY! It was great fun.

Thanks for stopping by to see the posts. No class for two weeks, so I'll post more then. This piece is still in the sanding/polishing process, so hopefully, the next photo you see will be one of a completed pendant!!

Metalsmithing - Week Three - Creating the bail...

Today we soldered all the pieces of my Ying and Yang pendant. I had to place the piece on the fire brick, set the copper pieces onto the nickle silver round where I wanted them and pin them into place. Pinning the pieces is done with pieces of wire and T-pins to keep the pieces from moving while they are being torched. With assistance from Jo, the pieces were easily soldered, quenched in water, and placed in the pickle for about 10 minutes for cleaning.

Next we set about creating a bail. I did several tracings on paper, cut them out, and folded them in half in the form of a bail to try different sizes against the focal piece. Once I found the tracing of choice, it was traced on tracing paper and wrapped around the nickle silver (set with glue stick) and I was off to the bench pin to saw out another piece of metal. I did get a few scratches on the metal and broke, not just one, but three saw blades getting the job done! However, the final cut piece came out well. Using grits 240, 400, and 600, in that order, I sanded out the scratches.  The bail was torched to soften the metal so the bail could be formed. Out of time today, so until next week, here is a picture of the focal piece and the half-formed bail. I think the next step will be to solder the bail to the focal. I plan on hammering the bail and one of the pieces on the focal, so we'll see which step will be next! Until next week, here is a picture of what we have up to now. See you next week! Blessings, Anita