Week Nine/Ten at the Appalachian Rock Shop

I can't believe we have come to the end of our ten-week silversmithing class.  It has been a wonderful adventure.  Our instructor, Jolan Naleppa, was always very thorough in instructing us not only in procedure,  but also in safety working with the various tools on hand at the shop.  The shop owner, Leslie Metarko, and her staff was always very helpful and eager to assist with our needs.  The Appalachian Rock Shop has so much to offer - from fossils and rocks to beautifully hand-crafted jewelry.  If you are from the Youngstown/Pittsburgh area, it's a must-see!  And if, like me, you want to pursue the art of making jewelry, I highly recommend their classes.

At our final  two classes, we continued our work on our bezel set ring.  We soldered the silver pieces together, filed, polished, buffed, cleaned, and finally, set our stones in the bezel.  We carefully hammered the bezel using the bezel pusher and ball portion of the hammer, bringing the bezel snug to the stone.  I used a burnishing tool to smooth the bezel further.  The last step was to give it a final polish.  This is the final result.

My thanks also to Phyllis Riegle, Riegle Design, who created the beautiful stone I used in this ring. Phyllis was also a member of our class, along with many other wonderful and accomplished women who are always continuing to learn and grow in their art of creating jewelry. Because class members are all at different levels in silversmithing, it was great fun to see what they were working on!

I plan on taking the March class, so be on the lookout for more silversmithing posts then. I hope to try out some of these new skills over the winter and will keep you posted. Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving holiday! Blessings, Anita

METALSMITHING - WEEK 8 WITH JO AT THE APPALACHIAN ROCK SHOP

We are getting down to the wire now with one project left and two weeks to complete it!   I was excited to have completed the layered metal ring this week!  We hammered it into a C-shape on the ring mandrel, using a leather mallet.  Then, using the pliers, we then the ends together and held the ring up to the light looking for gaps.  For a good solder, we needed the ends to be flush.  Some additional filing was completed and  the piece was made ready for soldering.  The ring was fluxed and pinned to the fire brick seam side up.  The solder was a success, the piece cleaned, sanded and polished!  And this is the final result.  For my first ring, I think it came out pretty well!   I actually had someone ask me to make them one just like it!  What a great compliment!  I know I still have so much to learn to refine the skills I am learning, but it's going to be a wonderful adventure!  Here is a picture of the ring!

Our next and last project - a bezel set ring - I picked out my stone, an oval agate (cut and polished by one of the other students here).  I am in love with this beautiful stone and the lovely earthtones creating a beautiful piece of art!  Our instructor, Jo, went over the fundamentals of choosing bezel wire, sizing it around the stone, marking and cutting.  Following her lead, this was accomplished and the  bezel was readied for soldering.  There was a small amount of overlap, so some filing was done to make sure the bezel would sit flush to the back plate for the next soldering step.  This was all we had time for today - but we accomplished a lot in our three hours!  Here are photos of the stone and bezel and the back plate we will be using in the next step!  We are working with sterling silver and I decided to keep it pretty simple for my first project!  More next week.  Thanks for looking.   Feel free to leave a comment! 

Week Six/Seven - Metalsmithing

I lost a week of class due to illness, but was back yesterday to continue working on my layered copper and silver ring.  I was able to make up some of the lost time yesterday and got quite a bit accomplished.  Previously, I had cut out the design in the copper layer of my band ring and had done some of the filing and smoothing at home.  Yesterday I continued that process.   The ring was wider than I wanted, so I sawed both pieces to the desired width and continued filing and sanding the edges.  The pieces were placed in the pickle and scrubbed with soap and water with a brush.  After a coating of flux, the solder was placed on the back of the copper  piece and the first step of the sweat soldering was completed.  Back to the pickle and cleaning.  The pieces were fluxed and fit together on the fire brick.  We put some antiflux on the T-pins so the piece could be pinned/secured to the firebrick.  The antiflux was to prevent the pins from being soldered to the ring during the firing  process.  The solder flowed and the piece was quenched in water and put  back into the pickle for cleaning.  After cleaning, we were back to the filing and sanding process.  Each end of the ring needed to be filed straight for a flush fit in the next step.  I sanded the piece with various grits to clean off the scratches and excess solder.  Flux was added to the piece and it was fired to anneal the band for the next step!  Week seven will hopefully complete the ring!  I can't wait.  Hope it fits!  Our last project will be a bezel set ring!

Hammering and Forming Instructional Videos

I recently got a notification in my mailbox regarding two new metalsmithing videos. Since I am taking a metalsmithing class, it peaked my interest and I indulged myself and purchased Metalsmith Essentials: Basic Jewelry Hammering and Forming with Bill Fretz. Bill Fretz is well known for his complete lines of jewelers stakes and hammers. I also purchased Metalsmith Essentials: Hammering and Forming Jewelry, Vol. 2 with Bill Fretz. Since I am new to this area of jewelry design, I can only offer my best opinion of these videos without something to compare them to. I thought the videos were well coordinated, starting with the simplest of designs and working up to four or five others, all cuff bracelets, but each a little different. Of course, it showed the uses of all of the Fretz tools, but he took his time and went through all the relevant information required to complete one of his projects. He showed his use of filing and soldering techniques. I found both videos very interesting and a valuable resource for future reference. I highly recommend them! He's a great teacher and shows you up close what each tool is capable of helping you create. I will add a link where you can purchase them!
http://www.interweavestore.com/Jewelry-Making/DVDs-Videos/Metalsmith-Essentials-Basic-Jewelry-Hammering-and-Forming-Download-in-HD.html

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