I Maded some silver stuff!
February 6th, 2010 07:35 pmThis is part one of a number of posts I need to make in order to catch up with all the silversmithing stuff I've done since the Baby Formerly Known as Cheddar has been born.
Project 2 - Crescent Moon with stone setting.

I started by cutting out a disk of silver and then cutting out a segment to make the crescent moon shape.

I then picked out a glass stone to form the focal point of the bead and cut out a tiny circle of silver just slightly bigger than it was. Next I cut out a strip of bezel that's just slightly longer than the circumference of the glass stone.

I soldered the bezel strip into a ring, filed it and then soldered the tiny disk to make the bezel. I then spent ages and *ages* filing it down until it was flush. I watched The Day the Earth Stood Still while I did it. (At least I did something productive with those two hours).
I also filed out a depression in the crescent that the bezel would sit snugly in

Then I soldered them together. (Which took me two or three goes as the flux kept making the bezel move away from the moon when I soldered it.
Then I pickled it in acid to take off some of the oxidisation. I need to file and finish all the soldered seams and then polish it up. (I'm going to buy a tumbler to make this a bit quicker in the future)
So you'll see the finished thing in a couple of weeks. (As I'm missing next week's class due to seeing Vampire Weekend and then the week after that is half term).
Coming up soon: Project 1: Planished pendant with a set stone.
Project 2 - Crescent Moon with stone setting.
I started by cutting out a disk of silver and then cutting out a segment to make the crescent moon shape.
I then picked out a glass stone to form the focal point of the bead and cut out a tiny circle of silver just slightly bigger than it was. Next I cut out a strip of bezel that's just slightly longer than the circumference of the glass stone.
I soldered the bezel strip into a ring, filed it and then soldered the tiny disk to make the bezel. I then spent ages and *ages* filing it down until it was flush. I watched The Day the Earth Stood Still while I did it. (At least I did something productive with those two hours).
I also filed out a depression in the crescent that the bezel would sit snugly in
Then I soldered them together. (Which took me two or three goes as the flux kept making the bezel move away from the moon when I soldered it.
Then I pickled it in acid to take off some of the oxidisation. I need to file and finish all the soldered seams and then polish it up. (I'm going to buy a tumbler to make this a bit quicker in the future)
So you'll see the finished thing in a couple of weeks. (As I'm missing next week's class due to seeing Vampire Weekend and then the week after that is half term).
Coming up soon: Project 1: Planished pendant with a set stone.