Silver Jewelry Making
After gold, the best thing that humans can stack and invest in is silver, I think. Silver has been there since time immemorial and in umpteen forms, right from the time the Kings used to give it off as a present in the form of coins to the courtesans or the public for doing something remarkable to being used in barter system, to silver jewelry. Now silver jewelry is a totally different ball game than coins or any other stuff. It can be very intricate and a person who wants to make silver jewelry has to be very meticulous and give complete attention to the project. In case you are interested in making silver jewelry yourself, hang in there!
Supplies for Making Silver Jewelry
As making silver jewelry requires lot of detailing and intricate work, a number of things need to be kept at hand. Let us take a look at what all do you need for this endeavor, with of course silver for jewelry making!
Item 1
When 2 or more silver pieces are soldered, there is a special wire which is used for holding the pieces of silver together during the soldering. This is called binding wire, which is vital when casting is done.
Item 2
Pliers are another very important part of creating silver jewelry. But the catch is that you cannot just do with a single type of pliers. You will need flat nose pliers, rounded nose pliers, serrated edge pliers and half round pliers. Each of these pliers is used for holding, bending and making various shapes and styles out of silver.
Item 3
Another very important tool is a file. There are needle files, large flat files and large half-round file. This is used to clean the inner part of the silver ring shank.
Item 4
The ball peen hammer is another important tool for silver jewelry. Thus is used for tapping or to peen rivets, silver pins, narrow joints in the shape.
Item 5
One more essential tool is the jeweler's saw. Available in different grades, for starters, a grade 1, 0, or 0/1 can be used. The range of blades is typically up to 4/0.
Item 6
Without the soldering torch, you cannot imagine taking a shot at silver jewelry. Choose a torch which can be easily adjusted from a narrow to wide flame. In some cases, a handheld torch accompanied by one which is fixed in static position is used.
A few other items are:
- Charcoal
- Block Dish and Borax Cone
- Titanium Soldering Stick
- Insulated tweezers
- Vise
Making Simple Silver Jewelry
After we have seen the things required for silver jewelry creation, here is a look at basic jewelry making instructions.
Step 1
Cutting the silver in size necessary for your endeavor is the first thing to do. Then you will have to shape the silver as per the design using nose pliers or ball peen hammer, if required.
Step 2
For any attachments, you will have to shape additional pieces as well and keep them aside. Now heat the solder and use it to the pieces you want to attach, separately to the main jewelry piece. Check out related information in silver thumb rings.
Step 3
Grab a pair of tongs and then keep the piece in warm pickling compound for getting rid of the waste material. Once that is done, rinse the jewelry in water.
Repeat this as required till you get the desired jewelry shape. This was just a generic idea of what you would have to do for jewelry making. For details and nuances, I guess taking a jewelry making class is the best bet! I sign off here! All the best!
