I've never been one to take a class on something when I want to learn something new. Usually I feel like I can learn just by watching someone do something--either on tv or on youtube. After watching Vickie Howell on Knitty Gritty I felt like I could learn to knit by picking up a book and some knitting needles and sure enough I learned. I've always loved working with metals. Maybe it's because they are durable enough that if you make a mistake you can usually fix it. I mean let's face it I "can't have nice things" because I am a bit like a bull in a china shop most of the time. Whatever it is I find myself at home when it comes to metals. But since I am stubborn and like to learn on my own it's about a lot of trial and error. So experienced metalsmithers get ready to cringe over my technique!
My brother in law Jim asked me to make his wife, Christy who is from Texas, a necklace in the shape of Texas with a jewel on it. I was excited! I was too nervous to work with the sterling silver (it's so expensive!) so I did my first one on sheet metal.
I love the way it turned out actually. I made my first bezel by cutting a thin strip of the sheet metal, soldering the joint and then soldering it onto Texas. I mixed up some resin and tinted it dark purple and poured it in.Next it was time to do it in sterling. I printed out another 1" map of Texas and used rubber cement to adhere it to the metal. I didn't have a very good saw so I bought a new one at CR Hill and wow what a difference it made. It cut out so well.
The cuts on my finger tips are still healing. But at least we had neon pink bandaids.
After cutting it out I used my dremel to sand down the edges and shine it up nicely.
Bezel time. Here is where I spent an entire day of frustration. After driving to the metal supply store to buy bezel wire (because for some reason the bezel wire I already had just wouldn't solder for me) I arrived to find a note on the door saying they were closed for the day. I tried 2 different stores and they did not have any. I was out of luck. I also tried to buy garnet swarovski crystals at Munro's jewelry supply but they didn't have them in the size I needed. I ended up at Michael's and found a pack of swarovski's that were perfect. Plus now I have a bunch more to experiment with. I tried making my own bezel by cutting a thin strip out of the sterling and soldering the joint.
It seemed to be working great.
(Another time to cringe. Not only do I use a huge torch with hardly any control over the flame but I do it at my kitchen counter. I am super careful not to wave the flame around the cabinets though.)
I sanded it down and got it all ready for the swarovski....it was too small. I tried using my files to sand it down in the inside. Still too small. I tried using the grinding tool on my dremel but I just couldn't get it right.
Bezel time. Here is where I spent an entire day of frustration. After driving to the metal supply store to buy bezel wire (because for some reason the bezel wire I already had just wouldn't solder for me) I arrived to find a note on the door saying they were closed for the day. I tried 2 different stores and they did not have any. I was out of luck. I also tried to buy garnet swarovski crystals at Munro's jewelry supply but they didn't have them in the size I needed. I ended up at Michael's and found a pack of swarovski's that were perfect. Plus now I have a bunch more to experiment with. I tried making my own bezel by cutting a thin strip out of the sterling and soldering the joint. It seemed to be working great. (Another time to cringe. Not only do I use a huge torch with hardly any control over the flame but I do it at my kitchen counter. I am super careful not to wave the flame around the cabinets though.) I sanded it down and got it all ready for the swarovski....it was too small. I tried using my files to sand it down in the inside. Still too small. I tried using the grinding tool on my dremel but I just couldn't get it right.
At this point I had given up on doing a bezel and thought I'd be wire wrapping a crystal and hanging it next to it. But again, I am stubborn. I decided to try hitting up the bezel wire I had one more time. I cut it in half and soldered it together. After a lot of fussing and a lot of flux I finally got it to stay on Texas. Whew. I used E6000 glue under the swarovski just for some added strength and then bent the bezel around the stone. It's not perfect but I'm still pretty darn happy with the way it turned out. I found a beautiful sterling silver chain for it too.
In between waiting for the piece while it was in the pickle I worked on another piece with copper. I cut 3 strips and when I used my metal snips it sort of bent the copper. I went with it and overlapped the 3 pieces and soldered them together. Then I cut out a half moon shape and 2 pieces to bend and shape around it to create a half moon bezel. I was so proud of how it came out, especially after the issues I had with the sterling. I soldered it into the middle of the other pieces and below is the result. I mixed up some more resin, put the typewriter #4 sticker from the scrapbook store in the bottom and filled it with resin.
I took some sterling silver wire and melted the ends into little balls, oxidized it, and then hammered it flat. I bent it around each side and then hammered the loop part to give it extra strength.
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In between waiting for the piece while it was in the pickle I worked on another piece with copper. I cut 3 strips and when I used my metal snips it sort of bent the copper. I went with it and overlapped the 3 pieces and soldered them together. Then I cut out a half moon shape and 2 pieces to bend and shape around it to create a half moon bezel. I was so proud of how it came out, especially after the issues I had with the sterling. I soldered it into the middle of the other pieces and below is the result. I mixed up some more resin, put the typewriter #4 sticker from the scrapbook store in the bottom and filled it with resin.I took some sterling silver wire and melted the ends into little balls, oxidized it, and then hammered it flat. I bent it around each side and then hammered the loop part to give it extra strength.Follow me on facebook here.
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