Adventures in metalsmithing

[bludiva]

Inspired by @peacechick and @stracci2000 's lovely self set and self made jewelry, i got interested in DIY last year and was gifted fabrication classes by my sweet hubby.

First project complete! ... please indulge my need to share some pics.

Sawing


Filing


Soldering


Polishing


Ta-da!

 

[Gussie]

That is so awesome!!!! How fun!

 

[Bonfire]

Beautiful! You did a great job!! I took some jewelry making classes a million years ago. My results looked primitive! I can’t tell you how many of those saw blades I broke! It’s hard! Well done!

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Beautiful!

 

[bludiva]

@ceg @Bonfire @Asscherhalo_lover thank you so much!

Bonfire i broke a bunch before i got the hang if it ...good thing they come in packs of 144

 

[leukolenos]

Wow! I'm impressed @bludiva ! Keep up the good work Post more as your classes continue please!

 

[strawrose]

Awesome work!

 

[Karl_K]

kicken

 

[Luce]

What fun and they turned out beautiful!!

 

[bludiva]

Thanks @strawrose @Karl_K @Luce @leukolenos !!! more pics when the next project is done fo' sho'

 

[Karl_K]

Thanks @strawrose @Karl_K @Luce @leukolenos !!! more pics when the next project is done fo' sho'

I'm looking forward to seeing them!

 

[yennyfire]

How cool! And I like your creations!! I’d totally wear them!

 

[stracci2000]

@bludiva, isn't it a blast?
There is a great feeling of satisfaction when something turns out good.
I feel that jewelry is "art that you can wear", and I cant wait to see more of your art!

 

[mrs-b]

How cool! And I like your creations!! I’d totally wear them!

Ditto this! What metals are they made from, @bludiva? Lovely work!

 

[bludiva]

@bludiva, isn't it a blast?
There is a great feeling of satisfaction when something turns out good.
I feel that jewelry is "art that you can wear", and I cant wait to see more of your art!

I didn't realize playing with fire would be so fun funny enough i have an art studio at home and hoping to add jewelry to the mix later this year

 

[bludiva]

@yennyfire @mrs-b thanks so much! Two are silver, one is copper. Hoping to be ready to tackle gold by the end....we'll see!

 

[mrs-b]

@yennyfire @mrs-b thanks so much! Two are silver, one is copper. Hoping to be ready to tackle gold by the end....we'll see!

That copper color is lovely! And your work is lovely and clean - well done!

 

[ksinger]

@yennyfire @mrs-b thanks so much! Two are silver, one is copper. Hoping to be ready to tackle gold by the end....we'll see!

Nice work! Pierced work like that is difficult, so my hat's off to you!

And gold? Ha ha! Once you start with gold you'll never want to go back to anything else. Although a friend who is a silversmith, tells me that Argentium, which I've never worked with, is much like gold in its ease of workability, and better than plain old sterling in just about every way. But if fine silver is persnickety and prone to melt in an instant, high karat gold is all mellow like, "What? You need me to fuse? Hey, no problem...I'll just ease into that for you" (slowly and beautifully fuses). (I love being able to fuse stuff since you bypass all the solder headaches. I'm lazy.)

 

[Tekate]

beautiful!

 

[luv2sparkle]

What great pieces! You did a beautiful job!

 

[bludiva]

Nice work! Pierced work like that is difficult, so my hat's off to you!

And gold? Ha ha! Once you start with gold you'll never want to go back to anything else. Although a friend who is a silversmith, tells me that Argentium, which I've never worked with, is much like gold in its ease of workability, and better than plain old sterling in just about every way. But if fine silver is persnickety and prone to melt in an instant, high karat gold is all mellow like, "What? You need me to fuse? Hey, no problem...I'll just ease into that for you" (slowly and beautifully fuses). (I love being able to fuse stuff since you bypass all the solder headaches. I'm lazy.)

Yeah this project was a lesson in sawing....i also saw some cool coin cutout exercises which I'm going to try. I've heard gold is lovely to work with, need to learn some skills first so I don't make too many expensive mistakes!

 

[bludiva]

Thank you @Tekate and @luv2sparkle you are too kind!

 

[bludiva]

Coin cutting exercises.... I melted one of the pennies while trying to add a bail to it. Oops!

 

[bludiva]

So project #2 started life as a 3 foot piece of silver wire. It was a lesson in soldering with some other stuff thrown in along the way


Coiling the wire to make the links


I decided to make small round and large oval links....the ovals had to be soldered shut, then stretched and textured, then reopened and attached and soldered shut again. Whew!

Soldering


The cute little ones pre pickling


Stretching the ovals


Putting it all together


Making the toggle was the hardest part for me. Third try was the charm.


And voilà!

 

[stracci2000]

Nice work, @bludiva!
You will never look at jewelry the same again, now that you know how it's made!

 

[bludiva]

@stracci2000 thank you! yeah i have a couple of things now that i think why on earth did i buy that, and others that i really appreciate the craftsmanship more

 

[bludiva]

Another one down...The assignment was to do a ring with a cutout soldered to it but I thought a lace ring would be cool so I went a little crazy with the piercework

 

[stracci2000]

Another one down...The assignment was to do a ring with a cutout soldered to it but I thought a lace ring would be cool so I went a little crazy with the piercework

Very nice! You are learning so many great techniques!

 

[bludiva]

Very nice! You are learning so many great techniques!

thank you! i can't believe the class is 1/2 over already!

 

[stracci2000]

thank you! i can't believe the class is 1/2 over already!

Do you think you will buy the tools and continue to work at home?