Silver Trifecta

I have officially graduated from silversmithing 101. I finished all three of my assigned projects – all three pieces, my pendant, my bracelet and my ring, and I am the only one in my class who completed them so far, and in less time too. The class was a 10-week class. I missed the first week because I didn’t know about the class, and I am missing the last class (tomorrow) because we will be on a plane en route to Portugal.

I just finished my ring yesterday. Both my ring and my pendant are made with red jasper stones. I wanted them to somewhat match and to be a set.

Each piece had their own specific set of challenges, but I met them all, and made all my pieces. And personally, I think they came out pretty nice too. They are flawed and have plenty of mistakes, but then, so do I. 🙂

I had to shape the silver to make my ring and solder the bezel together. Then I had to file and solder and cut my stone.

Once everything was soldered together, it was file, file, file and sand, sand, sand, using different sized files and different grades of sandpaper.

I made my epoxy and set my stone. To set the stone, I needed to make sure the stone was set in place and had to let it dry for 24 hours before I was able to cut it down and shape it. This was definitely a process, and I had to reset it after the initial 24 hour wait because I had gaps between my silver and my stone. So I had to redo this whole step. Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy about that. We mix two different parts of the epoxy together in equal parts then generously spread it all over the bezel.

I had to hold it together like this in between each waiting period, waiting for the epoxy to completely dry and set.

After the second try, it was finally ready to cut the stone and shape it on the stone drill.

Once this was done, I had to shape the silver on the metal cutter. Then sand and polish again and again, before finally being able to finish it up on the polishing machines.

And Voila! Les pieces de resistance!

And not to brag or anything, but NOT only did I finish all three of the assigned pieces, I also started working on a fourth piece as well. I had the time and I had the silver and stones, so why not, right?! I am actually almost finished with that piece too. I will finish that up in my next class, after we return home. I started another pendant, this time using a Chinese turquoise. I wear mostly blues and greens anyway, so this is more me. I am about 2/3 finished with this piece.

I made some mistakes on my bezel that I am correcting, and I am once again in the sand and polish phase. I have already done two or three polishes, and have at least one more to go before finally setting the stone and completing my pendant. We use dental floss when working with the stones before finally setting them. The dental floss makes it easier to remove them while we are still working on everything else. But this piece will be completed literally on my first class of the second session. I am that close to finishing it. I almost finished yesterday, but I still have more tweaking to do first. Don’t worry, I have cleaned the piece up a lot since taking this picture of it. 🙂

The second session, silversmithing 201, gives us a lot more freedom and interpretation to use own own ideas for our pieces. I will make another bracelet, but very different from the first one, and a barrette that will also use the Chinese turquoise. I am also thinking of some earrings to match. I already purchased what I need for these. Then, who knows what I will make. 🙂 I made my bale out of some of my scrap pieces, and I was playing with a stamp I bought, so it has a floral design to it too.

Ten weeks ago, I had no idea I would be making jewelry, and look at me now. I am now officially a jewelry maker, and loving it. 🙂 You are never too old to learn new things. Keep growing and keep challenging yourself, and just keep on getting better and better. You just never know what is out there waiting for you. Never give up, and never give up on yourself. I think, this is the mystical fountain of youth we have all heard about. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Til next time.