The jewelry making thread

[ksinger]

One last picture of a pair of earrings I made with carnelian stones.

Ooo! Pretty! How did I miss these?? Nice work!

 

[ksinger]

Ksinger, this thread is a delight! I'm very impressed with your weaving skills. I'd love to learn how to do this someday. I make jewelry too. I wire wrap briolettes and have so much fun picking out colorful gems.

Here is an example of a somewhat more complex pair of earrings I made. They have a tourmalated quartz, a labradorite, and an aqua chalcedony briolette. I also oxidized them to give them a black appearance.

Really really nice work! There is a bunch of work in those I can see!

Yes, wrapping briolettes is not my strong suit. I do it just enough to forget how between each time I do it. Then I have to sit there and remember. And yes, I've done it with some very small wire - 28 gauge I think - and it does indeed get tricky. (You will note how sloppy they are on the silver earrings I posted. Shameful)

Did you use liver of sulfer on the silver? I used it on the earrings I mentioned - (and which I conveniently left at WORK (duh!) and thus could not photograph)....but I'm not totally happy with the color. I'd really like an even gun-metal finish, and mine had more variation. (Maybe because mine were fine silver?) Yours are very even. Tips appreciated.

 

[kcoursolle]

Ksinger, this thread is a delight! I'm very impressed with your weaving skills. I'd love to learn how to do this someday. I make jewelry too. I wire wrap briolettes and have so much fun picking out colorful gems.

Here is an example of a somewhat more complex pair of earrings I made. They have a tourmalated quartz, a labradorite, and an aqua chalcedony briolette. I also oxidized them to give them a black appearance.

Really really nice work! There is a bunch of work in those I can see!

Yes, wrapping briolettes is not my strong suit. I do it just enough to forget how between each time I do it. Then I have to sit there and remember. And yes, I've done it with some very small wire - 28 gauge I think - and it does indeed get tricky. (You will note how sloppy they are on the silver earrings I posted. Shameful)

Did you use liver of sulfer on the silver? I used it on the earrings I mentioned - (and which I conveniently left at WORK (duh!) and thus could not photograph)....but I'm not totally happy with the color. I'd really like an even gun-metal finish, and mine had more variation. (Maybe because mine were fine silver?) Yours are very even. Tips appreciated.

Thanks! I'm not quite sure what might be going on with your oxidizing. Yes, I do use liver of sulfer. I have tried the "natural" egg method and wasn't happy with the inconsistent color. It might be the fine silver (vs. sterling) or it might be your exposure time or concentration in the water. Are you using warm/hot water? If you use cold it doesn't work as well. Try oxidizing something that's sterling and see if you get a nice black finish after leaving it in for 10 min.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Nice work, everyone!

I am hopeless with wire work. Really hopeless - it all comes out lumpy, uneven and messy. I much prefer fabrication or a nice big forging hammer.

Ksinger - this is how I use LoS. First, the LoS mustn't be too strong or too hot. Use hot, near boiling water to heat the piece, drop it in the LoS for 20-30 seconds, remove, rinse and do it all over. It should take 3 or 4 cycles to get a nice, even black. If you try to get the black all at once, it tends to either become splotchy or flake.

 

[happybear]

Wow! It is so inspiring seeing all these beautiful pieces made by fellow PSers!

Has anyone tried metal clay? I took a course on silver metal clay jewelry making earlier this year and it was fun! Though the metal clay is rather expensive..
I intend to take metalsmithing class next. Need to learn how to use the torch to and solder pieces together.