My Metalsmithing History

I think I was first charmed by metalsmithing because I had never thought about the process that yields such durable beauty. I loved the idea of molten metal and that such delicate looking objects were made from hammer strikes and blow torches. My friend's dad was a jeweler and he encouraged both questions and discussion of the process. So, when I found a class in town, I signed up.

I loved that class. The teacher helped us buy a good selection of supplies and got us started on a first project. Each student had their own desk and we had a nice selection of tools.

My first project was a brass pendant. I cut the figure of a flower out of brass and then soldered my flower onto a triangular back piece. I drilled two holes in the back piece and put a link in each.

The pendant was completed almost entirely in class.

My second project was begun in that class, but completed partly at my home. I decided to make a silver ring this time. I obtained a nice oval carbachon. The stone was a Mexican Firestone of about the height of a dime. I made a thick ring, think enough to allow the stone to set longwise against my finger and to have a small amount of silver showing on each side of it. I tapered the ring so that the back was thinner that the front.

My third project was to be done entirely out of my home and I struggled to buy tools and supplies, as well as to make an appropriate work space. I had found directions in a book for making a gold bracelet. I didn't have the money to buy gold, so I decided to make it in silver. I bought a foot of thick wire silver. The wire was about half of the length of a nickel in diameter. I measured and cut the calculated amount and soldered it together in the shape of a round bracelet.

Now, the idea of this bracelet was to cut and solder a piece in a smallish circle and then to use a hammer to flatten the sides, thus increasing the diameter of the bracelet to the actual desired size. It was at this point that I began to have problems. I successfully beat the sides flatter, but try as I might, I could not increase the diameter enough. I seemed to reach a plateau on what the metal was willing to do. In retrospect, I will retry this project soon, with a different annealing approach.

About this time, I lost my soldering space, and so my jewelry construction stopped. I continued to read books and I continued to plot my tool and supply lists. I went to a gem festival and spent an inordinate amount of money on stones.

So, this is my tale of working with not the right space and not quite the right equipment. I am hindered by my own inexperience, but being a beginner, I may have insights and problems more relevant to other beginners. So, when I get stalled in a project, I plan to recap my adventures here.