Wednesday, August 2, 2017

GIY: It Takes Two: metalsmithing jewelry

I finally got it twogether this month with a DIY with GIY. This month's theme was dual crafting, and I made two brass/copper rings and two brass/copper earring jackets (to match my brass necklace):

Since I have stretched lobes I can't wear normal earring jackets. These are secured by O rings to a tunnel or plug. I didn't take process pictures of those, but they were made pretty much the same way as the pendent. (The pendent is a symbol from the Alphabet of the Magi)

First (not pictured): I drew my pattern onto a mailing label, then affixed it to a thin plate of brass. Then I took a manual saw and sawed away at the metal. I was left with a rough-looking unfinished metal shape:

Once you've cut it out, all that's left to do is finishing: dulling the edges with a metal file and hammering some texture with a metal hammer. Simple! I like that you don't need any special tools to make a simple object like this. The earring backs, since they were two different metals, did need the two metals soldered together, but it could have easily been made with one shape.


The rings were a little more complicated. First, I measured the two metals to fit my ring size:

Then I soldered the two metals together, annealed the metal with a blowtorch (lol can't do that at home), beat it into shape on a ring mandrel, and then soldered it shut. lol not so easy. The reason why I made two was because I melted one:


Finished rings:

Earring jacket in-ear

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10 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I was trying to think of what look to call this!

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  2. Wow! I think it takes courage to craft with a blowtorch. :D Impressive results! I love the two metals together. Thanks for participating in the craft-along.

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  3. "I finally got it twogether this month with a DIY with GIY" Hahahaha, I like what you did there. Your pieces look fantastic!!!

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  4. AWESOME!!! I love the ear jackets!! I just finished another silversmithing class. You have to be careful with those damned torches. It sucks SO BAD when you melt something you've been working on!!

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  5. Oh wow these look amazing. I've done wire crafts and some metal craft
    but nothing as complicated as this.

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