Tag Archives: The Silver Forge

smithing – handcrafting a sterling silver and gemstone ring

I love seeing other people’s processes, so I thought it was time I shared the process that goes into creating one of my gemstone rings with you!

First, I cut a strip of .6mm sterling silver sheet to form the bezel for the gemstone.

I file one end of the strip flat.

I heat the strip to the point that the metal ‘relaxes’ and the molecules line up so that the metal is malleable. This is known as annealing.

After it cools, I immerse the strip into a slightly heated 1/10 sulphuric acid/water mixture. This mixture is known as pickle, and cleans any oxidisation, dirt, or flux from the metal.

After a good rinse and dry, I bend the strip to conform to the shape of the stone.

I cut the strip to the correct length.

I file the other end of the strip flat, so that there is a seamless join where the two ends meet.

I solder the strip together to form the bezel.

After another bath in the pickle, I hammer the bezel on a mandrel to form the correct shape, and flatten the join.

I check that the gemstone fits well inside the bezel.

I emery the bottom of the bezel flat.

From a sheet of 1.0mm sterling silver, I cut a plate to form the base of the bezel.

I make sure the bezel and plate fit smoothly together.

I coat the silver with flux (borax), and place paillons of solder inside the bezel.

I solder the bezel to the plate.

After it cools, the soldered parts go through the pickle procedure again.

Once the bezel setting is clean and dry, I cut the excess material from the base.

I file most of the excess metal from the bezel setting.

I anneal a strip of metal around 1.0mm-1.2mm thick to form the ring shank.

I bend the ring shank to the correct size and shape.

I cut the excess metal from the shank.

I file the top of the shank to fit snugly against the bezel plate.

I solder the shank to the bezel plate, and pickle again.

I stamp 925 and my maker’s mark into the shank.

I file the remaining excess material flush with the bezel base.

I mark the bezel.

I file the bezel down to fit the stone.

I emery the top of the bezel.

I emery the entire ring with coarse emery.

I emery the entire ring with fine emery.

I place the gemstone inside the setting.

I place the ring in my engraver’s block.

Using my setting hammer and a punch, I set the stone.

A final cleanup and a polish with tripoli and then rouge using my flex drive (which I haven’t shown you here), and the ring is ready to go to a new home!

Sterling Silver Domed Stud Earrings

I created these earrings for Sarah, as a gift for a friend of hers.

I don’t usually create stud earrings, but these were fun to make, and I think I’m inspired to create more!

Simple and elegant. Thanks, Sarah!

Sterling Silver Captain America Ring

It was my older son’s eighteenth birthday recently, and I knew that a Captain America ring was high on his long term list of desires.

I was very glad to create one for him.

Happy birthday, my very lovely son!

(P.S. I have promised my son that this will be the only Captain America shield piece I will ever make ~ that way it’s completely unique to him from me ~ however if you have a different Captain America idea, or another Super Hero that you love, I’d be glad to help out!)

Moonstone and Sterling Silver Seahorse Pendant

A customer wanted a pendant for a dear friend of hers who lives on the other side of the world. Moonstones and the ocean were the theme!

The faceted stone is a grey moonstone, and the rounded one is a white moonstone.

I’m pleased with this little seahorse!

Tool of the Month – Jeweller’s Files

This month, I thought I’d show you my jeweller’s files. As with most smithing equipment, there are a vast array of files, and I have just a few.

The largest file I have is a good old half round file, and the smaller files are barette, half round, pillar, round, three square & square needle files.

Files are mostly used to shape and remove excess metal, so you can imagine there’s a lot of that going on! The larger files move more metal, of course, and the smaller needle files are more delicate and precise.

After you’ve filed a piece, there will be file marks left in the metal. That’s where emery paper comes in. With each stage, you remove the marks that the last stage left, so the file marks are taken away with a coarser emery paper first.

Emery, not to be confused with sandpaper, is mostly corundum, which is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide with traces of iron, titanium and chromium.

I use two grades of emery: a coarser 400 grade, and a finer 1200 grade. I use it wrapped around a metal stick, or a needle file, or just by itself in a small sheet, depending on what I’m emerying! Sometimes a piece looks great just left at this stage – it can provide a lovely matte surface. Most often, though, I brass brush after the emery stage to leave a great satin finish, as you can see on these butterflies. I really love the softer shine this gives the silver.

There are more steps after this used to create a polished finish, but that’s for another day!

Pantone – 2014 Spring Colours

Spring has sprung.. and with it, the release of the latest Pantone colour trends! Some of you will recall my longstanding love of the whole idea of Pantone colour from my previous blog posts here and here. The ambitious and slightly crazy idea that you could catalogue and name the entire universe’s colours is pretty cool!

You’ll see I’ve taken some small liberties with colour matching my gemstone collection here (poor Freesia, I totally love the smell of you, but don’t have a gemstone to completely match that colour – nor for you, Sand!), but on the whole I think I’ve got Spring 2014 pretty well covered. If any of these lovelies appeal to you, and you’d like a custom ring or pendant, let me know and I can create you something beautiful!

By the way, I think I need one of these:

‘The Rubitone’ (credit ~ and kudos ~ to Ignacio Pilotto)

Surely this cube belongs in Geek paradise!

Sterling Silver Forget-Me-Not Charm Bracelets

I created these forget-me-not charm bracelets as a memento for customer whose friend is moving away. The sterling silver chain is pre-made, but the clasps and the charms are handcrafted, as always!

One bracelet each, to remember each other by! What a gorgeous idea.

Sterling Silver, Garnet and Cairngorm Tree of Life Pendant

My best friend asked me to create a tree of life pendant for her lovely sister for her birthday.

To me, the brown of the smoky quartz (also known as cairngorm) represents the earth, and the red of the almandine garnet represents the fruit of the tree.

I wanted this tree to have a different, softer feel that the tree of life ring I made. So glad to hear the lovely El likes it!

in.cube8r

I was recently invited to share my wares at the in.cube8r gallery in Brisbane. A quirky little shop chock full of divine handmade items, with a great ethic – for a small weekly fee, they provide each artist with a space, which is theirs to do with as they wish.

I’ve placed some of my pieces there in my own little cube, which I’ll be refreshing from time to time! I’m sharing the space with some amazing artists, well worth a look.

Vicki, the owner of in.cube8r in Fortitude Valley, blogged this artist profile about me the other day. You can see the blog post here on the in.cube8r site.

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artist profile :: the silver forge {the valley}

posted on august 27, 2013 by vicki @ the valley

tell us about your background

i am a silversmith. originally from canberra, i’ve lived in brisbane for around seven years. i have been smithing since 2005, and last year completed intensive vocational certification at a local dedicated goldsmith’s school. my shop, the silver forge, opened in may 2012.

tell us about what you create

i handcraft bespoke, one of a kind and limited edition pieces of silver jewellery.

what made you start making your pieces?

i’ve loved silver since i was young, and just fell into creating with it – it’s been my obsession ever since i began! it feels like what i am meant to be doing.

what is your inspiration/influences?

i am often influenced by a particular stone or theme, and nature in all her glory provides so much endless inspiration! i’m currently finding some of the architecture and sculpture around brisbane very inspiring, too.

what materials do you use?

all my jewellery is created from quality sterling silver. i like to use gemstones and glass as accents to my pieces, so you’ll find a range of things from drusy agate, to czech glass, to seaglass, as well as other semi-precious stones. the more unusual, the better, i think!

tell us about your creative process?

i like to create everything by hand, using traditional methods and tools. there’s nothing quite like making a delicate piece of jewellery using metal, flame, and some big steel implements!

why did you choose in.cube8r?

in.cube8r is so unique – the idea that i could have a cube which is mine to use as i wish, was very appealing. having the lovely vicki on site to take care of the sales end of things means that i can set up my display, then head home to create some more!

where else can we find you?

you can find the silver forge at:
www.facebook.com/thesilverforge
www.thesilverforge.com
www.thesilverforge.etsy.com
www.madeit.com.au/thesilverforge
tweeting on twitter @thesilverforge

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Thanks, Vicki! 🙂

Next time you’re in Brisbane, head to Brunswick Street in the Valley and check out some amazing handmade products at in.cube8r. I’d love to hear what you think of it!

Australian Marine Conservation Society

This month’s worthy cause is the Australian Marine Conservation Society. AMCS is an independent charity. It is staffed by a committed group of professional and passionate scientists, educators and advocates. It has defended Australia’s oceans for over 45 years. AMCS work tirelessly to create sustainable fisheries, protect threatened species, tackle threats to our oceans and to create marine sanctuaries.

I love the sea, and it is such a source of inspiration to me, so I like to help protect and save our beautiful ocean habitat! Therefore, I will be giving 10% of all sales for the month to the Australian Marine Conservation Society to support their good works. Head over to The Silver Forge Shop now and do your bit. The threat to our environment is getting worse by the day. Without clean healthy oceans, we are nothing!