beginner metal
Twisted glory Cold-connection techniques replace soldering in this quick and easy necklace. by Wendy Witchner ditor’s Note: Wendy Witchner embraces a motor-home lifestyle so she can travel around the country selling her wire and metal jewelry at shows. Because she lives and works in the same space, she uses cold-connection techniques that require a limited number of tools. Witchner shares some of her secrets with you in this project, so if you have limited workspace or just want to work with cold connections, you’ll benefit from her experience. —Dori Olmesdahl
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Trace the template. Place a piece of Glad® Press ’n Seal™ over the template on page 4 and trace the shape and the dots. Position the Press ’n Seal template on the silver sheet and gently press it so it adheres to the silver. [1] Cut out the shape. Rest the silver sheet against a bench pin and use a jeweler’s saw fitted with a 2/0 blade to cut around the outside edge of the shape. Hold the saw frame and blade perpendicular to the plane of the silver sheet and use a gentle up-and-down motion to guide the saw. The blade only cuts metal on the down stroke; do not apply too much pressure or the blade will jam or break. Think of using a pressure so light that the weight of the saw pulls the blade through the silver—your hand just keeps the saw perpendicular and moves it upward at the end of each stroke. [2] Mark the drill holes. Place the pendant right side up on a steel bench block. Position a center punch on mark A and hold it perpendicular to the metal. Strike the top of the punch with a hammer to make a slight indentation. If you use too much pressure, the metal sheet will start to curl upward. Repeat with marks B–M. [3] Apply texture. Remove the Press ’n Seal from the metal shape. Place the metal face up on a steel block. Use a hammer with a pattern incised into the head (see “Make a Texture Hammer,” page 4) or use another tool to texture the front of the pendant.
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[4] File the edges. Use a flat or half-round file to file the edges smooth. Push the file away from you so it glides along the edge of the piece and lift off on the return stroke. Do not file using a back-andforth motion. Add a patina. If desired, apply liver of sulfur to the silver elements, including all the parts of the pendant, the neckwire, and the wire used to join the elements. Follow the manufacturer’s directions. Rinse, dry, and use a lathe with a buffing wheel or bristle disks to buff the pendant. Buff the wire by running it through a rouged polishing cloth. Never try to buff wire on a polishing wheel. [5] Drill the holes. Start drilling a hole in the dent you made with the center punch. Use a drill press or power drill with a #63 drill bit to make holes I–K. Use a #51 drill bit to make all the other holes. [6–7] Attach the twisted wire. Use a wire cutter to cut a piece of twisted wire that is 21⁄4 inches (5.7cm) long. Use chainnose pliers to grasp the wire about 1⁄8 inch (3.18mm) from one end. Use your fingers to bend the long end of the wire so it forms a right angle. Working from the textured side of the pendant, press the short end of the wire through hole A. Use chainnose pliers to simultaneously apply pressure from both sides to press the wire flat against the silver sheet. Grasp the opposite end of the wire with chainnose pliers across from hole B and bend it at a right angle. Press the wire through the hole. If needed, trim the end to 1⁄16 inch (1.59mm). As you did before, use the pliers to press the wire against the metal. Repeat with holes C–D, E–F, and G–H.
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[8] Position the wires. Working from the front of the pendant, use a finger to separate a set of wires so they curve away from each other near the center of the pendant. Place the pendant face up on a steel bench block. Hold the wires apart and use a hammer to strike the two wires near one end of the pendant and then at the other end. This keeps the wires in place. Repeat with the remaining wires. [9–10] Add the pearl. Slide about 3 inches (7.6cm) of 22-gauge wire through the hole in the pearl. While holding one end, wrap the other end around the pearl two or three times. Working from the front of the pendant, slide the longer tail through hole I and then slide it through hole J so both tails are on the front of the pendant. Pull this tail so the pearl sits tightly on the pendant. Use wire cutters to trim the wires and press them in toward the face of the pendant. [11–13] Attach the bezel. Place the bezel cup on a steel bench block with the bezel’s lip facing up. Use a center punch and hammer to make a slight indentation in its center. Use a drill press or power drill to make a hole with a #63 bit. Use a flat jeweler’s file to level off one end of the 20-gauge round wire. Use flush-cut wire cutters to trim the other end to 1 ⁄8 inch (3.18cm). This piece will be used as a rivet. Align the hole in the bezel cap over hole K on the pendant. Press the rivet through the holes so a little wire extends from each side [11]. Place the pendant on a steel bench block, and flatten the rivet with a hammer and nail set [12]. Place the cabochon in the bezel and use a bezel pusher to press the sides of the bezel against the cabochon [13]. After the first press, work from the alternate side. Using a clock analogy, if your first press was at 9:00, the second would be at 3:00, the third at 12:00, and the fourth at 6:00. Continue in this manner until the bezel is smooth and securely holds the cabochon. [14] Shape the neck wire. Use a roundnose pliers to grasp one end of the 16-gauge wire about 1⁄2 inch (1.3cm) from the tip. Use nylon-coated pliers to bend the wire around the jaw of the roundnose to form a U shape. Repeat at the other end of the wire, but once you make the U shape, use nylon-coated pliers to press the short end toward the neck wire. Use the same pliers to twist one end so it is almost perpendicular to the other. Use a metal file to smooth the tips of both.
note
on twisted wire
Twisted wire is made by twisting two round wires together. The gauge of the wire is usually described by the gauge of the individual wires and not the diameter of the resulting piece. Sixteen-gauge twisted wire is fabricated from two 16-gauge round wires, which form a strand with a diameter equivalent to that of 10-gauge round wire.
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Make a texture hammer
When the ends are complete, shape the wire into a circle by pressing it around a necklace mandrel or coffee can. Connect the pendant to the neck wire. Open a jump ring (see the sidebar “Opening and Closing Jump Rings,” page 4). Slide the open ring through hole L, and then over the neck wire. Close the jump ring. Repeat with another jump ring and hole M. Z
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Sterling-silver sheet: 1×3 inches (2.5×7.6cm) Sterling-silver wire: 10 inches (25.4cm), 20-gauge, twisted, dead-soft Sterling-silver wire: 6 inches (15.2cm), 22-gauge, round Pearl, 8mm, flat-sided Sterling-silver bezel cup, 6mm round Sterling-silver wire; 1 inch (2.5cm), 20-gauge, round Cabochon, 6mm round, calibrated Sterling-silver wire: 19 inches (48.3cm), 16-gauge, twisted, half hard 2 sterling-silver jump rings: 5mm round, 16-gauge Liver of sulfur (optional)
To make your own texture hammer, use a 1–2mm diamond-tipped drill bit to incise a random pattern onto the head of a steel utility hammer. For another option, use a hacksaw or other saw to score grooves onto the head’s surface. Whatever tool you have that will fashion metal may be used to make specific textures. If you do not want to texture the head of a hammer, you can make random dents in the silver sheet with a regular utility hammer or another type of texture tool such as a metal stamp.
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Utility hammer
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Power drill with 1–2mm diamondtipped drill bit
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Bench pin Jeweler’s saw frame, 2/0 blade Steel bench block Center punch Hammer Texture hammer, metal stamp, or other metal-texturing tool Flat or half-round metal file Buffing wheel or bristle disks (optional) Polishing cloth with rouge Drill press or power drill, #51 and #63 bits Ring clamp Flush wire cutters Chain-, round-, and flatnose pliers Nail set Bezel pusher Nylon-coated flatnose pliers Glad® Press ’n Seal™
Opening and closing jump rings [1] Hold the jump ring with two pairs of chainnose pliers.
L B D I J
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Witchner’s pattern template is marked with letters that correspond to specific points, as indicated in the project’s instructions.
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[2] To open the ring, bring one pair of pliers toward you and push the other away in a rotating motion.
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[3] Grasp the open jump ring with one pliers for ease of maneuvering. Reverse the steps to close the ring.
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