Thursday, August 18, 2011
Roller Printed Sterling Silver and Onyx Pendant
I just finished this pendant for my wife's birthday present. I used sterling silver and ran it through my rolling mill with a piece of manilla envelope and 20# test monofilament pieces to produce the texture, this is called roller printing. The curvature of the metal is a by-product of the rolling mill treatment. The stone is a 10 mm diameter onyx cabochon which was bezel set in a bezel made of fine silver.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tension Set Forged Silver and Onyx Ring
This ring was made for a family friend as a wedding band. The stone is a 5 mm onyx bead that is tension set.
To make the ring, I started with a smaller ring that I constructed from 4 gauge sterling silver bar stock. I then forged the ring into its squarish profile on a ring mandrel.
The sequence of change in shape is shown in the images below:
Ring with quarters marked and some hammering done |
Ring is starting to get more square |
Profile of ring after initial forging |
After side of ring were hammered flat |
When the ring was enlarged to the correct size and profile, I cut the ring at the soldered joint and then removed a slightly smaller amount of metal than the width of the onyx bead. (no images, sorry)
Before I set the stone, I created seats for the stone to rest in with a ball burr on each side of the opening. To set the stone, I slid the ring onto my ring mandrel to spread the opening slightly then placed the stone in the gap and slid the ring off of the mandrel to allow the ring to close onto the bead.
The ring had tremendous spring to it since I did not anneal the metal during the forging process. The heaviness of the setting and the work hardening of the metal is essential to the security of the stone in a tension setting in sterling silver.
Sapphire Ring
This ring was commissioned by a co-worker who wanted a ring for a 10th anniversary. The ring is constructed entirely of 18K yellow gold and has a yellow sapphire in a bezel setting.
Sterling Silver and Chrysoprase Earrings
These earrings were made as gift earlier this year. The earrings were constructed from sterling silver with a hammered finish and set with chrysoprase stones. The earrings were designed to have hand made french wires that attach them to the wearer's ear, but can be made with a post earring if desired. Email if interested in ordering.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
New Earrings
Here are some new earrings I made. They are constructed of sterling silver that was roller printed using Cordura nylon and my Durston rolling mill. They measure approximately 1cm x 1cm.
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