nicilaskin — jewelry making

the prongs get pushed with a bezel pusher over the stone finished ring with the bangle I made too well actually I made the bangle first a couple of days ago , but I wanted a ring too hope you like it

Just playing around with metal I started out with some sketches I always use scratch paper for the initial sketches and when i like the design I will trace the design onto a piece of label paper . label paper has already " glue " added to one side soI do not need to glue my design to sheet metal ( rubber cement works the best if you do not have label paper ) I always end up with a sticky mess if I use the glue I cut out my design and stick it to the sheet metal in...

Today I made a seagull tie bar out of sterling silver and added some stones to it . I used 18 gauge sterling silver, 2 x 3mm serrated bezel cups and 2 x 3mm black Onyx cabochons. what else you need jewelry saw and 1/0 saw blades chasing tools or screw drivers, a hammer , a nylon hammer or rawhide hammer steel wool or sandpaper if you do not have a flex shaft or dremel for polishing a torch , flux, solder , pickle solution patina ( liver of sulfur or black max ) draw your bird on the sheet...

  So today I decided to work with some gold filled material . Gold filled metal is a much cheaper alternative than gold but of much higher quality than gold plated . The one I used is 14/20 meaning 5% off the metal is 14karat gold . The core is made of brass. The difference between gold plated and gold filled is the quality and the thickness of the layer while with gold plated you only get a microscopic film of 14k gold the gold filled layer is much thicker and bonded to the core via heat and pressure making...

draw your arrow on the metal sheet or draw it on a piece of paper and stick the paper to the metal sheet . I just like to draw the easy shapes on to my metal directly cut out with your jewelry saw and 1/0 saw blades clean the arrow with steel wool for easier soldering cut a 4 inch long piece from sterling silver I used 18 gauge ( thicker then that and it gets hard to bend into shape ) flux your arrow and add your solder I use extra easy wire solder ( silver ) fire up...