nicilaskin — metalworking

made this today - gold bypass ring in shape of a guitar I started with a mock up in bronze ( much cheaper ) 20 gauge ( 0.8mm thick ) is what I use i bronze or gold as I have a hard time bending things by hand with those 2 metals 18 gauge ( 1mm thick ) I use for copper and sterling silver as both metals are softer and not as springy I drew the shape out on a piece of label paper make it 3 inches long as you have to "bypass " the ends and anything...

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...

This sterling silver flower necklace was sawed and constructed entirely by hand from 18 gauge sterling silver and features a genuine black onyx stone in the center to complete the botanical statement. Embodying the organic flow and rhythm of a flower shape, the outer pedals were sawed as one continuous shape from the flat sheet of sterling silver and dapped and domed on a shaping block to capture a realistic three dimensional form. The inner whorls or pedal structure was also sawed by hand, domed, and then soldered to the outer pedals using a hydroflux welder before setting the onyx...

I was procrastinating today a bit and those 2 rings are the results I am actually supposed to work on fathers day orders but for some reason I got side tracked i used galery wire for the so called bezel setting wrapped once around the stone tightly to make the setting soldered the ends together so they form a ring place the stone inside there is a lot of forming going on with you fingers so that the stone sits tight but can be taken out without loosing the shape of the bezel I traced around the bezel to make...

  Sterling silver " Rock and Roll " cuff bracelet   I used a 20 gauge 6 inch by 1 1/4 inch strip of sterling silver for the base and 18 gauge sterling silver for the guitars and the star. The shapes were cut out with a 6 inch jewelry saw and 1/0 saw blades. Personally I prefer the german saws and saw blades as I found the quality to be outstanding , but I might be biased because I am german. I used a template to draw the guitars right on the metal and then sawed them out ....