nicilaskin — silver smithing

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...

wedding bands i made   www.nicilaskin.etsy.com I cut 2 different width flat wire stock to length 5mm and 4 mm width stamped the infinity symbol filed the ends flat and formed them so the ends meet flush add flux and solder start heating with a torch quench in water and then clean in pickle solution the black is oxidation that happens during torching after the pickle bath now start forming use a ring mandrel and a nylon hammer first after forming the ring you can use a ball peen hammer to make the dimpled texture , polish the inside I...

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...

fun with metal easy texture for metal this is basic metal smithing 101 take a patterned steel sheet tape a strip of metal that is softer then the steel to the plate use clear tape so you can see the back . Start hammering with a ball peen hammer on the whole back ,basically covering the back with dimples .You will need some elbow grease with this as this takes some serious hammer time WATCH YOUR FINGERS !!! while you hammer the back the metal expands and gets pushed into the pattern in the steel plate thus creating a negative...

wings on sterling draw some narrow wings on a piece of paper stick/glue the wings to your metal sheet I am using 20 gauge brass ( 0.8mm thick ) I usually do a mock up in metal that is cheaper before doing a sterling/gold version draw your ring shank onto sterling silver this is 18 gauge ( 1 mm thick ) cut out your wings and your ringshank via jewelry saw and 1/0 saw blades make sure the ring shank and the wings fit ( I am good with eyeballing things - I tend not to measure ) solder your...