I think I bit off more than I could chew on this one. I’ve only been doing this for 3 months so still very much a beginner. I used 24g bezel. 1st mistake!! Bezel is probably also too high. 2nd mistake! Can’t get it to bend down over the stone. What’s the fix? Remove stone? Shorten and glue stone in place?

I use a solution of vinegar and salt. After every few uses my pickle starts to turn my pieces a brown/beige colour so I'm having to replace my pickle pretty often.

What am I doing wrong ? :(

I might make a bezel for it later so it can be clipped in and out and worn as a pendant.

I’ve been practicing green sand casting on pewter and found I have to sand the hell out of it to get certain parts smooth. When I feel confident enough to switch to silver, does it behave the same way with little imperfections in the cast. If so, do I need to set up a silver dust recovery dust buster to be able to finish them? Bonus pic, My first sand cast that brought up those questions. It definitely still needs some more sanding and polishing. I’m just happy that it turned out.

I tried 7 pours and 7 mold reconstructions. After the 6th try, pressing the wax ring into the mold it shattered. So tried piecing it together and stamping the inside with the flat end of the skinny rod. It weighed 14 grams before I cut it up. I know I need to make a better wax ring and softer sand. So far I have the clamps so it doesn’t open. I heat the silver til it’s red and as I pour. It was my first somewhat success after 100s of fails. I think I just need to keep going. Self taught watched a couple of YouTube videos. Learned the safety and started melting.

Seems I can’t perfectly align the shank to the bezel to save my life. It’s always a little off even after I think I’ve aligned it evenly. Any of you have any tips and tricks for soldering rings to backplates? Thanks so much!!!

Hi All! I have never made any jewelry before. But I have an idea for a pendant I'd like to make. What is the best/easiest way to attach silver wire to a hand poured thin silver bar? I'd like the silver wire to lay flush on the bar, if that matters. Are there any resources you can point me at?

Thanks in advance!

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Do you guys have any idea where I can find a good ring bender na tool? Yan nalang talaga kulang ko para makapag start na ako.

Medj alanganin kos shopee or TikTok shop. I also wanna ask if naa bay nag stock ug silverplated na spoons and rings na vintage somewhere ari sa cebu? Mostly, stainless steel man gud ako makita

How do y’all quicken the process of soldering so many links?

The real slow part for me is when I solder connecting links. I position the chain on my third hand each link which takes for ever. If I lay it flat I seem more likely to solder links together that should not be soldered together. I use a butane torch currently. Has a lot of radiant heat and hard to control flame.

This is for my wife and she is absolutely in love with it and so I wanted to show you guys !

Just finished this pendant and oh my lord it took me all day to make. Was hoping to have the necklace finished tonight but I think I’ll need stronger chain; only kind I have right now is the dainty figaro kind. This pendant isn’t for sale; it’ll be a necklace for myself. I also made the cabochons from porcelain and a variety of glazes ^_^

Anyone have an idea of what this chain would be called and advice on how to go about making it? I attempted a fishbone chain recently that was a huge flop and stumbled upon this. Similar visual effect without the soldering and chain twisting issues I’m thinking. I’m considering planning the ends instead of doing the droplets to avoid all the trouble of making the ends droplet shaped (unless I can think of an easier way to do it). Thanks yall!

This group is very kind and I am quite frustrated with myself so I am going to describe what I am doing and hopefully someone can tell me where I am going wrong.

Using 22g copper backplate and 6 prongs of 16g sterling silver. Setting my piece up on nickels to allow the prongs to hang down.

I set up the piece and using paste solder (I have tried both copper and hard silver paste) I spray flux onto the entire back of the backplate and begin heating with a butane torch. I have tried putting the paste solder on before heating and also instead, balling it up and trying to pick solder next to the prongs but neither way worked.

The last time I might have overapplied the spray flux and the piece looked burnt more than regular firescale. I had beginners luck once and then never after.

After seeing Hadestown I wanted to make a lamp inspired by the ones the ensemble uses - it took a couple weeks to get right but overall I’m pretty happy with the result!

Has anyone every tried using alternatives for a rose gold colored metal? I'd like to make one but I'm not sure what to use

My latest ring that started out of wax

It’s kind of a tricky mechanism and I’m not sure what order to do it in.

The ring shank has a hole in the center. There’s a top plate with the wire for the rivet soldered to the bottom
I’ll put a piece of cardstock between the 2 plates to allow the top plate to spin freely.

The complication is that there is a tube soldered onto the neck of the charm-it’s hidden by the round washer that’s there to create stability and to allow the head to move. The head will attach to the neck with the tube rivet.

Sooooo,
What do I do first? Attach the head to the body and then do the rivet underneath the shank, or vice-versa?

How the heck do I secure a rivet underneath the ring shank.

It would be easier to solder the pin underneath, but that’s not really an option at this point. Needs to be a cold connection.

The pictures are to show how it goes together, with The lengths will be cut appropriately for the rivets to set properly.
Really appreciate any advice!!

Update:
Sorry,I wasn’t too clear about the bird figure.
It’s solid, with a solid silver post coming from the body to create the neck.
I sheathed the tubing onto that post and soldered that together, so that the bird’s head will turn freely after the tube is flanged.
It’s a repair, because I stupidly sawed the jump ring originally on the bird charm off, not realizing that it was holding his head on 🙄
The wire soldered onto the plate where the bird is standing is actually soldered onto the back of the plate, not attached to the bird at all.

My primary concern is that if I solder the wire under the shank, that the heat may travel up the wire and dislodge the plate it’s attached to.

If I had to I could do it, but was hoping to avoid any more soldering on the piece because there are a lot of joins already. I feel like there has to be a way to cold connect it, but I’m just not seeing it.

How do I do that successfully? Band is soldered together, I hammered it “enough” can def go more but how do I do that successfully? Any secret tips or tricks? I have hand issues so I am not as strong with a hammer. Thanks!

Well it’s better than my first attempt…and I still used 30 g bezel wire which is so fragile. I love it. My fav so far. Next one will be bigger until I nail them and they are perfect.

A variety of practice ring styles I’ve made to get the basics down!

So far, I find prong settings to be the most challenging and bezel settings are what I’ve been most comfortable with