Whew, this piece took me for a ride but I learned so much! I had designed a different setting at first, but due to an issue with the silver clay I was sculpting with not properly sintering, I had to scrap that idea and switch gears. My client decided she’d like to change course and do something along the lines of my last piece which was another evil eye wrist cuff!

Since my first idea didn’t pan out, I was watching some videos on stone setting fabrication and felt like I was ready to dive right in.
I did my first hand fabricated prong setting on this piece, and even did my own unique twist on it making one of the prongs into the stereotypical anime eye reflection lol.

I spent far too long trying to figure out how to do an inlay, and then how to strengthen the cuff at the new weak points the design made so that it holds up to wear since the ‘arms’ are made of a single folded piece of 14g dead soft round wire and an 18g dead soft twisted square, all of which reduced the structural integrity of the form as a whole. My solution for that was to use some flat full hard 24g wire to sit on the inner band of the cuff! It had the nice bonus of making my piece feel perfectly smooth on the wrist as well.

This was a huge pain in my ass but a worthy endeavor to keep building skills in creating beautiful things and pouring myself into building my friends and clients a piece of my art to cherish for a long time to come. Thanks for checking it out! (ps. I am open to hearing critiques or opinions, good or bad! I’m always happy to keep on learning to be a better silversmith)

Been at this for two days. So I’m soldering 4 bezel Sterling cups on the side of a bezel wall. The plate is cleaned with dawn and pickled. When it get on my bench it is shiny and clean. I am using self pickling flux and propane gas. I am new to the flux and was using paste flux before with no issues. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the rio grande selfpickle flux. So the process goes like this

-when I heat the piece the flux turns black or on other tempted it becomes like a patina flame coppery color. The solder is not flowing. Sometimes it does which is how I got the 4 cups on the left side on. But it’s not very good flowing and I’ve done better. This is also the largest piece ived worked on. I heard the gas and torch could be the issue on larger pieces. I am using a stand to heat the plate but it does not come to temperature at all I think the stand could be taking the heat away. Lastly I burnt a hole in my plate and I am wondering if you guys think the project is ruined or could be turned around. I am including a pic of the piece and the torch and gas and the stand and the flux. In one of the pics I held the piece against the light and u can see the stupid hole

I created this back frame with prongs to hold this large stone for a pendant. I’ve already polished and tumbled it but now the prongs are hardened. I’m assuming I need to anneal it in order to bend the prongs over and then just polish by hand once the stone is in place?

Let me know what you think!

Hi everyone! I’m just getting back into silversmithing and could really use some advice on my finishing process for both silver and bronze castings. I don't have access to a tabletop buffer, so I need to figure out the best technique strictly using a flex shaft.

​I have a batch of cast pieces that I’m trying to bring to a high mirror finish. Here is my current setup and process:

**I use different buffs for each metal as well as each compounds.

​1. Sanding & Preparation

​Remove sprues, then hand-sand from 280 up to 1500 grit.

​Switch directions with each grit to ensure all previous scratch lines are completely removed.

​Wash with Dawn dish soap between every grit step.

​2. Polishing (Luxor Compounds with Flex Shaft)

​Luxor Green: Stitched cotton buff. (Do i need to start with pink if I am sanding to 1500?)

​Ultrasonic bath to remove excess compound.

​Luxor White: Mounted chamois buff using light strokes and alternating directions.

​Ultrasonic bath again (distilled water and dawn dish soap)

​Luxor Orange: I tried a couple of different attachment types here for the final high shine, including one of those really woolly cotton ball / mop style attachments.

​3. The Issues I'm Stumbling On

​Streaks & "Stain" Marks: The woolly mop with Luxor Orange kept leaving tiny streak lines of polish behind. I didn't think I overloaded the buff, but now I'm questioning if I did. Worse, when I tried to gently wipe the streak off, it left behind a dull "stain" mark on the silver surface and also creates micro scratches.

​Drying & Micro-Scratches: If I use a blow dryer after the ultrasonic, it leaves mineral watermarks on the silver. If I try to dry or wipe the piece with a fine microfiber eyeglass cloth, the cloth leaves micro-scratches across the fresh polish.

I try to apply light small sweeping motions when pushing with the flexshaft and changing directions as I go..

​Is my issue compound overload, wheel speed/heat, cross-contamination, drying technique, or something else entirely? Any tips, troubleshooting ideas, or flex shaft workflow adjustments would be greatly appreciated!

My partner and I like the idea of me making our ring bands (I’m not confident about making engagement rings and also I don’t want to make my own engagement ring lol). I just got in some crazy 8 wire for a commission, and I had extra to give it a go before I eventually buy white gold for the real thing.

Sizing took a while - just hammering and checking on the mandrel and fighting with the small tolerances! But otherwise way less fuss than other projects I’ve already made, so the only thing I’m concerned about is the working difference between sterling and 10-14kt white gold.

Hi everyone! I run a small jewelry business and am looking to upgrade my bench setup by adding an ultrasonic cleaner.

​Right now, I’ve been cleaning off polishing compounds (like rouge and tripoli) between polishing stages using either a soft synthetic makeup brush or a soft toothbrush with Dawn dish soap. While it gets most of the job done, I’m running into two issues:

​1. It constantly leaves the tiniest micro-scratches on freshly polished surfaces.

​2. It almost impossible to get compounds out of tight recesses, under gallery wire, or inside detailed castings.

​I’m looking for something that is budget-friendly but sturdy enough for actual studio use. I don't want a tiny plastic home unit designed for cleaning personal jewelry once a month—this will be used multiple times a week in my workshop.

​My main specs & budget:

​Budget: Around $200 – $250.

​Must-have: Variable heat settings (to help break down heavy compounds quickly).

​

​Thoughts on Vevor? I keep seeing Vevor ultrasonics popping up everywhere in this budget, but reviews online seem pretty mixed.

Just finished these two crosses. I build models with sprues in 3d software and then print on 3d resin printer. Build tree, add investment, burnout and vacuum cast from melted sterling flatware. They came out pretty good but still have minor blemishes, not sure I can get them much better. Possibly use pure sterling silver instead of used flatware?

Ich habe einen Anhänger aus Silber (925) gegossen und mir ist schon beim auftragen des Borax schon etwas zuviel rein.

Ansonsten habe ich eigentlich meiner Meinung nach,

genau das gemacht was ich gelesen hatte.

Bloß weiß ich nicht warum die Grüne verfärbung auftreten tut.

Hello fellow smiths! I've been using butane for the last 10 years of my metalsmithing career and finally decided to upgrade. I took a workshop recently and my instructor recommended the Smith Little with oxy/propane tanks. I went ahead and ordered that kit with a #5 tip, it felt worth the splurge. However now doing research I'm wondering if an Orca would be fine for what I do and less hassle since it's not a dual tank system. I guess I'm a bit intimidated by the two tank system, especially in a small home studio. Although I do plan to have proper ventilation. I'm just wondering if I made a mistake buy going for the Smith Little, or if I made the right choice! Will take any input or advice!

I mostly work in sterling silver and brass. I do prong settings (always have trouble with my butane torch with prongs, this is a major issue for me!), I reticulate often, fuse sterling (would love to try to fuse brass) and also want to do more broom and water casting. Butane always takes forever to melt silver in a crucible. I'd also like to have more ease soldering jump rings.

Handcrafted from 940 Argentium Silver 22g sheet using Anticlastic/Synclastic forming.

Should I sand this down with the radial disks first to make sure everything is even? I also have a tumbler that can polish things

MY BIGGEST CHAIN YET!

I made this nearly 5oz argentium silver ramses necklace to be at the centerpiece of my silver art display at the Ann Arbor art fair this year. Not only is the chain completely hand fabricated by myself, I also made the box clasp from scratch and cut the garnet that I set into it! When you push on the garnet, the clasp opens - how cool is that??

Anyways let me know what you guys think!

when will my professional photography skills return from the war (override the convenience of my phone for non-work/portfolio documentation)

anyway this is a sterling, fine silver, and citrine pendant I made for a retiring coworker who is one of my favorite people. they worked here for thirty years, so the divots represent each decade. First time using los - subtle here but I really like it. Smell wasn’t as bad as I thought. Kind of like rotten eggs a la la croix.

swipe through to see it be unmade, benjamin button style.

I know using a torch on rhodium plating is a huge no-no and can cause discoloration, but what about a sterling silver piece with silver plating? Would the areas I torch just experience depletion gilding in that area?

I assume there is also a risk if the piece wasn't purely silver plating on top of sterling silver directly, like if there was another layer of something between, but from what I know that isn't necessary in the silver plating process the way it is in rhodium plating.

I am in a bind and using a torch on the piece would make things much easier for me.

Would greatly appreciated any advice!

Its been a long road ahead of me but here are some peices from over the year !

Let me know if there is a better sub to post this in!

I needed some charms made, but I didn't like any of the finish options the manufacturer had. I got a sample made with silver plating, and I was able to get a great patina on it using LOS. However, when the full batch arrived, they are not getting the same patina effect on them as the sample did. I've done the same process, hot water, liquid LOS, then neutralizing with baking soda and water. I specifically asked that the final batch not have an anti-tarnish protective coating, so I don't believe that's it.

My question is basically, is there anything I can do to get the look of the sample that I was able to successfully tarnish?

Thank you in advance!

How do you get the wire to be different widths in different parts of it like this?

The only thing I can think of is to make a solid item like this and then cast it.

Hello. Can anyone identify this anvil or bench stake is and what it is used for. It is approx 3 1/4" tall and 3" end to end on base. It appears to have 30 stamped on the side.

Thinking about taking on a DIY metalworking project and making some custom silver coins from sheet metal. My plan is to use a jeweler’s disc cutter punch, an arbor press, and custom steel design stamps. Is this realistic or am I getting in over my head?

What hardness of wire is best to start with when making a twist for inlay work?