Monday 22 February 2016

Silversmithing - rings

Last year me and Mr CA did a 2 day silver jewellery making workshop.  The teacher was so good that I put myself on her waiting list for her evening class.  Back in January, a space came up so I'm not attending a silversmithing class every Wednesday evening.  My teacher is Lisa Pearson, I can't find her on social media, so you'll have to believe me when I say she's a brilliant teacher.  Not only does she clearly know her onions, she's a really good teacher, great with an explanation and very patient.



Most of the class have been doing it for a while, so they kind of get on with their own thing and Lisa helps and advises when she's needed.  She also does a demonstration on different silversmithing techniques each class.  There is one other newbie besides me and we are going through a schedule designed to teach us the basics.



Over the first three weeks we made 3 silver rings.  The first (on the left) is made from simple 2mm round silver wire, shaped, soldered, filed and hammered to give a nice texture.  Mine turned out too big so I didn't bother polishing it up, though I may incorporate it into a necklace in the future in which case I will finish it.



The middle ring is made from 2mm x 3mm D-wire.  The inside is flat to your finger, the outside is curved.  This is just shaped, soldered and polished and I'm really happy with mine.



Finally we made a ring from 1mm sheet silver.  We used a pre-cut blank and textured it with a cross-pein hammer to give the bark texture.  We then soldered, filed and polished before burnishing to bring up the shine.  I'm also very happy with this ring but don't find it very comfortable to wear as it's 7mm high and I've only got titch fingers.

Week 4 was a pendent so watch out for that coming up...

6 comments:

Sharon - creativity and family said...

I love seeing all the different crafts you delve into!!

Rachel said...

You are obviously the reverse of me - I have long fingerbones, and like big rings!

Cath said...

Looks like you're getting a good grounding. Looking forward to seeing the pendant :-)

Jane said...

this looks really interesting, looking forward to seeing some of your other makes as you work through the course.

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

Your rings are lovely. What a pity the wider one is too wide for you - it's very stylish! Very impressed!

Sarah in Stitches said...

So cool! I think you did a great job :D