How To Project #1, part 1 of 2

As promised, this week's post is a how to project.  There's a lot of pictures, so I'm going to break it up into about three posts.  I'll try to crank 'em out quick though.  It's a pretty simple project, although the clasp is a bit tricky.  Even if you aren't up to making it, it'll give you an idea of how I do that voodoo that I do so well.  I'll be showing you how to make this:

Tiered Dome Necklace

This piece is inspired by the work of a dear friend of mine, Molly Strader (her website didn't want to load for me, so I'm directing you to her facebook page).  She does a lot with domes,  all of which is far more awesome than this little guy.  Still, this is a classy little piece, and great if you're wanting to do some production work.

To make the Tiered Dome Necklace you will need the following:

Tools:

sandpaper (standard jewelry grits are 220, 400, and 600)

jewelers saw frame, with blades (I used 2/0 size blades)

round nose pliers

disc cutter

dapping block and punches

planishing hammer

hammer you don't care about (you'll use this with the dapping block and disc cutter--don't use your planishing hammer)

vise

1/8" and 3/16" dowels

torch and soldering accessories (board, tweezers, at least two grades of solder, flux and pickle)

needle files

flex shaft, #20 drill bit, and finishing bits

optional: wire nips, machinist's vise

Metal:

20 gauge sterling sliver sheet (a 2" by 3" section should be sufficient)

14 gauge sterling silver round wire (around 2 feet)

20 gauge sterling silver round wire (maybe a foot)

Now before we get started, I just want to emphasize safety.  Always be careful with an open flame and make sure you have adequate ventilation, especially if you are using a flux with fluorides.  Wear safety glasses, especially if you are using a flex shaft.  You will be dealing with sharp pointy things, heavy smashing things, fire, and hot things.  Take appropriate precautions and remember, if you damage yourself it's not myself.  Make sure your torch is in good condition to avoid gas leaks and worse.  If you're uncertain, feel free to take a jewelry class first--you won't even need my direction for this if you do.

Again, I am not liable if you damage yourself in any way.

Also, you'll notice that some of the pictures show copper as the metal used and other silver.  That's because, well, I decided halfway through that I wanted to use this project for a how to and had to redo half the steps.  The process is still the same, and if you'd rather use copper to save some money, go for it.

Step 1

Cut out your discs. You'll need one each in the following sizes: 3/4", 5/8", and 1/2".  On my disc cutter, this is the three smallest sizes.  I'll be honest, I happened to find my discs while going through my scrap, which is a good lesson in using your material wisely.  Extra important with the price of silver running as high as it is.

For your disc cutter lesson, sandwich your metal between the two halves of the cutting block, and go ahead and place your cutter in the hole.  Make sure the edges of the sheet aren't to close to where you're making the disc, or you'll have a flat spot.

 Make sure to place it over something solid to absorb the blows from your hammer, like the post on your workbench.  Otherwise, everything's going to wobble and you'll get nasty marks on your discs.  If you're lucky enough to have a hydraulic press, just stuff the whole assembly in there and skip this step.

Once you've got everything set up, give the blunt end of the cutter a few good blows with a hammer that it's okay to ding up.  (i.e. not your planishing hammer, which has to have a clear polished face.)  I like to use what I refer to as my lucky smacking hammer.  It's an old claw hammer that belonged to my granddad.

 

Once you're done, you should have three discs graduated in size.  Do with the scrap what you will.  I usually save mine for later.  Sometimes you'll need a little sliver, and if nothing else, you can always sell it off later.  Go ahead and sand with 220 at this point, just to get out any big scratches.  You can hammer them out later, but it's easier to get rid of them now.

Step 2

Form your discs into domes.  You'll start off by annealing your dics.  With sterling, you want it to glow red in the dark, but not when it's light.  If you do it right, you almost won't be able to tell you heated them (until you touch them and burn your fingers). If your discs are black, you overheated them and might have to worry about firescale later.  Just don't melt them.

Pretty much you're just going to be heating them up so the metal becomes soft and is a bit easier to work.  Once you're done, quench them, then toss them in the pickle pot to get clean.

One trick I picked up to make pickling small pieces easier is to take a film canister, drill a bunch of holes in the bottom and two near the top, then use some copper wire to make a handle.  You now have a tiny bucket you can use to suspend small parts in your pickle pot.  Just bend the handle so the whole thing doesn't fall in and you won't have to fish around for ages with your tongs.

Like this.

Once everything's clean (make sure to rinse everything off with water) and uber dry, then you can form your domes.  Again,  make sure your discs are dry, or you run the risk of damaging your tools. 

Now, before I forget, you will have to drill some holes in your domes at some point.  You can do it before you dome or after.  If you do it before, you'll probably have to redo it after, because the doming process will deform the holes a bit.  I do recommend at least marking where you'll be drilling before you dome--it's a lot easier to place the holes on a flat surface.  Use a ruler or combination square to find the center and draw a line.  Then use a center punch to mark a spot at each end of the line.  You want it close to the edge, but not so close that you'll drill through the edge.

This looks good.  Rocket science, it is not.

Do this for the two smaller discs, but only mark one spot for the big one (since it's only connecting to one thing.

Now, break out your block and punches.  Pick a dome on the block that the large disc fits comfortably in, down a bit from the edge.  Make sure the center punched side is facing up so that it'll be on the inside of the dome.

 Like this.

Select the appropriately sized punch.  If your set is anything like mine, they might even be marked with their sizes.  I used a 22 (mm?) punch.

I'm ashamed to admit how long it was before I noticed these markings.

Set your punch in the middle of your disc and give it five firm smacks with the hammer.  Be careful not to get your punch off center, or you can hammer it into the block and damage it.  Do this for all three discs.

Now, switch to a smaller dome on the block, using the same fitting criteria.  You'll also need a smaller punch.  I used a 20, if that'll give you any help.  Repeat the process, right down to the five smacks.

  This may also give you a reference.  I pretty much just flopped from the three hole side to the four holed side.

Once you've done that, you should have your domes all formed.  Yay!

They'll look like this.  The left one shows how it would look if you predrilled.

Go ahead and drill your holes now, using a #20 drill bit.  Drill from the inside out.  They should be work hardened, but this way you don't have to worry about accidentally deforming your parts.  Your set up will look something this:

Make sure you hold onto your part, or the bit will grab it and spin it around.

Step 3

Making the hammered texture.  This step is easy.  Take the smaller dapping punch that you used (the 20) and place it in a vise.

Now, place a dome on the top of the punch.  Hold it steady, and gently hammer it with your planishing hammer.  Don't wail on it--you don't want to deform it, but do give it a steady pressure.  Move the disc as you hammer to make sure it's between the punch and the hammer at all times.  You probably want hearing protection for this.

Like this.

Don't worry too much about having all the marks right next to each other.  Just get a good even coverage.  Then do it again.  You want at least two or three rounds of hammering.  Do this for each dome.

 

This was about a round.

And we'll stop here for today.  I need a break.  Next time we'll tackle the jump rings, and start putting things together.