The Latest Jewelry Listings

Tonight I’m just going to show you some of the new items I’ve listed (including some fused fine silver and patinated copper). As usual, click on any of the photos to see more views or get more info.

Learning to Fuse Fine Silver and Argentium

So I’ve been experimenting with fusing silver, fine silver to be exact.

Fine silver is also known as pure silver because the content is 99.9% silver. Sterling silver, in comparison, is 92.5% silver and 7.5% mixed alloys. Usually the 7.25% added to silver to strengthen sterling enough for manipulation and duration is copper. Copper oxidizes, which is why sterling silver tarnishes much more quickly than fine silver and why sterling turns black when you heat it (soldering, fusing, etc.).

Fine silver, not having any copper to strengthen it, is very soft. That makes it easy to work with as well as difficult to work with… depends on the project.

Argentium is like sterling silver except that the added 7.5% alloy includes a substance called germanium. Since Argentium contains the same amount of silver as sterling, it can be referred to as sterling silver. But since the different additive alloy isn’t all copper, Argentium doesn’t get firescale (in other words it doesn’t turn black when heated) and it tarnishes much more slowly than traditional sterling silver.

My set-up this week included:

• Fine Silver Wire
• Argentium Wire
• Blazer Micro Torch
• Charcoal Block
• Heat Proof Ceramic Base
• Third Arm
• Tumbler 
• Crockpot of pickle (vinegar and salt)
• Larger, unfocused torch

The things I learned are:

1) You can fuse 14 gauge fine silver with a micro-torch



2) You have to heat the whole piece up if you want a certain join to fuse

3) The join has to be almost imperceptible (flush cut and file)

4) If the 14 gauge fine silver piece you’re torching is very big, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to keep the whole piece hot enough for the join to fuse (using a micro torch, that is)

5) If you torch on a charcoal brick, things seem to go faster (after all, the brick is heating up and helping keep your piece hot)

6) Sometimes torching on a charcoal brick leaves your join mottled on the side that is against the charcoal

7) Torching with a third-arm then can work out better, but it’s harder to keep your piece as hot as it was on the charcoal and it takes a lot longer to heat it up

8) It is possible to fuse with a large, non-focused torch, but you will get different results because the whole piece turns molten rather than just a section you’re concentrating on.



9) It’s possible to fuse pieces onto other pieces, including fine silver onto sterling silver

10) So far, I haven’t found a way to fuse granulation (round balls of silver) onto wire without the ball fusing to the wire in an amorphous blob

11) Argentium fuses in a more laid-back manner than the often frenetic quality of fine silver, making it a bit easier to get a clean, non-lumpy join

12) Tumbling fused silver is a much easier way to debur and polish it than doing all that stuff by hand

13) Playing is fun

I did end up fusing some fire silver to a couple of flat sterling washers. Those I threw into a pickle mix (vinegar and salt) and heated for awhile.

Then everyone goes into the tumbler.

These photos are prior to any added patinas (I’m thinking the bead caps will particularly benefit from some LOS).

First up is my “learning bracelet”. I took some 14 gauge fine silver, wrapped it a bunch of times around my 13mm dapping punch, cut the spiral into jumprings, recut the non-flush side, filed both sides, then fused and fused and fused.



Then I wanted to see how big a circle I could fuse, so I made this one which I will be listing in my “Everyday Jewelry” collection later today or tomorrow. It’s 24mm in diameter strung onto a leather cord.



I practiced more rings (some fused on charcoal brick, some with the third arm). I wanted to try light gauge so these are 20 gauge fine silver (left and right) and 20 gauge Argentium (top). The bottom rings are just more 14 gauge fine silver.



I wanted to try adding granulation (balls) to a ring and this is the only one that didn’t blob out on me. The shadows at the bottom make it look worse than it is, but I’m keeping it for myself so didn’t bother to get a better photo.



Then I made some designs with 14 gauge fine silver that I can use in my wire-wrapping projects.


I experimented with fusing silver onto silver, rather than silver against silver. Here is some bezel wire with small triangles fused onto it (will look better once I add a patina).



And here are some bead caps I made using sterling silver disks and fusing fine silver on top of the disks. These also will look better with LOS.



Since those were sterling, I had to pickle them after I fused them, but wow… got a shock when I reached for the lid to my little crockpot with the pickle in it.



Yes, I have kind of a thing (massive fear) of stinging insects.

The last photo is another necklace I will be listing in a bit. It’s fused fine silver heart (25x22mm).



The rest of the pieces will be used for patina experiments. Stay tuned…

More Patina Experiments... This Time: Sealants

Decided to expand my patina testing to a major area of concern for me… sealants.

After which I spent some time just playing with applying patinas via my torch (I used my box of old crappy practice components… mostly bronze and copper metal clay pieces).

For the sealant test, I took six 24 gauge copper disks and cleaned them with Penny Brite then alcohol.



Then I textured them a little and dapped them into concave shapes.



Last step was to punch holes in them.



BTW, if I do all that manipulating after I clean the pieces (yeah, I don’t always think ahead), I wear latex gloves while I’m working so as not dirty the pieces again.

I then patinated the pieces with ammonia and liver of sulfur (for measurements see previous blog post ).

So I took photos of these pieces, along with the group of bronze and copper that were only heat patinated so that I can compare the before and after photos to see which sealants change the patinas the most.

The first sealant I picked up from my closet of “stuff” was Triangle Craft’s Sophisticated Finishes Primer and Clear Sealer. Couldn’t use it though as the directions state it is not for metal (but I still may experiment with it at a later date because I have coated copper pieces with this before).

Next up Minwax Water-Based Polyurethane. Another no-go. I’d like to steer clear of anything water-based since I think a water-based sealant would let in more oxygen than an oil-based one and it’s the oxygen that will continue to change the color underneath the sealant.

Then I grab my Mixwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane, but the writing on the can is too small for me to read so I hit up Google and try to research it. Hm… can’t find anything that specifically states it’s not water-based, but all the other ones ARE labeled as “water-based”, so I’m going under the assumption that this is not.



I made a quick and cheap contraption to hold the pieces as they dry. I took some heavy gauge brasswire and formed three pieces as shown below, then shoved the ends into a styrofoam square I keep on hand (these styprofoam things are awesome… I also use them to hold PMC pieces upright while they dry).

Then, after dipping each piece suspended from a thin piece of brass wire, I tie the thin wire onto one of the notches in my wire frame. Final touch is writing which number each set is, so I can match it up with my notes when I’m done.



Test #2 is Krylon Make it Last! Clear Sealer.



Had to go outside to do this one (it’s an aerosol). Swept a couple coats across the fronts and backs.

For Test #3 I’ve decided to go ahead and use Renaissance Wax. I want to compare, right?



The rest of my tests pretty much just turned into the Minwax versus Renaissance wax. I did the polyurethane on the right half of each piece (noticing some distinctive color changes immediately upon application) and Renaissance wax on the left halves.

So here are the results:

Here’s the phot showing the heat-patinated bronze and copper pieces before any coatings were added:



For the bits and pieces, the polyurethane is on the right and the Renaissance wax is on the left. The bronze piece on the far left is the back of the piece, but all the other ones are showing the front (and sorry they’re not in the same order in the photo).



I was so intrigued by the lovely shade of red this piece of copper achieved, that I decided to keep a strip of it down the middle for comparison. So on the right is the varnish, on the left is the wax sealer and in the middle is au naturel.



And here are photos of the fronts and backs of the patinated dome pieces before any sealants:




And after:



I’m thinking of watching these pieces and taking photos are monthly intervals to see if/how the colors continue to change.

But so far my conclusions are:

The varnish is neat except it leaves a very glossy shine. I may pick up a can of “semi-gloss” or “satin” for comparison.

The spray sealant seems to leave the piece feeling… artificial? Or coated? I can’t find the right words, but I think I’ll take the varnish or wax coatings over the spray sealant.

The wax leaves a nice feel to the piece, but I do think it dulls the color more than the other two coatings.

As can be seen in the bronze/copper scrap pieces, both the wax and the varnish significantly change the patina color. The lovely reds turned to lovely orange/yellows.

A lot of the very subtle blues and greens have disappeared.

I’ll keep experimenting and keep sharing the results with you.

DIY Photo Cube Tutorial Instructions

Another DIY photo cube. :-)

You can use any size box that fits your needs. This one was made out of a necessity to fit into a particular space (11 inches wide).

For those of you familiar with one of my pet peeves, it’s having to set-up and tear-down my photography arrangement. Because it’s such an involved process, I only photographed once a week, if that.

But I found an 11-inch wide space in my workroom (I decided the etching equipment can come out when I use it and doesn’t need to be a permanent fixture). So then the trick was setting something up that worked to my rather severe specifications and still fit into the tiny space provided.

Lampshades were not an option this time unless I wanted to hit up a dozen stores looking for the exact shape and size needed. So instead, I took a used USPS priority mailing box and an Exacto knife and got to work.

I don’t have photos of the process because it took me all of ten minutes and I was just anxious to see if it would work first, but it’s easy enough to explain.

Ah heck, when I read someone’s blog, I’m more of a visual person rather than a written instructions kind of person, so let me make another one and show you.

I took a used USPS Priority shipping box that is Large Flat Rate (12x12x5½ inches).



Then, using an Exacto knife box cutter, I cut one of the sides off.



Then I close up either the bottom (or top; it doesn’t matter) with tape (I use my strong, wide packing tape ‘cause I don’t want this thing popping open while I’m using it).



Here’s what it should look like now. Mentally replace that piece of Scotch tape you see with packing tape… since I only made this second one for explanation purposes, I didn’t bother using my good tape.



Now, remember I said I wanted something that would fit an 11-inch wide space? But this box is 12 inches wide. I was going to fold the two side flaps in about half an inch so that it would fit my space but I ended up doing something slightly differently (see last photo).



Next, I took the leftover piece of cardboard from the side panel I had removed from the box, cut off one of the lower sections (where the crease is) and put a sheet of aluminum foil (Reynold’s Wrap) on it.



This sits nicely in the back of the box (so nicely, in fact, that you don’t need any adhesive to hold it in place) and creates a nice reflective surface to more brightly illuminate your piece without causing harsh reflections (like from a direct light source). The thing I was striving for was to have the inside of the cube be a lit-up as possible without any direct light that would cause reflections and other harsh effects.



Next lay your cube down so that one of the sides is facing up and score then cut with your box cutter like the photo. You want a margin of about an inch or so. Enough to maintain some structure integrity. And don’t worry about jagged edges. This is not an aesthetic creation in any way.





Do the same thing to the other two sides. So now your six sided cube should have a completely open bottom, a completely open front, two framed sides with cut-out openings, a framed top with a cut-out opening, and a solid back that has foil facing inward.

The final step is to tape (now you can use Scotch tape) vellum or tracing paper over the three openings.



So when I went to place my new photo cube into my 11-inch wide space, I discovered that I could tape the box on TOP of where I was going to put it and the 12-inch wide box was completely in line with my 12-inch wide structure.

Here’s what I’ve got the photo cube on. The box is resting on and taped to the two metal handles at the top. This cart is available through Target and Cosco and other great places. The drawers come out completely (something I require in my workroom) and it’s on wheels so easy to move.



In the final photo, you can see how it’s taped to the metal frame of the cart.



The lighting is three Bayco 5½ inch aluminum heat lamp frames from Home Depot (I removed the metal pieces in front). These have clamps and swivel joints so it’s pretty easy to position them where I wanted. The cords aren’t real long, so I had to bring a power strip close by.



The bulbs (also from Home Depot) are EcoSmart 14-Watt (60W) Daylight CFL Light Bulbs.



And there you have it. I can bring my tripod over if I want an angled shot, but mostly I will just use my table-top tripod positioned straight down.

Here are the first photos I took with the new set-up.





BTW, if you don’t already know, I offer the gradient paper I shoot on as something you can print out yourself (use a good quality setting when printing). Click here to see the options.

Bead Woven Cuff Bracelets

Thanks, everyone, for the nice comments on my previous blog post!

I actually played around a little bit today with patina stuff, but I won't be able to show you anything until tomorrow.

Oh Robin, thanks for letting me know PayPal's new card reader is also for Droids. Whoohoo!

So I don't know if I mentioned here, but I've been trying my hand at bead weaving. So far I've got two cuffs under my belt, and I learned a tremendous amount with each one. I look forward to bracelet #3 in the near future.

[Update: here is the tutorial for this bracelet on Etsy and on my own website.

(Click on a photo for more info)




“You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Martin Luther King Jr