Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

Sculpt this gorgeous copper heart pendant with our range of Creative Copper Clay!

You will need:

Bows mould

Brass brush

Creative Copper 20g

Hand torch and Soldering block or Kiln

Hand drill

*Heat-proof container e.g. a pyrex bowl

*Hot water

Olive oil and olive oil dispenser

Paintbrush and cup of water

Picklean

Sandpaper

Teflon

Tumbler

Tweezers

Step 1

Rub some olive oil on your hands. Open the clay and press into the mould, filing it so the clay is level with the mould. Smooth the back of the clay with your fingers. Push the clay out of the mould immediately and place on a piece of Teflon. Smooth the edges and refine any fine lines with a damp paintbrush. Leave the clay to dry overnight or by using the drying programme on the Clay kiln.

Step 2

Once dry refine the piece using sandpaper. Drill two small holes as can be seen in the picture above using your hand drill. Your heart is now ready to fire.

Step 3

For best results always kiln fire – Kiln fire at 920C for 30 minutes- Place the heart on the kiln shelf and cover tightly with kiln pillow. This is important to keep fire-scale to a minimum.

Fire using a hand torch: Wait for the binder to burn off and time for a minimum of 7 minutes from when the piece starts to glow bright red.

Step 4

Once your pieces are fired remove them from the kiln immediately and quench in pre-mixed warm Picklean solution and leave in the solution for at least 10 minutes.

We recommend tumbling your pieces for an hour using stainless steel shot and Picklean solution in warm water. Refresh and clean the shot and Picklean solution after half an hour. This method works best for removing all fire-scale. After tumbling you can give them a final brush with a brass brush to bring up the Copper shine.

Please note:

You can create this project using the same method as above but in fine silver by replacing the Creative Copper with 16g PMC3. However, do not tumble in Picklean and your firing time should be altered to 700C/10mins.

This is a guest project designed by Tansy Wilson. Tansy is a professional jeweller and runs her business from beautiful rural Somerset. She also teaches a jewellery evening class at her local college. Tansy has a BA in 3-D Design and has been in the design industry for 20 years. 

“There is an array of textured surfaces that are already incorporated onto hammers now. This means you can easily create a range of fabulous textures on your chosen metal without having to make a patterned stamp first. I have used sterling silver to create this bangle, combining the use of a textured surface against a smooth surface to give a good contrast and make a detail in the design.”

Create these striking textured bangles to wear together or on their own!

You will need:

• Silver Sheet 
• Saw Frame
• Texturing Hammer
• File
• Soldering Block
• Borax Cone and Dish
• Silver Solder
• Hand Torch
• Pickling Unit
• Emery paper
• Bangle mandrel
• Polishing cloth

STEP 1:  Planning

Plan your design to scale and draw onto your silver sheet. Planning is essential as mistakes can be expensive!

STEP 2: Piercing

Pierce out your strip of Sterling silver sheet 20mm wide x 180mm long. Then pierce out the diamond pattern.

STEP 3: Annealing

Anneal the diamond section only.

Please note that you can buy sterling silver sheet already fully annealed so this step would not be necessary.

STEP 4: Texturing

Texture the diamond section only, hammering evenly across the piece back and forth.

STEP 5: Getting straight

Texturing may have altered the edges of your piece so file any edges that are to be soldered, so that they fit exactly flush together.

STEP 6: Preparing to solder

Degrease areas to be soldered and place onto your soldering block so that you solder on the back of your bangle. Flux along all the joins and place small squares of silver solder (paillons) along the joins approx 8mm apart.

STEP 7: Soldering

Heat the metal evenly, build up the heat until you are able to melt the solder and make it run through the join. Carefully place in a cleaning pickle.

STEP 8: Cleaning up

Rinse clean and using a range of files from course to fine, clean off all traces of solder so the back of your bangle is smooth.

STEP 9: Drawing to shape

You will probably need to redraw your bangle shape onto the metal as during texturing and filing the shape may have been distorted.

STEP 10: Perfecting shape

File and use emery paper to get all the edges of your bangle smooth and straight.

STEP 11: Polishing

Polish all surfaces of your bangle. Next wrap a piece of soft material around your bangle mandrel to protect the inside surface of the bangle when shaping.

STEP 12: Bending

Finally bend your bangle around the bangle mandrel, lightly hammering into shape. Lightly re-polish if needed. You have completed your project!

You can also find this project in Making Jewellery Magazine! Hope you have enjoyed the project.

STAMP AND CUT: An effective but simple project for Precious Metal Clay in association with PMC. Design this pendant in only 7 steps!

You will need:

• Badger Balm
• Spacer Roller Set
• Texture mat
• Circle cutters
• Oval cutters
• PMC3 Clay
• Work mat
• Teflon sheet
• Sandpaper
• Butane Torch
• Stainless Steel Brush
•  Burnisher
• Antiquing solution (optional)
• Stringing material – Cord or Leather thong

STEP 1

Roll out some Precious Metal Clay on a piece of Teflon sheet using a Spacer Roller set. Remember to lightly apply Badger Balm to your tools to prevent your clay sticking.

STEP 2

Use a texture mat to add texture to both sides of your Clay.

STEP 3

Cut out 2 circles that are the same size. Cut a large oval in the centre of 1 circle. Cut a small circle near the top of the second circle.

STEP 4

Leave the pieces to dry thoroughly and then use sandpaper to refine the edges.

STEP 5

Torch fire each piece. Torch fire for a minimum of 2 minutes, time this from after the binder has burnt off and the piece starts to glow orange.

STEP 6

Polish using a Stainless steel brush and Burnisher.

STEP 7

To bring out the depth in the piece use an antiquing solution such as Liver of Sulphur or Platinol. Use the agate burnisher when the solution is dry to bring up the highlights on the piece. Loop a piece of cord around the top of both circles and your pendant is ready to wear.

This is a review written by Joanne Varney who holds a BA (Hons) in Jewellery and Silversmithing and is part of the Cooksongold team.

I first came across this book when I enrolled on my Jewellery and Silversmithing course many years ago. It was one of the texts recommended by the course tutors as a good introduction and guide to, what was then a totally new subject to me. I can remember opening the book and staring for ages at the image of the jewellers bench covered in tools, thinking to myself, how am I ever going to know what to do with all those tools!

As I began to read through the book, I soon found that my initial worries began to disappear. The book can loosely be divided into 3 parts.

1st Part

As with many jewellery books, the author begins with an outline of a basic tool kit and then goes on to explain how each tool is used and for what purpose. In what makes up the first section of the book she lists 7 “Basic Techniques”, which are all demonstrated via mini projects, illustrated with numerous photos:

1. Cutting
2. Drilling
3. Filing
4. Soldering
5. Bending
6. Hammering
7. Finishing

Although some of these photos are a little dated, the projects are easy to follow and very achievable for a beginner, which keeps you motivated.  As a student it was invaluable to have these basic techniques to refer back to again and again. Once mastered, these techniques provide the cornerstones of most jewellery design regardless of the materials you are using.

2nd Part

In the next chapter, jewellery design is explained. The author firstly explains the need for design and then goes on to describe the different stages involved with taking an idea from concept to fruition.  This is excellently written and really emphasises how vital good planning is when making jewellery. A helpful section is the one covering design presentation and illustration, which you can always refer to for ideas. The painting techniques shown on pages 58 and 59 are a brilliant guide for creating simple but effective representations of metal and stones suitable to show your customers – easy to understand and not over complicated!

3rd Part

The remaining sections of the book cover what are described as  “Special Techniques” and  “Advanced Techniques”, which become more relevant as you progress and begin to specialise in one of the many different areas of jewellery making. When viewed as a whole these chapters can seem a little daunting, but you will soon start to pick out projects which can be added to your basic arsenal of techniques; for example, Making a Rub-Over Collet with a Twist Wire Decoration and Cuttlefish Casting. I found both of these techniques easy to follow and convenient since they require a limited amount of tools.

Glossary

A useful glossary of terms is included at the back of the book along with information on hallmarking, diamond weights, and costing. There is also a stone chart detailing colour, cut and hardness, plus information on different metal properties  towards the front of the book, which basically tells you all you need to know before embarking on a trip to the bullion dealers or stone merchants.

I feel the ‘Jewellery Making Manual’  offers a rigorous but accessible introduction to jewellery making. It covers a wide range of topics, but in a clear and concise way making it easy to absorb. I would recommend it to anyone contemplating jewellery either as a hobby or a career and would hope that you get as much out of it as I have.

Happy New Year from everyone at Cooksongold!! May you have a very prosperous 2011!

To have a good start of the year we have organised our usual fantastic January Sale throughout the whole first month of 2011! Here’s what it’s all about: we are offering up to 60% OFF  for over 500 products!! Get an even better price than before with:

• up to 50% OFF Charm Beads
• up to 25% discounts on Tools and our fabulous range of Clay
• up to 35% discounts on Boxes and Packaging
• New Low Prices on Loose and Finished Chain

…and so many more!! Enter the sale NOW by clicking here! And remember to get a really great deal by visiting the HUGE DISCOUNTS category, which also contains products due to be discontinued – don’t miss the opportunity to grab a bargain before stocks run out!

Lastly, hurry up – this ENDS on the 31st of January! Enjoy this year with Cooksongold and we hope to hear from you soon!

The festive season is almost upon us and with less than a month to Christmas Cooksongold is running a FIVE DAY FESTIVE FREEPOST* event.  Freepost starts today and ends on Tuesday 30th
at midnight!  Simply spend £50* or more and select ‘freepost’ in the delivery options menu.

Why not stock up now for the busy Christmas Season, grab that unusual present or even treat yourself ! Cooksongolds got the very best gift ideas, stocking fillers, and kits to make any jewellery makers heart beat that bit faster !

Why not take full advantage of the freepost and double-up on the savings with 10% OFF our ever-popular Soldering Kit, 10% off all Durston Rolling Mills, 10% off our Art Clay Starter Kit andÂ
15% off creative FIMO kits !

Don’t forget freepost is MULTI-USE, so go ahead and claim freepost as many times as you’d like!

It's freepost this weekend at Cooksongold.com

Get it while stock lasts!! When you spend £50 or more online at Cooksongold you get our Bear at the Bench for FREE! When you place your order, just enter “FREEBEAR” into the e-voucher code field to claim yours!! The 10″ cute bear loves soldering, hammering, polishing, can give good hugs and relax with you during weekends!! He is ideal as a Christmas present for your friends, family or even as a Christmas gift for your customers. He can also stay and help out in your own workshop! To learn more about taking him home for FREE click here!  Alternatively, you can also purchase our Bear at the Bench for ONLY £4.99 (Was £9.99) by clicking here!

Did you know that our little companion now also has a Facebook page? People are following him in his adventures and having fun with his give-aways! Last time he was playing “hide and seek” on the Cooksongold website. Find out what he will do next: Become a fan to be one of the jewellers to enjoy his experiences!

P.S. We also have a Facebook page: like Cooksongold for even more fun and competitions, hints and tips on jewellery tools, jewellery making techniques, share your artwork and see others jewellers’ designs and so many more!!