Sterling Silver Squiggly Necklace

Step 1

Measure and mark the silver wire.
If you are using 250mm lengths of silver wire mark the first 1x 80mm, 2x 60mm and 1x 40mm.

Mark the second 250mm length 2x 60mm, 4x 40mm.

Step 2

Cut the wire using wire cutters.

Step 3

Place the wires on a heatproof block so that the wires overhang the block by about 15mm.

Use a hand blow torch to concentrate the flame on the end of one of the wires until it glows red and melts into a ball on the end of the wire. Placing the wires so they overhang the block allows space around the silver wire for a ball to form.

Repeat for all the wires. Leave to cool for a minute.

Step 4

Quench (cool) each wire in water, holding the wire in tweezers to do so.

Place all the wires in a warm safety pickle solution for 5 minutes or until clean.

Step 5

When clean, use an emery stick to smooth the ball end of each wire.

Individually rest the other end of the wire against a bench peg and use an emery stick to smooth the end of the wire and ensure the end is flat.

Use the coarsest emery stick first (240) to smooth heavy marks, and work down to the finest emery stick (2000).

Step 6

Use round nose pliers to bend the flat end of each wire around to form a loop and ensure it meets flush with itself.

Step 7

Add a small amount of solder paste to the join of where the hoop end meets the wire of each wire shape and place it on a heatproof block.

Heat each wire individually until the solder melts and flows.

Step 8

Quench (cool) each wire in water, holding the wire in tweezers to do so.

Place all the wires in a warm safety pickle solution for 5 minutes or until clean.

Step 9

Use round nose pliers to grip and gently twist and bend each wire to form squiggly shapes and curves.

Step 10

Polish the silver wire squiggles using a silver polishing cloth or in a barrel tumbling machine with shot, barrelbrite and water.

You could also use a pendant motor with mops and rouge as well as silicone polishing wheels to add shine.

Step 11

Thread the silver squiggles onto a silver chain with the longest silver squiggle in the middle and the shorter squiggles on the outsides.

Finished Necklace

We hope you enjoyed making your sterling silver squiggly necklace. If you have any questions or want to know more, get in touch with us on Facebook and Instagram. We’d also love to see what you’ve been making so please share pictures of your creations with us too, tagging Cooksongold.