Newbie Silverspinner

[Silver Spinner]

Hello everyone,
My background is silver spinning small items in light gauges, based around the Birmingham area. I am hoping to add more detail to some of my items with some twisted wire work, as well as advice on soldering more delicate items. Is there anybody local who could help?
thanks, Paul.

[Dennis]

We would love to learn more about spinning. In return most of us can trouble shoot soldering of delicate items, once you can post pictures. Welcome to the forum, Dennis.

[metalsmith]

+1 on wishing to hear about your spinning.
Welcome to the forum

[CJ57]

I had to google spinning and you would be amazed at how many spinner rings came up and not the actual, I thought terrifying, process of spinning silver. Will also be interested to see this

[ps_bond]

Likewise - it's on my to-do list as a way of forming mokume gane vessels, I just need to build up some tooling to do it. I'm aware that an ML7 isn't the best solution, but it's what's available to me.

[Goldsmith]

Welcome Paul,
I am a trade trained goldsmith and know about spinning, I was taught how to do it by Henry Pierce. I am now retired, but when I needed large silver spinnings for parts of my my table centre epergnes my friend Stefan Coe helped me out, luckily Stefan has a workshop nearby. I only did small spinning jobs for myself like the mount on the top of this flower vase, spun in gold before being engine turned.

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James

[Silver Spinner]

Thanks very much for you replies, I had a quick search of Youtube and the nearest i could find was this [ Hand Metal Spinning a Pewter Baby Cup on a Lathe ]
Once you have made a pattern (5mm to 30cm diameter) to form your material over and selected the correct gauge (0.2mm to 2mm) that's it. You can spin many types of metal ( Copper, brass, pewter, aluminium, gold, platinum etc) but silver is the pick of the bunch for me.
thanks again, Paul.

[enigma]

How interesting! I hadn't heard of it either, just had to youtube it.

[china]

Peter, ML7 will handle small stuff no problem, you will most likely have to make up your own tool rest

[Goldsmith]

I did my small spinnings on my old Boxford lathe, but you really need a big lathe for serious bowl spinning.

This is my mate Stefan Coe at his spinning lathe.

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James

[Dennis]

I notice that he did not wear eye protection. Could a tag break off and fly? Dennis.

[Goldsmith]

Nothing breaks off when spinning correctly Dennis, it's really just shaping a disc of metal over a chuck with a large burnisher.

James

[china]

Back in the eighties I use to give my mate a hand spinning Gold pans 11" diameter ( that's for panning Gold ) plus he had a small lathe for egg cups and the like, it is a dying trade
I have a metal spinning company 5 mins from where I live they make camping gear-camp ovens, fry pans smokers etc. He loads a blank presses a button a has a cup of coffee while the machine dose all the work

[Silver Spinner]

Thanks Dennis and James for the photographs you posted. The rings are great, i am going to try a simple twisted wire handle first. I will message you once i get started on them.
Well done James on the spun top did you do some samples first in base metal or plunged straight in?
Also i have done a few jobs in 9ct, did you use the same and found there was a lot of annealing required?

[Goldsmith]

Thanks Dennis and James for the photographs you posted. The rings are great, i am going to try a simple twisted wire handle first. I will message you once i get started on them.
Well done James on the spun top did you do some samples first in base metal or plunged straight in?
Also i have done a few jobs in 9ct, did you use the same and found there was a lot of annealing required?

I spun the vase top on a brass shape I turned, I did make a silver one first and the gold one was 18ct. which is the metal I work in most. My customers were mostly middle eastern and didn't regard 9ct. as gold.

James