November Theme Competition

[silken]

My favourite technique at the moment is electroplating. I recently added a pen plating kit to my collection of tools and I adore it. It's so easy to create gold accents on jewellery without the increasing cost of using solid gold. Here are some earrings I made, the flowers were pierced from fine silver sheet, domed and soldered to one of Cookson's sterling silver earring posts. I then soldered on a tiny granule of fine silver (recycled from past failed projects), polished (leaving the inner part of the flower semi-matte in finish) and then selectively electroplated the little flowers.

This is the first time I've submitted anything in the monthly competitions as I'm always in awe of all of the other beautiful submissions. Good look to everyone

[Dennis]

I recently added a pen plating kit to my collection of tools and I adore it.

It certainly works for you and it's something I've always wanted, but I'm just too mean, mean, mean.....No, not really, just wary of adding to the pile of white elephants I never use. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

I know I don't tend to post in the competition threads, but a favourite technique would definitely be this:



(and if not that, stone setting...)

[Dennis]

Yes and I can see why. Dennis.

[silken]

I have never even ventured near mokume-gane, it looks completely and utterly daunting but the results are beautiful. That pendant looks wonderful!

Dennis, I had contemplated buying a plating kit for years and after actually getting one and trying it out, it's a great little tool. I work with solid gold also but I can't fault the plating system for giving a relatively inexpensive sterling/fine silver piece a nice 24k finish. If I decide to buy more kit, I really want to try electroforming some druzies and various other non-conductive bits and pieces but that is something I'll have to add to my long to-do list

[ps_bond]

Yes and I can see why. Dennis.

Which bit, Dennis - why I don't post or why it's a favourite technique?



(OK, I'm *hoping* it's the latter!!!)

[trialuser]

Hello Peter - please don't take offence at this, it's meant in a light hearted way.
When I first saw the photo as a thumbnail before I enlarged it - it reminded me of one of these
But it looks lovely on closer inspection!
Cheers
Martyn.

[ps_bond]

Ooh, a mokume sump plug washer - now there's luxury for a Land Rover! I think we might see the corrosion issues Jim Binnion talks about though...

[art925]

I love that Peter, I have enjoyed your indepth discussion over this technique in other threads. I have one Q over Mokume; When using silver and copper together you layer the silver over copper, do you also layer silver over gold or gold over silver?
Thanks Les

[ps_bond]

You can get a large variety of dissimilar metals to bond - Ian Ferguson's book has a number of plates of different mixes. For some of them you need to bond them in an inert atmosphere though.
For the jewellery metals (and the copper alloys) you don't need to go quite that far - so silver/gold, platinum/silver, different colour golds, platinum/palladium are all possible mixes.

Traditionally, the Japanese mokume gane mixes were limited to silver, copper, shibuichi, shakudo & kuromido. I don't *think* I've seen any using gold for the layers, only as the accents (either inlay or onlay).