Cat pendant.

[Goldsmith]

Hi Katia,
I am glad to see that you are doing some piercing, but don't think the act of piercing will ever work harden a piece. The metal could be work hardened by hammering, either flat hammering or hammering a texture on it.
I must admit that I find piercing one the most enjoyable jobs in this trade.
Good luck with the cat ideas.

James

[Katia]

Ho thank you so much for the reply James.
I love piercing as well and can only dream of reaching your skills one day!
I really do not wish to hammer a texture on this. Forgive me for the silly question,but would using a raw hide hammer be ok? I am really a bit scared of hammering this little cat now for fear of damaging it!

[Goldsmith]

Looking at the size of your cat I think I would leave it be, as any hammering may damage it, a rawhide hammer will harden it a little but may also mark the surface. Perhaps you could use thicker silver next time. I use a hammerhead attachment in my flex shaft drill to add textures to items.
Like I used on this crest.

James

[Dennis]

I used a 0.5 cm thick sheet for this as I thought it would be the best idea for the size of the pendant. But I think that next time I will try something a bit thicker, like 0.7. I dunno...

I hope you won't feel intimidated by this scramble to give you advice, Katia. The fact is that you don't need to anneal silver prior to piercing, only prior to and during any bending. 0.5mm will be quite soft now and might even bend accidentally if filed a little roughly. Yes, 0.7 or 0.8 would be better and if the edges are filed to a slight bevel would look thicker too.

Most of us start by making two dimensional pieces, but eventually try for something more three-D, by doming or soldering on layers. This will have a strengthening effect and allow you to use thinner metal. You'll be laughing at all this in a year or so, Dennis.

[Katia]

hi Dennis! No, I will certainly not feel intimidated by any kind of scramble, on the contrary! I am very thankful for all the advices that are given to me by all of you on this forum. Please, do scramble away!

So I have actually noticed that one can only buy those " Reflections" sheets as being annealed, so I guess that indeed,the better option would have been to use a thicker sheet, but I had not considered everything...
Now it is just too late to make another one though as Her birthday is on Saturday! Will need to take extra care when filing it tomorrow when my files turn up. Still, Very glad to learn so much information by making just one project!

Thanks,

Katia

[Katia]

Sorry James, forgot to reply!

The crest is wonderful! So the " matted" effect behind it is given with your flex shaft drills then? ( I hope matted is the right word, it is the closest one to the term we used in Belgium at school).

[Goldsmith]

Sorry James, forgot to reply!

The crest is wonderful! So the " matted" effect behind it is given with your flex shaft drills then? ( I hope matted is the right word, it is the closest one to the term we used in Belgium at school).

The matte effect behind the crest was achieved by what I call frosting and was done using my scratch brush unit fitted with a brass brush. The texturing on the crest's scrolls and also the supporting animal's fur texture was done with the hammerhead on the flexshaft, The hammerhead has screw in tool heads that can be shaped to create may textures.

James

My hammerhead with the screw in tool heads:

[Babette InProgress]

Stunning piece, so many techniques for me to try I am so jealous

[Katia]

Thank you James for showing a picture of this very versatile tool! yes Babette,James's work is indeed so inspiring.

I received the files today and used them on the pendant. here are pictures of ' before and after'. The legs are now quite different and more defined ( at least I hope so)

I will not have time to do the butterfly now as I need to do some more engraving before I go to see my mum.

Thanks everyone for your help.

katia

[silken]

Katia, it is beautiful! Very sleek and feline-esque! I am in awe of your engraving work, honestly, it is incredible so I can't wait to see your more of your jewellery creations.

Those new files of yours will be a good companion, I promise. I would be lost without mine