The Penanular Brooch.

[Dennis]

Autumn is most definitely here and winter not far behind, so I thought I would make a penananular brooch, to be worn as a fastener for a shawl, or an ornament for a heavy knit.

Basically it consists of a large ring not soldered closed, as the name implies, loosely encircled by the curled head of a pin. It also goes by the name of Celtic pin, or Viking pin. Anyhow, something antique you can claim was dug up in your back garden.

Abiding by the maxim: use what you already have, I rolled down some 3.0mm square wire to a strip about 3.5x1.6x 160mm and twisted it to within an inch of breaking, with lots of annealing in between. The pattern you see now is just the very edge of the strip.

The pin was made from 2.0mm round wire, twisted for hardness and then tapered. The head end was planished in the mill and curled up with linking pliers to fit onto the ring.

Finally, the ends were planished to be flatter and broader, to prevent the pin from escaping. I almost ran out of metal for this and doing it again, would buy in broader strip, say 5.0mm wide.

Material, sterling silver. No soldering.
If you’re good with a hammer, you don’t need a mill. Dennis.