silver wire pendant

[eekoh]

The day job has been keeping me too busy to do much over the last month, but at the weekend I finally got a bit of time at my workbench to play with some new things.
Hammered sterling silver wire hoop with a small oak leaf in contrasting metal and a handmade bail from finer silver wire. The hoop was also textured slightly by going at it with a pair of ridged pliers to give a bit more depth for the LOS to work on.

First time using solder paste rather than pallions and pleased at how easy it was.
Also first time using oxidising products and my goodness LOS does stink!



This one is a fairly simple prototype to practice new techniques but I'm planning to work up some more complex designs on this theme. One of the things i'd like to do is engrave / score some veins on the leaf so I was wondering what would be the best tool for this? I have had a look at graver tools but there seem to be all sorts of different shapes and I'm really not sure which one would be best for this sort of task.

[Dennis]

It's a good start Hazel, but using gravers requires a lot of setting up and practice.

Chasing is relatively easy, using very basic tools. You can make vein shaped dents in a leaf, by resting it on a plastic chopping board, or cutting mat, applying a not too sharp kitchen knife and and tapping the back of the knife with a hammer.

Of course to get the same result as a professional, you would need a lead block or pitch bowl and some chasing punches and a chasing hammer. This might give you more satisfaction, but costs a lot more. Dennis.

[Sheen]

I've been wanting to ask exactly the same question as i'm about to finish a beaded necklace with a silver leaf pendant and want to put veins on. I was wondering whether a chisel stamp might be the best idea and where to get one?

[Dennis]

These are my earliest efforts done about twenty years ago, using a knife and hammer as described above. Most of your trends will be short lived and buying dedicated tools with limited applications depletes you bank balance needlessly. Dennis.

[Sheen]

These are my earliest efforts done about twenty years ago, using a knife and hammer as described above. Most of your trends will be short lived and buying dedicated tools with limited applications depletes you bank balance needlessly. Dennis.

Thanks dennis, we posted at the same time so didn't see yours. I think i have a knife that is suitable and will give it a go. If i get as good a result as yours i'll be pleased.

[eekoh]

Thanks Dennis, I've definitely got a kitchen knife that I can sacrifice to the jewellery bench so that seems a great place to start.
Just out of interest, your leaves look very realistic in terms of shape & proportions so I assume you used real leaves as templates for the designs, did you cut from sheet metal or cast?

[enigma]

Nice work Hazel and lovely leaves Dennis.

I used a scorper to cut veins before I had an Airgraver.
I collected leaves the size I wanted from the forest and drew around them then cut from sheet as I wanted them to be really authentic.
These were cut from tiny baby beech leaves:
http://sarahfoxfineart.co.uk/a1-gall...ictureID=93266
And this was from a tiny baby hazel leaf:
http://sarahfoxfineart.co.uk/a1-gall...ictureID=71023

You can get them any size then scan and reduce or enlarge and print out though.

[Goldsmith]

I shape my leaves on a lead block like Dennis mentioned, then I texture then and cut leaf veins with a graver. Like these Christmas leaves I made as patterns for a friend.




James

[Dennis]

My copier reduces/enlarges, so I use any leaf I fancy and adjust the size to print a template from it. Dennis.

[eekoh]

James & Dennis, I really love those leaf shapes and you've both recreated them beautifully. My current theme is a lot more stylised with the leaf design but I really want to try some more realistic items for some another project so I'll save your pictures for future reference.

Caroline, what was the inspiration for your horsehair jewellery, do you ride yourself or did it start as a commission? I have a friend doing an MSc project centred around emotional attachment to the things we wear and creating bespoke garments with personal significance rather than the modern trend for 'disposable' fashion. Her work is textiles based but I think she'd be really interested in the ideas behind your collection. (She used cat hair for one of her earlier textile projects.)