Silver jewellery making is all about bringing your designs to life with silver. Otherwise reffered to as silversmithing, the term silver jewellery making encompasses working with a range of precious metals in a variety of forms including wire, sheet and solder. This can involve several different techniques including saw piercing, soldering, and forming. To get a beautiful shine on your finished pieces, you’ll also need to learn buffing and polishing. Once you’ve learned these techniques, you can easily create your very own stunning silver jewellery items.
We’re here to make learning the art of making silver jewellery simple. On this page, you’ll find in-depth guides and information and a list of all the essential tools you’ll need to get started. Using silver to make jewellery opens a world of possibilities – are you ready to start?
To start making silver jewellery, you will need to have a few essential tools to ensure you can create high-quality pieces. These include:
When making jewellery with metals, having the perfect workspace is essential. It could be a corner in your home, like your office desk or even the dining table. Sawing, soldering, and polishing are all part of the silver jewellery-making process, and for your comfort and safety, it's crucial to create a well-ventilated and spacious work area.
You can create unique jewellery pieces by learning how to add designs to metal. Etching, engraving, and texturizing are all great ways to add a personal touch to your creations. As you get more familiar with essential tools, you can practice customising your pieces.
If you're just getting started with metalworking, why not begin with base metals like copper, brass, and aluminium? These metals are a fantastic option for newcomers to the craft. They're more budget-friendly than precious metals and offer greater ease of use, giving you the perfect opportunity to refine your sawing skills and experiment with your designs without the worry of costly mistakes.
Sterling silver is the go-to choice for crafting stunning pieces. Sterling silver is alloyed with 7.5% copper which means it is extremely strong and durable, making it ideal for beginners. Plus, it will not rust, meaning your creations can enjoyed for years to come.
Knowing how to accurately cut sheet metal and wire correctly is an essential part of jewellery making. It can be a difficult skill to master which is why it is important to practice and practice again. Learning how to use your saw vertically and how to turn corners will make creating your pieces much easier. Read up on our guides on how to cut metal to familiarise yourself with the techniques.
Your choice of metal all depends on the type of piece you are creating. Generally speaking sterling silver is a popular choice for every day jewellery like necklaces and earrings whilst palladium and white, yellow and red gold are preferred for engagement and weddings for their durability, quality and overall look.
Base metals are the opposite of precious metals and include copper, brass and aluminium. These are far more economic than gold and silver however these will tarnish at a much faster rate which is often why they are used for creating costume jewellery only.
Used to coat through a blade, making it easy for the saw blade to slide through metal
Used by traditional jewellers when soldering, the charcoal block is used as a surface to solder on. As charcoal is a good heat reflector, this is ideal for soldering small jewellery pieces.
The process of adding the final touches to jewellery. Finishing can involve everything from adding a high shine finish as well as semi polished, hammered, and brushed finishes.
A chemical compound used during the soldering process. Flux will allow solder to flow easily and in return will keep the piece clean.
A tool used to shape and reshape metal. Often used when creating bangles, bracelets and rings.
Precious metals are naturally occurring metals that include Gold, Silver, platinum and palladium.
This is the natural oxidisation of metals which creates dullness and black coating on your metal jewellery.
Soldering is an important part of jewellery making with metals and is the process of joining two pieces of metal. Soldering involves heating the surfaces and melting a filler called solder, to create a highly durable joint. .
when creating jewellery with metal.
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