Jewelry Arts Institute’s Student of the Week- Kate Sheehan

by jeanettecaines on June 14, 2011

Congratulations to our latest Student of the Week- Kate Sheehan.  We have been so caught up in our big move (to 22 East 49th Street Fourth Floor NY NY 10017) that I haven’t written a new Student of the Week in a couple of weeks.  Now that we are settling in, I’m ready to get back in the groove.  These earrings are so beautifully done with every step except for the posts fused.  I thought we could talk a bit about what makes fusing work and how Kate pulled these earrings off.

Kate started by making four circles of .010 f/s and scribing  smaller circles toward the top of each.  These smaller circles, removed,  will become the curved portion you see at the top of the earrings.  Her larger disks were then dapped to form domes and the smaller circles sawed and filed out.  They then must be bound together with binding wire and fused together.  Binding wire is the devil and leaves nasty scars so Kate only used it to tack( fuse in one tiny spot) the domes together, then removed the wire and finished fusing.  Here are a few tips about fusing.  Dirt and/or oil will keep your piece from fusing so think every time you put your grubby little hands on you piece.  Clean your piece thoroughly before you fuse and use your tweezers!  No matter how often you wash your hands, they aren’t clean enough for fusing.  Make sure your work area is clean, especially of ochre.  Many times I have caught students setting up to fuse or granulate at a bench area with ochre and dirt all over it.  This will scuttle even the most skillful torch work.  One last tip, in fusing the seam must really be perfect with no gaps.  I’m sure many of you have noticed that despite what every jewelry book tells you, solder easily fills small gaps.  Not that I’m advocating sloppy work but denying reality is not my way.  Kate also fused in her inner sleeve to bridge the two domes and you can easily see what a beautiful job she did.  Well Done!

jeanettecaines

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Beth Sugarman June 16, 2011 at 12:47 pm

Just lovely, Kate! Congratulations!
Now, to make them in gold……!

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