{"id":13,"date":"2012-02-27T04:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T04:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/?p=13"},"modified":"2012-02-29T01:38:25","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T01:38:25","slug":"construction-of-an-end-clasp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/2012\/02\/27\/construction-of-an-end-clasp\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction of an End Clasp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction of an End Clasp<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1.) \u00a0I have selected a piece of 22 gauge Sterling of 24\/32 of an inch wide by 1 24\/32 of an inch long. \u00a0(cut to size)<\/p>\n

2.) \u00a0Annealing should take place before scribing, drawing or chasing the design on the sheet metal.<\/p>\n

a) Flux the piece on both sides, I used Stay Silv and mixed a little water in it to thin it out a bit. \u00a0Fluxing prevents firescale damage from the annealing process. \u00a0I make sure there are no exposed areas on the piece by covering it all in a layer of flux.<\/p>\n

b) \u00a0I turn on my torch (propane) and adjust the settings to get an oxidizing flame; it’s light blue and rounded at the top with a deep blue inside, like a feather point. \u00a0A reducing flame is bushy and has a bright blue color, it can potentially melt the piece. \u00a0The annealing temperature for this metal in my studio would be 1100 degrees Fahrenheit. \u00a0The flux will turn into a thin clear liquid at this point. \u00a0You can anneal in a dark area to see the piece and the color upon it. \u00a0The piece should be heated to a dull red glow only and quenched immediately in water. \u00a0After it is heated, I carefully turn off the torch according to the d\"\"irections in the operating manual.<\/p>\n

c) \u00a0Quench immediately in 1\/2 pint of distilled water after heating and do not allow to air cool as this will harden the piece. \u00a0Rinse and dry.<\/p>\n

d) I use a jeweler’s saw with a blade of 2\/o or 4\/o; that’s two ott or four ott for 22 gauge sheet. \u00a0Quality blades are essential here so the compromise in expense is worth it.<\/p>\n

e) \u00a0Saw off the parts to make a perfect rectangle. \u00a0I’ve used a stainless steel rule to measure; it’s precise. \u00a0Also, when you’re sawing, the bench pin that holds the piece should be shoulder high and the saw kept vertical while sawing in an up and down motion. \u00a0I always run my saw<\/p>\n

through beeswax, it’s easier to cut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Shop shears will cut it, but then you’ll need to pound it flat again from the back side. \u00a0If you saw the piece, I recommend\u00a0that a tray\u00a0underneath or apron is below to catch the filings. \u00a0The filings can be refined and this proves nice after collecting it for awhile. \u00a0 3.) \u00a0Drawing the design \u00a0;a) A design can be drawn on the sheet using a fine point Sharpie pen or steel scribe. \u00a0I prefer the Sharpie because then, I can see what I’m chasing better. \u00a0b) Place the metal on a steel bench block at least 4″x4″ and tape the edges down; being careful not to cover the work to be done. \u00a0To keep my block in good shape I use Blue masking tape (painters tape), it doesn’t leave a residue on my block.\"\"<\/a>c) \u00a0The hammer’s used to chase this piece are Peddinghaus German Chasing Hammers. \u00a0These are good quality hammers to use, \u00a0I’ve enjoyed mine for many years. \u00a0I select a liner as the one shown on the right to chase my work. \u00a0I run it over the lines semi-vertically, then tap the chaser (liner) with my hammer as I bring it toward me, almost like making a stitch with an electric sewing machine but closer, so that the stitches are in uniform line. \u00a0As I chase, I move the tape around to accommodate my position. \u00a0If the metal at any point bows up, I flip it and hammer it flat again. <\/p>\n

d) \u00a0If the piece begins to ping, then I have to repeat the annealing process to soften the metal, as it will become work hardened. \u00a0With this piece being as small as it is, I just turned it over and flattened it again to avoid using my propane.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4.) \u00a0Sanding; I use 2000 wet and dry paper for metal to sand down my piece. \u00a0The edges will be filed with a Mill bastard to make the edges smooth. \u00a0Then if needed, I use a little Tungsten file for a final touch.<\/p>\n

5.) \u00a0Forming; \u00a0I take the piece and cut it in equal halves. \u00a0To get the halves measured precisely in half, I’ll use a Steel rule and my German made Starrett dividers.<\/p>\n

a) \u00a0Annealing must take place again following the above mentioned procedures. \u00a0then, the metal is rolled around a cylinder that I selected in the size that will accommodate the bracelet ends comfortably. \u00a0The diameter of the chain measures 3.57 mm, therefore, I’ll use a mandrel no larger than 4mm; forming it where it’s not too loose or too tight.<\/p>\n

After forming the piece around the cylinder, the ends are brought up tight and overlapped to fit the desired size. \u00a0The ends have to be butt up against each other so that there are no gaps present. \u00a0If it’s not<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

equal, then sanding to make the edges fit flush together must take place.<\/p>\n

b) \u00a0Soldering; I will flux the whole piece and if needed get a pair of strong soldering tweezers to hold the seam together while soldering. \u00a0Always use Hard solder for the first soldering step in a piece. \u00a0There are three types of silver solder; \u00a0Hard, Medium and Easy. \u00a0When soldering up pieces, it’s best to solder in this order so that the heat in the final soldering will stay. \u00a0I place the small cylinder on my charcoal block, the small groove in it helps the piece remain steady. \u00a0I cut snips of Hard solder and place them along the seam. \u00a0the seam should be tightly closed. \u00a0The solder will spread out, so tiny gaps between each pallion or wire of solder (no larger than 2\/32″.) \u00a0Another method would be to hold the solder in one hand and feed it on the heated seam. \u00a0The whole piece should be fluxed before applying heat to prevent firescale from forming on any part of the piece. \u00a0It’s pretty much impossible to get out a firescale stain even with pickle. \u00a0If the chosen method of solder is snipped chips, then having a pair of stainless tweezers\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

handy and a nice solder pick is essential because sometimes the air from the torch might blow it off the piece.<\/p>\n

When bringing the semi-bushy flame to the piece, work quickly and keep the heat on the piece by moving the flame in a circular motion around the piece. \u00a0Hard solder takes a little longer to melt. \u00a0The solder must be clean and not have finger oils on it or it will not flow. \u00a0I sometimes will run mine through fine sand paper for metal. \u00a0All pieces must be clean as well, this is done by pickling, rinsing and drying. \u00a0When the flux bubbles, it’s almost time. \u00a0When you see the solder flash and melt into the seam, then immediately remove the torch and turn it off according to the guidelines read in the torch manual (know this before beginning.) \u00a0It needs to be quenched again in distilled water. \u00a0It now needs to be pickled so that the silver can be brought out again.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

6.) \u00a0Pickling; \u00a0Jeweler’s Pickle can be found at a jeweler’s supply such as Rio Grande or Otto Frei. \u00a0I use a mini crock and heat the water in it and introduce about a tablespoon of pickle in a tiny crock. \u00a0Everything used with pickle should be used ONLY <\/strong>with pickle; it is corrosive. \u00a0Copper tongs should only be used in pickle, and nothing else. \u00a0ALWAYS WEAR GOGGLES <\/strong>when doing anything in pickle or jewelry for that matter. \u00a0The pickle must be placed carefully<\/em>\u00a0into the crock so any acid does not get onto your skin or in any place in the studio. \u00a0The piece should be in the pickle no longer than five minutes. \u00a0After lifting the metal out of the pickle with copper tongs, it must be rinsed in distilled water and the water should be disposed of as soon as possible after that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

7.) \u00a0Reforming; \u00a0Steps to reform the piece can be taken by placing the end over a smaller mandrel and working it to its proper shape and then over one that is fairly snug. \u00a0Shape it back to a perfect cylinder.<\/p>\n

8.) \u00a0To make the end of the cylinder, there are many ways to close it.<\/p>\n

a) I’m going to use my own designed bayonet clasp with a hand made head pin that can be drawn out of the flower and inserted into the clasp. \u00a0After soldering these pieces together the clasp should work fine.<\/p>\n

I will be fluxing all my pieces that come into contact with the flame and begin<\/p>\n

with hard solder on both sides of the cylinder mechanisms. \u00a0The last soldering<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
will take place with Easy solder that will be attached to the chain. \u00a0This will be a difficult task as the chain is delicate and of fine silver. \u00a0Although it is delicate; it is also strong because of the type of weave I’ve done, it’s a Viking Knit Stitch. \u00a0There have been no add-ons to the chain, it is continuous, and the weaving took a day and a half. \u00a0It takes a while because when you are weaving from about three feet of wire; you can’t make a kink in it. \u00a0It takes skill and practice.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I’ve used my own chasing designs to make this bracelet end clasp. \u00a0My maker’s mark and material mark are on the inside of the bayonet.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
These are Chasing Hammers to the right along with a selection of Chasing and Repousse punches; an ancient metalsmithing technique.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Reference Books:<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Complete Metalsmith <\/strong>by Tim McCreight<\/em><\/p>\n

Jewelry \u00a0 Fundamentals of Metalsmithing <\/strong>by Tim McCreight<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 the design and creation of jewelry \u00a0<\/strong>by Robert Von Neumann<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Chasing \u00a0 Ancient Metalworking Technique with Modern Applications \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 by Marcia Lewis<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Moving Metal \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>by Adolph Steins<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A special Thank You to; \u00a0John Temple, my Professor in Applied Design and Jewelry at Porterville College,\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 for all the labor and hard work you put into teaching me this great skill.<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Construction of an End Clasp 1.) \u00a0I have selected a piece of 22 gauge Sterling of 24\/32 of an inch wide by 1 24\/32 of an inch long. \u00a0(cut to size) 2.) \u00a0Annealing should take place before scribing, drawing or chasing the design on the sheet metal. a) Flux the piece on both sides, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":27,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions\/31"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/thesilvercrocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}