[ Home ] [ Site Map ] [ About Us ] [ Contact Us ] [ Français ]   

 

 

Jewelry Making 101

 
 

Jewelry making tools


Basic techniques

Sawing and Drilling
Annealing and Pickling
Soldering
Finishing (Filing, Sanding, Grinding, Polishing and Buffering)

Sawing and Drilling

The saw is mainly used to cut various metals and material in jewelry making.

Choosing a saw frame and saw blades:

Choose the size of the saw blade according to the thickness of the metal, else you risk breaking the saw blade if the teeth of the blade are larger than the metal’s thickness.

Loading the saw frame:

  1. Insert one end of the blade into the front end of the frame with the blade facing upward. When held vertically, the saw blade’s teeth should be facing down.
  2. Support the front end of the frame using the bench.
  3. Using your shoulder or arms, press gently forward the saw frame as to slightly bend the frame forward.
  4. Insert the other side of the blade into the back of the frame.
  5. The blade will become taut once you release the pressure on the frame.
  6. The blade should make a sharp sound when pinch.
  7. Use a lubricating wax on the saw blade so that it glides smoothly and avoid blade breakage.

Sawing:

  1. Trace the line to be cut.
  2. Place the blade perpendicular to the sheet of metal and outside the line.
  3. Apply force going downward as the saw cuts through the metal.
  4. The motion should straight up and down to ensure that both the top and bottom are symmetric.
  5. To make a turn, saw two(2) or three(3) times in place while pivoting.
  6. To saw out a shape inside a piece, drill a hole into the metal and insert the saw blade through before attaching end of the blade to the frame.

The saw can also be used to file tiny corners or surfaces that regular files cannot reach. It is also used in the finishing of a piece of jewelry.

Drilling

  1. Using a scribe and a hammer, slightly tap to mark where the hole is to be made. The indentation keeps the drill bit from slipping.
  2. Add lubricant on the bit to make the drilling smoother and to protect your tools from wearing out prematurely.
  3. Using a micro motor or a flexible shafts drill down vertically a hole into the metal.
  4. Using a bur, clean the newly made hole with a circular motion as to take away the rough edges of the metal.

For both drilling and grinding a micro motor or a flexible shaft is required. The micro motor has the motor in the hand set, whereas the flexible shaft comes with a motor that you hang with a long shaft that transmit the rotation to the handset. The chuck, bits and burs have a standard diameter of 2.35mm and can be changed depending on your need. In most jewelry workshops, you would find the Foredom or the Dremel.

Bits: Cut vertically. Can only make holes
Burs: Cut laterally. Can take metal out from all direction. Perfect for cleaning holes made by drilling.

Other than holes, drilling and grinding are great for decorative element and making settings. There are various type of grinding burs that make jewelry making a lot easier than using a saw.

<Back to Top>

Annealing and Pickling

The annealing process renders the metal more malleable. With time, metals become harder and brittle, thus annealing is required to return its crystalline structure of the metal back to its original formation. To do this, we need to heat the metal to a certain point, called the annealing point. Depending on the metal, the annealing point will vary. As artisan, the easiest way to anneal metal is using the soldering flame.

Annealing using a soldering flame:

  1. Place the metal on a block of charcoal or a soldering block
  2. Set your flame to a strong but soft blue flame
  3. Pass the flame over the metal slowly and uniformly
  4. As the metal darkens, you will see a glow as the flame passes. This is an indication that you are reaching the annealing point.
  5. Continue the motion of the flame until the entire surface of the metal glows as you pass the flame around its surface.
  6. For thicker metal, you may need to turn it over and anneal the different sides.

When annealing thin pieces of metal, special care should be taken to avoid melting the metal. In the case of very thin wire, indirect heat should be used. This can be done by placing the wire in a copper box with charcoal.

The list gives the annealing point of certain metals:

Copper: 600-700
Gold: 600-750
Pure Silver: 300-700
Platinum: 600-1000
Sterling Silver: 750+

Without an oven with a temperature regulator, the way to know if a metal is annealed is by looking at the colour changes as you pass the flame over the surface of the metal. The surface should emit a glow that is close to the original colour of the metal when the flame is over it. For sterling silver, when the flame is passed over the surface, there is a white glow. When annealed, silver is a dark

<Back to Top>

 



  [ Acceuil ] [ Plan du site ] [ A propros de nous ] [ Nous rejoindre ] [ Politique sur la vie privée] [ English ]