Simply Silversmithing Video – Tools, Equipment and Chemicals

Today I thought I’d make a bit of a video for you all!

This is aimed at those of you who are interested in jewellery making – specifically, silversmithing.

In this video I show you all the tools, equipment and chemicals you need to start off as a beginning silversmith.

If you have any questions about this after watching, please feel free to get in touch and ask!

Simply Silversmithing – Tools, Equipment and Chemicals from Jessica Van Den on Vimeo.

P.S. I’m thinking of doing an online silversmithing course, where I would make video-lessons that cover all aspects of beginning silversmithing. Would you be interested in such a course? Please let me know in the comments :) If I get enough interest I might just go ahead with it!

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20 comments   Crafty Biz, Handmade, Jewellery, My life, silversmithing

From the Smithy – my first silversmithed creations!

Subscribe or ‘follow’ Epheriell Designs during July 09 and go in the draw to win a $40 gift voucher to use in my shop – Epheriell. Details here.

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Well, as some of you may know, my silversmithing studio is set up and on the go!

It took me a few weeks after my course to finally get all the bits and pieces I needed – but here it is, finally!

silversmith-studio-overview

Okay, it looks a mess – and is also surrounded by the garden stuff! Here are some close-ups…

Here is my soldering torch – with the small nozzle attached at the end.

soldering-torch-set-up

Here is the soldering station – with ceramic heat block, my soldering tweezers, flux and brush…

solder-block-and-chemicals

And here is the pickle – the metal goes in here after being soldered to remove the flux and any fire-scale – I have the jar in the pot so I can pour hot water around it to heat the pickle – it makes it work better!

pickle

I sourced my tools and materials from Peppertown Gemworld, House of Jewellery, A & E Metals (get most of my metal from them – awesome service and usually next-day-delivery!), and Bunnings.

One lesson I learned straight away – don’t rely on a little hand-held torch to solder. I tried one, and while cute, it just didn’t have the heat.

I got my soldering torch head (a small and a medium, too), handle, and tube from Bunnings. I am using our little BBQ and camping gas tank at the moment, as I don’t yet have an adapter for our big gas tank.

I went mad making things this weekend past – here’s just a selection…

circle-ring-3

Circle Ring

single-stacker-ring-on

Single Stacker Ring

infinity-ring-4

Infinity Ring

stacker-set-4

Set of Stacker Rings

I’m hoping to do a how-to post soon to show you the process of making a ring, so you can find out all the steps involved.

I also made this – but not totally happy with how the soldering went – my most complex thing so far, as it involved multiple soldering steps – a three-metal circle pendant…

triple-circle-necklace-on

triple-circle-necklace

So, there’s the smithing journey so far!!

If you’ve got any questions, feel free to send them my way in the comments!



12 comments   Jewellery, silversmithing

Silversmithing Tools – Part 1

Subscribe or ‘follow’ Epheriell Designs during July 09 and go in the draw to win a $40 gift voucher to use in my shop – Epheriell. Details here.

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Today, I got happy! I decided to head out and start buying the tools I need to get silversmithing!

I started my journey at Peppertown Gemworld. My first reaction when walking in there for the first time today was ‘whoa!!’. And then ‘why have I not come here before?!’. Seriously, if you like making jewellery – especially beaded jewellery, this place is where you will go when you die. I have NEVER seen anything like it! Not only did it have the largest selection of beads I have ever seen, a good 10 times over (no, I am not exaggerating!), but it also has a whole section devoted to glassmaking and silversmithing and lapidary… you can browse the tumblers, buy raw gemstones… and the list goes on. The place is honestly a huge warehouse!

My first and only stop today was the smithing counter. I gave all of the beads a wide berth – otherwise I was afraid I may have got lost in a shiny bead time vortex and woken up dazed some time on Sunday.

So, at the smithing counter I bought the following tools (okay – take a deep breath people!).

1. A bench clamp for sawing
2. A jewellers saw and blades
3. A new pair of half-round pliers
4. A polishing cloth
5. Pickle
6. Flux
7. A cute little handheld blowtorch (who’d have thunk a blowtorch
could be this cute!)
8. A ceramic tile to work on with blowtorch
9. Two polishing compounds – one for cutting away imperfections
(Tripoli), the other for polishing.
10. 2 polishing wheels and two ring polishing mandrels – one for each
compound (you cannot mix them!)

ss-tools-part-1

Then, I visited two metal supplies shops in the city (Peppertown don’t sell metal). The second one, House of Jewellery, was just what I was looking for! I bought myself a strip of metal to make rings out of; some sheet silver (my god is it expensive!!!); and a few more metres of silver wire, since I was there :) I also scored myself some awesome black paper bags for the market in July (my first market!!! But more on that in a later post…).

However, *slap to head* in both places I forgot to buy solder!!! How stupid of me :) Oh well, I’ll just have to hope Bunnings has some tomorrow when I visit – and if not, I’ll go back to Peppertown and hope they do!

Still to buy:

-A steel ring mandrel (forgot to get that, too – Peppertown had them)
-A bench grinder and correct attachments
-A large file set
-Sandpaper
-Rawhide mallet

Off to Bunnings tomorrow!!



2 comments   silversmithing

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