Fabricating a Bright Cut Pendant

Hello there! Been a while, eh? I've been very busy at my bench. One of my recent projects was this fabricated opal pendant. I started with 12 gauge silver sheet soldered to a back plate (20 gauge) and half bezel. I had to make sure my silver was thicker than the stones I was trying to set. Once I was done soldering I cut it out and got this:

 No holes for stones, though. Next I placed the stones and drilled starter holes for them. I'm testing the piece out to see if i've got thing spaced well.

Next I open up the holes with a flame bur then a setting bur to create a seat. Most my seats are a tad small so I use a knife graver to open it up enough to fit a stone.

 After getting everyone to fit I take my graver tip press it into the metal then tilt the tip up: I do not cut, I simply wedge metal over the stones. This is the beginning of the bead process.

 Next I cut a little V behind each bead to "release it." They are ugly at this point, but once I polish and shaped them with a beading tool we have pretty little beads

 Once all beads are finished I am now bead set. I then take my flat graver and cut behind the beads to clean things up, remove stray marks, and create nice angled surfaces to reflect extra light. This is bright cutting and together it is called "bright set." There are many variations of bright set but the main idea is the setting surface has been angled so that it reflects more light creating a "brighter" look.

The opal setting was quite tight already, but just to be extra safe since it was just a half bezel I epoxied AND  set metal over the stone. I pretty happy with the finished product, though the bright setting could be a little cleaner. Also: don't bright set periot. Just. Don't.

Ghost Rider

 Howdy! I've got a fun piece today! I found a lovely little agate from Montana over at Handleys. At first I was all ho hum, then I saw it: A cowboy riding through sage brush! So that what I did, and here's how.

First came designing the piece. Getting a decent cowboy silhouetteis one thing, getting it in the right proportion is another! It took me several tries, but i finally got my cowboy and horse the right size.

 

Next came making the piece. I switched over to a  new torch setup in the middle of making this. From acetylene/air with a big torch tip to oxy-propane with a MINI torch tip. Well, I had some trouble getting it hot enough to solder up right, but I kept trying and finally got it. yikes, though, what a nightmare!

So I got the bezel made and all ready to go, and drew on my little cowboy

  

 I cut him out

 I was careful in my sawing as I couldn't add metal if i screwed up! But he turned out okay

Now one thing i did take into consideration was the possibility of the back plate tarnishing. I am trying to mitigate that by creating a fine silver layer (using depletion guilting) under where the stone sits. We'll see...at the very least it makes the stone appear whiter.

 I set the agate in and it looks pretty darn good. One thing I didn't realize was the stone tapers off by a millimeter on one side! so to get it to fit into the piece I had to do a bit of resizing. Anyway, it looks pretty good. The camera didn't want to pick up on it, but you get the idea. he comes out pretty clearly in real life.

 Anyway, That's my coyboy!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/83692954/cowboy-western-silver-brooch-with

CMAG Spring Show

I did it! I got into my first show last weekend thanks to the Creative Metal Arts Guild here in Portland. I spent much of the weekend volunteering in the gallery booth. Lets take a look at the weekend. Don't forget to click on the pictures to get a better view of the jewelers works! This is one of our lovely guild memebers.

See: I got a couple pieces in! Seemed like people liked what I did.

There are a few guild memebers I'd like to mention.  Rebbecca Bashara does some beautiful and creative pieces with stone. Be sure to take a look at her website to see some very different, interesting and beautiful jewelry.

I was loving this one all Saturday as it sat in the gallery. So interesting, and that is a handmade chain!

Trisha Hassler was there. She was organizing the gallery while running this booth. She makes very interesting mixed media work using metal and fabric. A woman after my own heart! I loved that she had a big embroidery hoop out all weekend and encouraged guild members to add to it for a piece she will do later in the year. I'm looking foreward to seeing what the piece turns into.

Tami Dean has a very unique style. It is very contemporary, but unique and interesting enough it wont look dated in ten years. Very cool stuff she does.

Purisima jewelry is really lovely work. The Asian inspired motifs look like the where painted on the metal. Masterfully done, I love it!

Elizabeth from Solarwind Studios is here for her second spring show, and her collection is growing nicely! A truely unique collection, lets all wish her best of luck!

So thats about it for my highlighted CMAGers. It was a good show and I hope to see you there next year.

Any of my readers out there belong to a guild and do you feel like it helps you?