My Workshop | Eileen Moylan

Gold & Silver Stacking Rings Part 2

12.21.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This is part two of a series on making stacking rings, to read part 1 click here.

Having made the silver rings I then needed to cut out the gold details and solder them on the rings.

Filing flat are on rings for gold detail

I begin by filing an area on the rings so the gold triangles will be able to sit flat on the bands. Then I cut the mark out the different size triangles on my gold sheet.

Marking out Triangles (and drinking tea!)

Because the gold details are so small they need to be held in a ring clamp when filing and cutting them out.

Once I have all the gold pieces cut out I place them on the rings to make sure everything sits nicely together and they will work in a variety of positions. I stick these on with blu tack so I can move them around easily.

When I’m happy with the size, shape and direction of each of the gold triangles I can start setting up for soldering.

It’s not a great photo as the sun started streaming in the workshop window. Once I’ve finished all the soldering I’ll post pictures of the finished rings.

Gold & Silver Stacking Rings

12.09.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This week I’ve been working on a set of gold and silver stacking rings. I did a number of sketches and the customer decided on these rings with little gold triangles dotted across the three bands. I’m making sketch number 1 on this page with all the gold triangles going in different directions.

I’ve cut the silver wire and rounded it up to the correct size of ring. Sorry I forgot to photograph that part but if you want to see it have a look at the post I wrote on making a silver ring.

Once I have the rings set in place and the joint perfectly lined up I can being soldering. I begin by heating the entire ring and then once the heat is built up I can concentrate on the joint. I do this with silver as it is such a conductor of heat the joint would not hold the temperature unless the entire ring was already hot. The silver solder and flux is positioned on the joint and once it begins to melt I keep the flame on it. This is to make sure the solder runs into the entire joint and gives me a seamless joint. I let it cool down, pop it in the acid to clean the metal and then rinse it in water and scratch brush it using a brass wire brush.

With stacking rings it’s important that all the rings are exactly the same size and they sit perfectly together so I clean up the soldered seam and using emery paper clean up file marks on the edges of the rings. I use dowel rod with different grade emery papers to get into the inside of the rings. While it’s a slow process it’s best to start with the coarse emery paper and work your way down to the finest grade so you have less polishing to do at the end.

I also use a pig skin with polishing compound to give the flat edges a final polish before I begin the next stage of cutting out the gold triangles and soldering them onto the silver rings.

I’ll post photos of this next week…

Have a good weekend!

Silver Bowl

11.16.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

Today I’m going to show you how I make a silver bowl using just a few simple tools.

It’s basically one hammer, one piece of wood and some silver.

I might use another hammer and maybe a small dome stake towards the end but they really aren’t necessary, it’s only to indulge my love for hammers!

Using my dividers I mark out my circle on a sheet of silver. In this case I’m using .7mm silver and a 2.5inch disc.

I then cut out the disc with my piercing frame.

It is important before hammering that you file the sharp edges after cutting. I use a file and some emery paper. This is so you don’t risk catching your fingers on the sharp edges when moving the piece around the stake.

I then mark out circles around the disc so I can keep my hammer blows in an even row. These marks are just pencil lines that help me to keep my hammering along the same row and allow the bowl to be shaped uniformly.

This block is made out of a piece of 2″ x4″ wood that I’ve cut into 6″ lengths. Then using a dome head hammer you hammer a slight depression into the wood. This depression which is roughly the size of my hammer face will be what I use to form the curve of the bowl. I put the block of wood in the vice so I can begin sinking my bowl.

I begin by tilting the disc into the depression and then using firm even hammer blows sink the silver into the dip. I move the disc clockwise as the hammer remains in the same position. It is important to keep within the lines you have marked and also to keep your hammer blows even. When I have one round of hammering done I anneal and scratch brush the silver. This softens the silver and allows me to work the metal again. I repeat this until I get my desired curve. The bowl below is after three rounds of hammering on the wooden block.

Now I just need to finish and polish the bowl. I’ll put up the next set of pictures next week…

Made in Ireland

11.08.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This week I was featured in the Radio 1 series ‘Made in Ireland’. Each week Ella McSweeney looks at a different craft or skill in Ireland. So this week was the turn of the silversmiths!

As well as calling to Dublin based silversmith Seamus Gill, Ella came down to my workshop in Cork. We discussed the different tools used by silversmiths, the properties of silver and women in the history of silversmithing.

If you want to have a listen to it click on the link below.

Made in Ireland, Silversmiths

Chasing Punches

10.19.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

I had planned to visit the Future Makers exhibition in the Wandesford Quay gallery yesterday and tell you all about it but when I got there I discovered they only open from Wednesday to Saturday.

Anyway instead of going to the exhibition I came back to the workshop and began adapting some tools.

I got some punches in Aldi last month and they’ve been sitting patiently at the back of the bench waiting for me to customize them. I plan to adapt them into different shaped chasing punches. Chasing punches are used when chasing metal. This technique involves detailing the front surface of a piece by hammer striking these punches onto the metal.

The ones I got from Aldi are a bit bigger and heavier than you would normally use in silversmithing but at €8 a set I was willing to compromise!

I started by turning one of these flat punches into a curved punch. I have a set of old files that I use for this type of work so I began by filing the rough shaped curve into the punch. It’s a good idea to mark it out first but I won’t pretend I was that organised!

I used the side of my bench peg and some emery paper to take out the file marks. The curve on the side of my peg sat perfectly into the curve I had filed out. It was great for getting into the curve without distorting it.

As I was working I used a scrap piece of copper to test how the punch was turning out. Here’s a picture of the test piece. You can see how the curve is going from think and clumsy to more even and refined.

And here’s what it looked like before I gave it a final polish..

Back to Work…

09.21.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

As well as relaxing during my holidays I also picked up some new and second hand tools.

I got some hammers that are in need of a good cleaning. I plan to reface these and alter the shape of them slightly to suit my needs. I’ll update this with another post as it’s a messy job and not one I wanted to start on my first day back!

I also picked up these punches and chisels in Aldi last week. While the shapes aren’t exactly what I was looking for it’s nothing a bit of filing and polishing can’t sort.

I’ve been looking for chasing punches and after having been outbid for a set on ebay I went looking for something I could adapt. These sets were €8 each in Aldi and are perfect for what I need.

These punches are used when chasing a piece of metal. This technique involves detailing the front surface of a piece by hammer striking these punches onto the metal.

I’ll post some more photos when I’ve transformed the punches and hammers…

My Vice: Before and after

08.26.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

I’ve been so busy using my vice I forgot to update you all on how it turned out when I gave it a make over.

Like all the best make overs it requires before and after photos. So here you go…

BEFORE

THE CLEANING

AFTER

And now here’s my vice all cleaned up and in use…

The photo above shows my vice in use. I know it looks like it’s growing a pair of white antlers but that’s actually one of my new stakes that I got in Birmingham. It was designed by Cynthia Eid (who taught the course I attended) and is used in synclastic and anticlastic forming.

Busy Workshop Day

08.19.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

I’ve been busy with the business side of things this week so I was delighted to get back to the workshop properly today. The break made me all the more productive, I even took some photos to prove it!

Check out my new tapered polishing mop, it’s for polishing inside vessels.

I just took this photo to show off my new pink glitter pliers! Aren’t they amazing and you can’t misplace them on a messy bench.

NEW GALLERY PAGE

08.17.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

In my previous post I discussed how I photograph my jewellery. Now that I have some pictures of my current work I’ve decided to create a new gallery page on the website. I plan to use this to show some recent commissions and orders I receive. I’ll be adding to this regularly, now that I know how!

If you want to take a look at the new gallery page click here.

Synclastic and Anticlastic Forming

08.05.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This is part two in a series on the synclastic and anticlastic Forming class I attended in Birmingham. To read part one click here.

The first two days were spent familiarizing ourselves with synclastic and anticlastic forming. At this stage we were all well settled into the workshop and were making use of our week in the jewellery quarter. It was brilliant to be in the middle of all the jewellery tool shops. Most of my lunchtimes were spent going from shop to shop buying tools. Which I happily dragged home in my bulging suitcase.

So on day three once we got the hang of synclast and anticlast forming we moved on to spiculums. A spiculum is made from a single piece of sheet metal which is formed into a tapering tube. This process involves hammering the metal until it rolls into itself forming a long hollow tube.

Once they had been hammered into a straight tube and soldered closed we were able to curve them. I found curving them the most stressful part of the whole exercise. You have to take this hollow tube that you’ve toiled over and gingerly bend it with your hands. It has too be well softened by annealing before you start. Once you feel you have curved it as much as possible before it buckles you anneal again. You continue like this until you get the curve you require. I decided to quit while I was ahead and opted for a gentle curve!

We also made open seam spiculums, which look very similar to the closed spiculums but are not soldered. These are made using techniques similar to anticlastic ribbons. We also got a chance to make a double helix, the same process used in Bronze Age Torcs.

We packed so much into the five days, I hadn’t expected to learn as much and be able to explore each technique. Cynthia was a great teacher, everything was brilliantly demonstrated and she patiently answered all our questions. She also brought along lots of her own tools for us to use. One hammer in particular I fell in love with (I know, I hear how sad that sounds!) so I’ve added that to my wishlist of tools. Having five days to refine my hammering skills was such a luxury and will definitely influence my future work.