silversmiths tools | Eileen Moylan

Tools!

02.03.2012 by Eileen Moylan // Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since I’ve updated on new tools so I decided to go through two of my purchases and explain how and why I use them. I’ve had this for quite a while but I don’t think I’ve shown it off before so feast your eyes on my new draw plate.. isn’t it pretty!

I use this along with my other new toy, a draw tongs.

I use my roller for changing the diameter of wire which is great if I’m working with square or half round wire but the roller can’t adjust round wire. So here’s where my draw plate and tongs come in.

My Roller...just in case you forgot how pretty it is!!

Once I have the wire nearly down to the diameter I want on the roller I use my draw plate to make it round and reduce the size further. The draw plate sits in the vice with the numbers facing outwards and then I feed the wire into a hole at the back.

The wire should sits snugly into the hole then I draw the wire out using my tongs. I keep doing this down through the different size holes until the wire is at my desired thickness.

This all sounds lovely and relaxing but believe me you can work up a sweat even with the most beautifully annealed wire dragging it through the draw plate.

In my early years as an apprentice I would nearly land flat on my arse at the other side of the workshop trying to draw down a long piece of stubborn wire. Thankfully my technique has improved and now it’s less of an athletic endeavour!

I found a great silversmith and jeweller based in Birmingham, Becca Williams who shares my obsession for tools. Have a look at what she’s created using her new heart shaped cutters.

Gold & Silver Stacking Rings

12.09.2011 by Eileen Moylan // Leave a Comment

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 // Leave a Comment

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…