silversmiths tools | Eileen Moylan

My Jewellery Bible, by Oppi Untracht

03.18.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

The other day in the workshop I reached for my battered copy of Oppi Untracht’s ‘Jewelry Concepts and Technology’ to solve yet another problem. This book is like the bible of jewelery making and has served me well over the years. So today I’m dedicating a post to Oppi to share this brilliant book with everyone else.

Jewelry Concepts and Technology’ Oppi Untracht

Oppi Untracht was an American jewellery teacher and historian who trained and taught in New York but later moved to Finland. He has written a number of books on jewellery and metalwork. His best known were ‘Jewelry Concepts and Technology’ and ‘Metal Tachniques for Craftsmen’.

When I first got the book years ago it was on the recommendation of a South African jeweler I worked with. She’d occasionally mention that she had checked different things with Oppi and I just presumed it was an friend or old lecturer she was referring to. The minute I found out that all this knowledge was coming from a book and I too could have my own “Oppi”, I snapped up a copy!

I’m delighted to say Oppi has rarely let me down in that eight years. I’ve dragged this heavy book out for everything from starting new projects to idle curiosity. There will be times when I’ll be a bit rusty on different techniques and I dip in to the book quickly to check I’m not about to burn off my eyebrows! Sure enough, Oppi will provide the answers. Because I didn’t study jewellery in college there are some techniques that I’ve never had the opportunity to try. This book is great because it allows me to research different techniques from the process through to the finished piece. While I may need to get some extra help elsewhere on modern procedures (the book was published in the 80’s) I have a great basis on where to start. When I tried acid etching this year the majority of the information came from this book. He goes through different types of surface ornamentation from around the world like the Japanese Mokumé Gane. As well as lots of technical information, he also looks at the origins of jewellery and why we wear it. He has a brilliant diagram that breaks down the various reasons for jewellery such as tradition, collection and fashion.

So for all of you who have never heard of this book definitely check it out and for those of you who’ve looked at it on Amazon and debated whether it was worth the money take it from me, it is!

Fire Stain: What is it and how to prevent it

03.14.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This week in the workshop I had the hassle of dealing with fire stain. If you have tried silver soldering you may be familiar with the scourge that is fire stain. Just when you think you’re nearly finished and you begin the final stages of polishing on the lathe those nasty little blotches appear. For those of you lucky enough not to what this looks like it is a pink or purple stain that can develop in sterling silver during soldering.

Here’s the science bit… The oxygen in the air penetrates the outer surface of the object oxidizing the copper content in the sterling silver. The silver is then pickled in sulfuric acid which removes the oxidized copper on the surface. This oxidisation is known as fire scale. The difference is that fire stain can’t be removed in the pickeling process. The problem with fire stain is that it discolours the reflective nature of the polished silver and either needs to be covered by plating or filed away.

Mostly you don’t see the extent of the fire stain until you have the piece polished and finished. The best way to see it is to hold the silver against a piece of white paper. This way you have a uniform white reflection on the silver that highlights the pinky purple stain.

Here’s a photo of a cuff link that I made recently that had some fire stain. You can see the pink blotches on either side of the cut away circle design. There are lots of things you do to remove fire stain which involve chemical solutions or silver plating. Unfortunately this can be expensive and because it doesn’t happen me that often I haven’t seen the need to invest in them. The other method for getting rid of the fire stain is by abrasive removal using either a polishing lathe or other abrasive techniques. I think the best way to remove it is to use some wet emery paper on the stained area. It can be slow work but it allows you to concentrate on the area as opposed to a polishing lathe which can soften the sharp edges and detail of a piece. Once you have removed the patches of fire stain you can then finish the piece on the polishing lathe.

Removing fire stain with wet emery paper

The ideal solution to fire stain is to prevent it from happening in the first place. As the oxygen is the cause of the stain many silversmiths recommend creating oxygen free conditions when soldering. Ganoskin have a good piece on how to go about achieving this, to see it click here. I find the best way to prevent fire stain is to make sure you are using the correct size flame for the piece you are soldering. A very hot flame can over heat the piece but also a flame that is too soft means it takes much longer to melt the solder. Both these problems can cause fire stain. The other thing is to make sure the piece is clean so you don’t need to prolong the soldering process due to dirty metal.

Hope this helps in the fight against fire stain!

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Video Blog on Annealing

02.11.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

One of the basic techniques you learn as a silversmith is how to anneal metal. Annealing is the process of heating your metal to soften it after it has been work- hardened with steel tools. It is necessary to anneal metal through the different stages of making so you are not working with a piece of metal that is too hard. This could result in the metal cracking or if you have a solder joint in your piece this could split.

Most people think that you just need to heat your silver and then quench it in water to anneal it, but there are a number of things you need to do to correctly anneal your metal. Using a piece of silver wire I will show how to correctly anneal metal and the difference in the malleability before and after annealing.

In this video you can see the benefit of having your metal correctly annealed. Not only does the metal ‘behave’ itself but it also makes hammering the metal much easier on you and your ears!

Cake Slice Part Four

02.09.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This is part four of a series on making a cake slice. Click on the links to see Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.

Having cut out and filed my cake slice I was short one tool before I could take it any further. Since I was making this for myself, it didn’t really count as a necessity buy. Well now I’ve got everything in order and am ready to plough ahead with the project.

The first thing I did once the piece was cut out, was to polish it on the lathe. I did this so I wouldn’t have to struggle getting into the hard to reach angles once I had formed the handle.

When the piece was cleaned and polished I began to mark out the dip from the handle to the base. The reason I do this is so I can have a line as a guide when I chase the lines into the metal. Chasing is a technique where you use a variety of punches struck with a hammer to create a design or detail. For my cake slice I want to create a straight line across the base so I can then fold the metal along this indented line.

The piece is then held in the vice to bend it into shape. I brought it to a 45 degree angle but this can be increased or decreased when I have the handle work done.

The next thing to do was to anneal the handle so it would be easier to manipulate. Annealing is the process of heating metal to a particular temperature and then cooling it quickly so the metal is softened. The metal is then cleaned in a pickling solution as all the impurities have risen to the surface when the metal is annealed. This cleans the metal so it can be used on your stakes. It’s really important to clean all metal that you are working with. Not only does it damage your tools it can also play havoc with soldering. A joint will not solder so easily if it isn’t clean.

Now that my cake slice is nice and clean it’s time to start hammering…block your ears!

Models for a spoon

01.24.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

At the moment I’m making a simple child’s spoon to give me the opportunity to try out and show off my new stakes. Through this process I will demonstrate the various techniques used such as sinking, planishing and annealing. The first step involves designing and making a pattern for my spoon.

As with all of my projects I start out by doing my designs on paper and photographing then to play around with the angles and the curves. I have decided on a simple spoon shape so these photos show variations of curves and handles.

Having decided on the design I will use this pattern to outline the shape on the metal. The next step is to cut out this design in metal and using a technique called sinking create the bowl of the spoon.

Planning My Workshop

01.20.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

I’m in the process of moving my workshop. The initial space I had was a bit too small and it was damp so my tools were in danger of rusting. I’m trying to plan the layout of my new workshop so I can make the best use of the space. As well as being a comfortable place to work it must be laid out to maximise my work speed and avoid safety hazards.

I started by listing all the tools and equipment that I have or plan to get that need to be in this workspace. I went through the equipment deciding where it needs to be positioned for ease of use and any safety hazards that should be considered. For example my soldering area needs to be well ventilated. I then looked at the list of tools deciding how best to store these tools. The hammers and stakes need to be on a stand where each type can be easily identified and accessed.

I had a look at some photos of other silversmiths workshops on the Society of American Silversmiths website. Apart from turning green with envy I got lots of clever ideas on how to store my tools. Here’s a photo of my dream workshop!

You can see from this that apart from an amazingly organised space everything has a place and everything is easy to get at. As you will see this won’t be as much of a problem in my workshop as I have way less tools and space so I’m going for the more minimalist look!

I’ve sketched out some different options because it saves me having to drag heavy equipment around the room trying to decide where everything goes.

Because of the limited space I’m going to make a rack for my hammers that sits between the two legs of my bench. I am also going to put a bar along the side of my bench to hold my pliers like in the photo above. I can put some hooks on the side of the bench to hold my piercing frame and my soldering torch. If you want to see more great photos of his workshop click here.

I know that despite my best intentions to be organised and minimal. Most workshops have the habit of becoming over run with odd useless objects and tools you pick up over time. I love the Workspace series by the photographer Joseph O Holmes. This series of various workspaces proves that eventually regardless of how tidy the person is the space becomes part of you. We’ll have to wait and see how my workshop grows…

Cake Slice, The Next Step

01.17.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This is part three of my cake slice project. Part one here and part two here.

I use my modified paper template (from part two) and stick it temporarily to my sheet of copper. Why copper? As this piece is for myself I want to keep the costs down. The final product will be silver plated. Of course I would prefer to work with silver as it is softer and easier to manipulate.

With the paper secured I then draw around the shape with a scriber. Once the shape of the cake slice is transferred onto the copper. I begin cutting it with my piercing frame. As the metal is quite thick I use a slightly heavier blade to avoid the blade breaking.

Cutting out cake slice with piercing frame

When I have finished cutting I then start filing the edges. The more accurate the cutting the less work I have filing. With this piece I want to curve all the edges slightly especially around the handle.

Now that I have my piece cut out and filed I can begin hammering and shaping. See you for Part 4!

My New Stakes

01.10.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

Before Christmas I bought a second hand set of stakes that were advertised in the Benchpeg newsletter.

The great thing about getting second hand tools is the price, the only downside is that sometimes they require a little work to get them cleaned up and ready to use. I spent a day over the holidays working on the stakes to bring them back to life.

The spoon stakes I got are nearly perfect and just needed a light clean and polish. The two larger domed and flat stakes and the smaller saddle stake have some rust that needed a bit of extra elbow grease.

In an effort to speed up the process I googled how to remove rust. There were a million and one suggestions but the few logical ones I tried like baking soda and vinegar made very little difference. Here are some photos of my stakes before and after and the restoration process in between.

I began by cleaning the stakes with steel wool and WD40 to remove the rust.

The next step was to use the polishing lathe and roughing out mop. Once the heads of the stakes were clean I gave them a final polish with the softer polishing mop.

To keep my lovely new stakes rust free I gave them a wipe of oil.
and here are my stakes all shiny and clean and ready to use.

Silver Ring Part 2

12.17.2010 by Eileen Moylan //

This is part two of making a silver ring. If you want to see part one just click here.

When the ring has cooled down it is put in a diluted acid solution. This cleans the silver and removes any traces of flux.

The ring is rinsed with soapy water and scratch brushed. Scratch brushing is done using a brass wire wheel rotating slowly on a lathe. Here I am just using a brass wire brush to clean the metal.

The ring is hammered again on a ring mandrel. Once the ring is perfectly round the joint is filed to take away any excess solder that may be on the outside of the ring. If the inside of the ring has excess solder this should be removed before the ring is hammered on the mandrel as it may affect the shape of the ring.

The file marks are removed using a fine emery paper before the ring is ready for polishing.

Polishing is done on a lathe. This lathe has two cloth mops, one to remove the scratches from the ring and the other to give the metal a final polish.

Hallmarking Process

11.29.2010 by Eileen Moylan //

Now that I’ve soldered my silver ring and hammered it into shape it’s time to send it to Dublin for hallmarking. The only Assay office in Ireland is based in Dublin castle and has been testing and hallmarking precious metal since 1637.

If you want to get your jewellery hallmarked you first need to register with the Assay office. I’m registered as Eileen Moylan and was issued the makers mark ‘EM’. This mark is the first stamp on any hallmark. It is possible to trace the maker of any item which is hallmarked as no two makers marks are the same. The punch that I use has what is known as a ‘swan neck’ so I can stamp the inside of a ring. Once I stamp this ring with my makers mark I send it to the Assay office where they test the metal and add the other stamps needed to make up a hallmark.

The second mark, added by the Assay office, once they have established the quality of the silver is the mark of Hibernia. This Assay office mark has an image of a woman sitting with a harp holding a branch of some sort?! (I’ll research that for another post).

The third mark is the metal purity and fineness mark. This is indicated by a number stating the percentage of the particular precious metal present in the piece. Sterling silver which I used here is 92.5% silver and so the ring will be stamped 925. You can also request a fourth year mark to be added. This mark shows the year the piece was hallmarked which is indicated by a letter of the alphabet.

When the ring comes back from Dublin I’ll give it a final polish and it’s finished!