Jewelry casting at home for beginners. How it's made: do-it-yourself silver ring How to cast a silver ring yourself

12.01.2024

We have been making custom-made, exclusive jewelry for over 20 years.

You will not find our jewelry in stores, as they are made in single copies for our customers.

We make custom products taking into account all the preferences of our client.

We don't sell you what everyone else has - we invite you to be individual.

Highly qualified craftsmen

All our specialists are highly qualified. And, despite the serious level of skill, they do not stop improving. To achieve this, Golden Phoenix jewelers constantly attend thematic master classes and improve their skills.

Purely handmade

We do not sell consumer goods. Our assortment exclusively includes handmade jewelry. Each product is unique and inimitable. And this is exactly what real jewelry should be.

The advantages of the “Golden Phoenix” include the following.

Affordable price

The cost of all our products is approximately 40-80% lower than that of competitors in the market. How do we manage to set such prices? Everything is very simple. We do not rent huge areas for our stores, we do not employ a large staff. This allows us to offer competitive prices.

We make custom jewelry from your gold

Do you have old jewelry lying around the house that you are unlikely to wear? Come to us - we will make for you a completely new product from your gold.

Work according to your sketches

Do you know exactly what kind of decoration you want? Perhaps you even have a sketch? Excellent - our masters will understand exactly what you want and will do it for you. You will receive a completely original decoration. And it will look exactly the way you wanted.

What can you order from us?

Our assortment includes a huge variety of products:

etc.

How to make an order?

First, decide whether you want a ready-made product or whether our craftsmen should create it for you to order.
If you want a finished product, then go to our catalog and choose what you like.
To make a custom product, contact us and we will discuss all the details.
Have you chosen a product? Order it and we will deliver it.
If you want to receive an original piece of jewelry created to order, you will have to wait 2-3 weeks. We agree that this is a lot. But good decoration is worth it!

All girls love jewelry, and the more, the better. But you must admit, sometimes stores don’t have what we want - everything is boring and monotonous. Do you want something unusual and original, for example, a ring? Then you have come to the right place for help. In this article we will tell you how to make a ring at home. Such jewelry, made with your own hands, is much more pleasant to wear, since your soul was invested in it. Every home has a lot of unnecessary things that can be useful in work. We will consider each method in detail. Stay with us and you will learn how to make a ring with your own hands from long-forgotten materials. So, let's begin!

What can rings be made from?

If you decide to do something extraordinary, then use the most unpredictable materials; they are the ones that make creative and unique jewelry. Check out a few ideas:

Revisit your box of long-forgotten buttons. With a little digging, you can find original buttons of interesting shape and design.
Almost everyone has wire at home. This is a great helper in creating the base for a ring. Any wire is suitable for the job, regardless of thickness and color.
Every girl has beads and beads. Take a close look at the jewelry box. Every girl probably has her favorite beads or bracelet that were once torn. Using them as intended, you will get a bright ring.
Never throw away old broken rings. They will serve as an excellent basis for a new DIY ring.
You can make a stylish ring from old coins, and more.
A satin ribbon will help create a feminine and delicate look.

We have listed the main materials for making a ring with your own hands, and believe me, this is not the whole list. To create a ring, you can use almost anything you like, you just have to use your imagination to make something exclusive.

How to make a beautiful ring? — Getting ready for creative work

How to make a ring with your own hands at home, using only available materials? Yes Easy!

Before you start working with the selected materials:

First, decide what kind of ring you want.
Now we need to determine the size of the future ring. To do this, you need to take a strip of paper and wrap it around the finger on which you plan to wear the ring.

Important! If you already have a ring for this finger, then use its size to make a new ring - this is the easiest way.

Now, using a pen or pencil, make a mark where one edge intersects the other.
We cut off the excess paper and get the desired size for the ring.

Important! You can simply measure the strip - this will be the size of the new ring. The same strip can be used as a template for measuring prepared materials.

wire ring

Next we will tell you how to make a ring with your own hands using wire. Wire is the most common material in making rings with your own hands. Remember how, as children, we twisted wire roses and wore them as the most expensive decoration? Copper wire is quite affordable and durable, and at the same time multifunctional. It can be used for any type of weaving: braid, heart and many other shapes.

Important! If you do not have experience in weaving wire rings, then first practice on simple elements, and then you can start creating a complex composition.

This is one of the simplest methods that any needlewoman can handle. To make a wire ring you will need the following materials and tools:

An interesting button or natural stone.
Soft wire.
Wire cutters.
Round nose pliers.
A piece of tube in the shape of a cone.

Procedure for making a ring from wire:

First you need to secure the stone to the wire. If you are using a bead, then simply thread the wire through it.

Important! The stone can be painted using a can of spray paint. To do this, you need to place a pebble on a sheet of paper and point the sprayer at it. After complete drying, turn the stone over and process it on the other side in the same way.

Afterwards, using wire cutters, bend the wire back and attach it to the conical tube.
We wrap the wire around the entire conical tube several times.
Next, we tightly squeeze all the turns of the wire, and bend its ends up and down.
We remove the finished workpiece with the tube and the ends of the wire, fix the turns on the sides of the central stone or bead.
We wrap the ends of the wire around the entire ring, about 3-5 times.

Important! Make sure that the turns fit snugly against each other.

When finished, trim off the excess wire using pliers and secure all connected turns to create a flat shape.

Important! Remember that aluminum breaks quickly, so if you took exactly this kind of wire, when creating turns of different shapes, you need to be extremely careful and attentive.

Ring of pins

Don't believe that you can make a ring with your own hands from pins? You are very mistaken. This material can be beneficially used in such an interesting activity. How? We'll tell you everything later.

To work we will need:

Pins.
Beads.
Elastic thin elastic band.
Chain with small links.

So, let's start creating an 80s style ring using pins:

To begin, take a pin and string beads onto it. The number of beads is at your discretion.
We thread two thin elastic bands through both ends of the pin.
Now we take the next pin and use the same method to put it on the elastic band, only its head should point in the opposite direction.
Performing the same manipulations, we alternate the pins one by one until the desired circle is obtained.
At the end of the work, tighten the elastic band and secure it, hiding all the knots.

Satin ribbon ring

Before starting work, you must prepare the following materials and tools:

Medium width satin ribbon.
Thick wire for the base of the ring.
Pliers.
Scissors.
Wire cutters.
Needle with thread.
Glue gun.
Glue.

Below is a step-by-step process for making a ribbon ring:

First of all, measure the required length of wire, and cut off the excess with wire cutters.

Important! In order for the future ring to be strong enough, we recommend making several turns with the tape. You can multiply the circumference of your finger by 3 and get the required piece of satin ribbon.

Now we simply wrap the finger with wire using pliers. Thus, we get the basis of the future ring.

Important! In this case, you can take a dimensional cone, as it is much faster and more convenient.

We take a satin ribbon and, using a glue gun, invisibly attach it to the edges of the wire. We begin to wrap the tape around the entire ring.

Important! It is necessary to ensure that the tape fits tightly enough to the wire when wrapping the circle.

When the tape is wound around the ring, we cut off the excess material, and then secure the end with glue.
Next, cut off a piece of tape, approximately 10-15 cm, and burn the ends with fire.

Important! To prevent the edges of the tape from fraying, you can heat the scissors with fire before cutting.

We form a bow from the ribbon and secure the middle with stitches.
Glue the bow to the base (where the end of the ribbon is glued).

Coin ring

It is possible to make a ring from a coin, but it is a rather complicated and time-consuming process. You can ask for help from a person who has the skills to work with metal products.

In order to start making a ring with your own hands using a coin, you need to prepare the following materials:

Drill.
Fine grit sandpaper.
Coin.
A small piece of metal.
Hammer.
Soft fabric.
Steel spoon.
Emery roller.
Polishing wheel.
Clip for decoration.

Now let's get started:

At the first stage, we take a coin, place it on its edge and place it on a metal base.
Press the base with a teaspoon.
Then we do the painstaking work. Take a hammer and hit the teaspoon until the coin becomes flat.

Important! Constantly monitor the process of flattening the teaspoon. Try to hit the coin with the same force every time for the smoothest edge possible.

Then use a drill to make a hole in the very center of the coin. Once drilled through, the coin will be securely attached.
Now we sand the edge of the coin with sandpaper until the surface is shiny.
Next, use a drill to enlarge the hole in the circle. We constantly change the drill to a larger one until we get the required circle for the future product.

Important! When choosing the size of your jewelry, try it on constantly so that the ring doesn’t end up being too big.

Using an emery roller, polish the inside of the ring.

Important! If desired, you can engrave the ring, but for this you need to contact a specialist.

Button ring

If you do not have a suitable base for the ring, then you can buy it at a jewelry making store. You can attach different materials to such a base: button, stone, plastic, shell and other materials. In this case, we will tell you how to make an original ring from long-forgotten buttons and a piece of fabric.

For work we will need the following materials and tools:

A round piece of black felt (diameter 5 cm).
Bright buttons.
Superglue or glue gun.
Base for the ring.
Jewelry pliers.
Scissors.

Let's get started:

If there are loops on the button, remove them using pliers.
Next, glue the buttons onto a piece of felt according to the pattern: from the center to the edge of the circle.

Important! The buttons must be darkly attached to the felt so that the end result is a round shape.

After the glue has completely dried, cut off the excess felt from the sides in a straight or zigzag line.
Coat the base well with glue.
Glue the previously made fabric with buttons onto the base.
We are waiting for the finished ring to dry completely and rejoice at the new thing.

DIY ring ready at home!

Beaded ring

You probably made different rings from beads as a child? Its large assortment gives you the opportunity to show your imagination. It all depends on your desire and work experience. Beads can be taken in various designs: glued, strung on a fishing line or sewn on. Of course, the jewelry will not look presentable, but with the help of beads and beads you can create a rather beautiful ring.

To get started we will need:

Thin wire.
Beads (at your discretion).
Beads.
Glue.
Wire cutters.
Pliers.

Let's start making a ring from beads and beads:

First you need to measure the size of the future ring. To do this, multiply the girth of the finger by 3 or 4 and add 2 cm.
We cut the resulting length from the copper wire.
Next we string beads onto the wire.

Important! Please note that there should be 1 cm left at each end of the wire. The edges of the wire must be sealed with glue so that the beads do not fall off.

Wrap wire with beads around your finger or use a dimensional cone. We bend the remaining ends - we will need them later to secure the ring.
Now we begin making the ring. Take the wire and cut three pieces 2-3 cm long.
We string two beads onto each piece. We bend the ends of the wire so that the beads do not roll down.
After this, we bend all three parts in half so that a depression is formed in the center, arrange the beads at the ends of the wire.
We place the previously prepared base in the recess, threading parts of the wire through it.

Important! Do not forget that the bent edges of the wire should only be located near the ring.

Now we bend the pieces of wire so that the beads are located tightly to each other.
We twist all the ends of the wire so that the beads are on top.
With the ends that were previously bent, we finally secure the ring.

Important! When making a ring from beads, you can use various design options: weaving in one or several rows, or combining beads with other materials. Don't be afraid to experiment and you will succeed!

Leather ring

Agree, not every girl wears a leather ring, but this does not mean that you need to give up such an interesting idea. We will tell you the simplest and most affordable option.

List of materials needed to create a leather ring:

Leather lace of any color.
Wire.
Pliers.
Base for the ring.

Important! The base can be of different thicknesses, since after the entire manufacturing process it will be possible to adjust the size by simply moving the wire spiral.

Let's take a closer look at all the stages:

First, we wind the wire onto the base, make several turns, stretching out the irregularities.
Afterwards, we cut off the ends of the wire, and to prevent them from pricking, we bend them into loops.
Now we take a leather cord and begin to weave it in a spiral along the entire base of the ring, passing the end of the leather either from above the wire or from below, constantly alternating. We repeat this procedure in the opposite direction.
We continue to weave until the entire base of the ring is wrapped with leather cord.
After all the procedures, cut the lace and hide the tip under the loop.

Chain ring

What can you make a finger ring from? Have you ever thought about a chain? But in vain. You can make a beautiful and delicate ring from the chain. Almost everyone has a broken chain that cannot be repaired and would be a shame to throw away.

In order to get started, you need to prepare the following materials:

Pliers or tweezers.
Chain.

Now you know how to make a ring with your own hands from scrap materials. Agree, it's not that difficult. Having familiarized yourself with the basic methods of creating a ring, you can easily make a stylish and original ring. Use your creativity in the right direction and you will definitely succeed!

Silver clay is a great place to start working with silver, but you can also cut, melt, and bond hard pieces of silver using a jewelry hacksaw, soldering iron, or hammer and anvil. Try combining techniques and you will get unexpected results.

Steps

Modeling from silver clay

Decide how you will heat the clay. After shaping the clay, you will need to heat it to a high temperature so that all the binder material melts and only the silver remains. Some types of metal clay can be heated on a gas stove, while others can only be heated with a gas torch or even in a kiln. Before choosing your clay, determine what temperature you can achieve.

If you heat the clay on a gas stove, you will need a stainless steel grate.
If you plan to use a burner, look for brick or stone that can withstand high temperatures.
It is not recommended to fire large or thick objects in a kiln.
To get an idea of what temperature you can reach on the stovetop, heat a small, thin-sided aluminum pan over high heat and hold an infrared thermometer to the surface once it's hot.

Buy silver clay. You may have to order it online as many stores don't have it in stock. Pure silver clay is more commonly sold, but the resulting jewelry will be less durable.

Make the desired decoration from clay. You can sculpt by hand or with special tools. You can add details using a knife or wire, or cut out different shapes from clay using a stencil.

Dry and sand the clay. Let the clay dry overnight or blow dry. Sand the surface with fine-grit sandpaper.

Heat the clay with a torch. If you have a torch, place the clay on the brick and the brick on a heat-resistant surface. Hold the torch two centimeters away from the clay and heat it until it ignites. It will start to burn, then glow red with incandescence, and then the light will become dim. Heat the clay for at least five minutes, or as directed in the package instructions.
- Avert your eyes from time to time so they can rest.
Heat the clay on the stove. If you have a gas stove, you will need to do the following:

Heat the silver in the kiln. If you have a kiln, you will be able to follow precise instructions for firing the clay. Silver reaches its maximum strength when fired for a long time at a low temperature, but there are faster ways to achieve the result. A special jewelry oven will heat the silver faster, but a regular one will work just as well.

Cool the metal (optional). It is recommended to let the silver cool on its own, but if you are in a hurry, you can put the hot silver in cold water (however, do not touch it immediately after). Cooling can affect the structure of the silver and it will break if you decide to heat it again, but careful drying will help prevent this.

Polish the surface (optional). After firing, the silver will be white and slightly cloudy. If you want it to shine, buff the surface with a copper or steel bristle brush. You can also use a polishing machine with polishing powder.

Wash the product in warm water and soap. This will remove polish residue from the surface. Wipe with a dry, clean cloth, preferably wool or suede.

Attach a hook to each earring. Drill a small hole in each earring, insert a hook, twist it, or otherwise secure it so it doesn't come off. If you are not making earrings, skip this step.

Soldering silver

Gather the necessary materials and tools. If you want to connect several elements, the easiest way to do this is by fusing. Of course, the process will require careful preparation, as well as the following materials and tools:

Prepare your work area. You will need a well-ventilated room and a heat-resistant table, as well as brick or heat-resistant stone. It is important to wear safety glasses to protect yourself from small particles that will fly during the delicate work. Also be prepared with gloves, an apron made of denim or leather, and close-fitting, but not synthetic, clothing.
- You will need a container of water where you can rinse the items. If you are working in an area where there are flammable materials, have a fire extinguisher available.
Clean the silver and apply flux. If the silver is dirty or has been handled frequently, treat it with a special solution that removes grease. If the silver has darkened due to oxidation, immerse it in an etching solution. Once the silver is clean, rub flux into the areas where the silver will join the other piece.
- If you have flux in powder, you must first obtain a liquid or paste from it. Check the manufacturer's instructions.
Start soldering silver. If you haven't soldered anything before, first find out how it's done, or follow our instructions:
- Carefully place the items on the heat-resistant soldering stone, then use tweezers to place a piece of solder (or a dab of flux) on top.
- Heat the product from a distance of 10 centimeters, trying to melt the thickest part of the silver. Do not heat solder directly. To prevent thin pieces of silver from melting, hold them with tweezers.
Rinse, rinse and rinse again. Once the solder has melted and held the two pieces of silver together, turn off the torch and allow the solder to set for 1-2 minutes. Using copper tongs, submerge the silver first in water, then in the etching solution to remove any traces of oxidation. Rinse again in water and dry with a cloth.
- Do not allow the etching solution to come into contact with your skin or clothing as it is very caustic.
- Non-copper tongs may react with the etching solution, damaging the metal.
- If you like the aged look of your silver, you don't need to immerse the piece in an etching solution.

DIY ring? It's not difficult at all! A detailed master class with photos and instructions will tell you how to make a ring at home. Good luck!

website - Navigator in the world of gifts and souvenirs

Ira Fried - jeweler, designer, artist. She makes amazing pieces that are minimalistic and very vibrant. Metal meets wood, gold meets silver, to wrap around your finger in a graceful ring. Pendants are fragile twigs, earrings are fragments, drops. Periods, commas and quotation marks - stylish and “tasty”, just the way I like them :)

In her work she is guided by two rules:
Simplicity will save the world!
There are no ideal forms in nature and I like it!

Ira is inspired by Scandinavia and minimalism, which determines the simple, northern beauty of her jewelry.

Ira has equipped a real workshop at home, because working with metal requires working on machines, being able to handle burners and even a dental drill(!)

But it’s always better to see once: Ira showed us the entire process of creating a product, in this case, a ring, from start to finish.

"So, let's begin!
First, we collect the required amount of silver and melt it in crucibles into a total mass.

When the metal becomes liquid, we pour it into the mold. The metal is fixed in it and cools instantly...

Just like this “bullet”. The bullets can be different depending on what “caliber” we have chosen.

Next, in order to get closer to the shape of the ring, we need to make a strip from the “bullet”. To do this, we need a Roller machine, where metal is rolled between two shafts. First, we level the square to the required size in the grooved shafts, and then we roll it in the flat shafts and get a strip of the required thickness.

When rolling metal, it needs to be periodically annealed, or as jewelers say, “released.” This is done in order to relieve stress from the metal so that it can be rolled further more easily.

To get a specific ring, for example size 17.5, we need to measure out a strip of the desired size. They suggested an excellent formula that I always use: strip thickness 1.7 times 3 + ring size 17.5 times 3 = 57.6 mm (required strip length). Then we need to connect the edges and close them into a circle.

They must close very tightly, only then can we quickly and well seal the ring. We do this using a torch and solder (an alloy of silver and other metals).

When the ends are firmly fastened, we put this strange shape on the Rigle and, to spite the neighbors, knock on the future ring with a wooden hammer, giving it the ideal shape and the desired size. And now we already have a full-fledged ring that can be put on your finger, although it’s not very beautiful yet :) Let’s start decorating it. First, we throw it into the bleach for 2-3 minutes and the blackness disappears from the ring.

Then we carefully work with a file, smooth out all the irregularities and release the beauty of the metal.

Don’t forget to collect silver filings, they will later turn into equally beautiful rings :)

After the file, we go to the drill and sand the ring a little more with sandpaper. And now, the ring is ready! But we don’t have a simple ring, but with a duck.

We scratch an approximate drawing on the ring and move on to all well-known dental burs. No, no, we won’t treat the teeth yet, but they will help us make a duck.

Somehow, working with burs, we first get something similar to a duck, and then a real one. Quack quack!:)

In order for the duck to be clearly visible on our ring, it needs to be blackened. There are different methods of blackening, one of them is very simple and I use it for small parts. Blackening is done using a candle and iodine. So, first you need to smoke the required area, and then cauterize it with iodine.

In the editorial office of JEWELIRUM we discussed for a long time what to come up with Valentine's Day - February 14.

What do you usually think about on this day? They are probably deciding what something warm and special to give to their significant other. Everyone knows that a cute piece of jewelry is always a suitable “candidate” for a gift, but everything has been said about this a long time ago..

And then an idea came to our mind: the best way to convey your feelings is by making a gift with your own hands. So let's find a place to help make your own jewelry?

Step 0. Preparation and definition of the task

The editors delegated two employees to the project - Sergei and me (Olga). Sergei and I agreed that we would try to find a studio that conducts master classes in our north-eastern district of Moscow. And if everything works out, then Sergey will make the decoration (for his other half), and I will do the usual - photography.

This is how we found the Rostock jewelry studio, whose managers agreed to host our “film crew” and include us in the next master class on Saturday, January 25th. We were advised to dress “in whatever you mind” and have spare shoes and cookies with us :).

We did not know in advance what kind of decoration Sergei would make. But they formulated this for themselves target: to understand how realistic it is for beginners without experience to independently make something beautiful and of high quality that they would not be ashamed to give to their loved ones.

Step 1. Instruction

Sergei and I (on the left in the photo) arrived at the studio around 11 am. Inside the studio (a medium-sized room with desks along the walls) there were already 3 or 4 people, clearly “old people.” They were completely absorbed in their work, and at first no one paid attention to us. Following us, two “newbies” like us entered, also for the master class. When the group gathered and looked around, teacher Lyudmila, a pleasant woman with a quiet voice, approached us. She found out who’s name was (and then never made a mistake, even when the number of people increased significantly), and said that there would now be a safety briefing.

We go through instructions: be careful with the torch, don’t grab the wires with wet hands, handle hot metal with tongs:

Teacher Lyudmila, a jeweler with extensive experience and simply a patient person:

All the beginners decided to practice making classics of the genre - simple silver rings. We, after consulting with Lyudmila, settled on the suspension. We wanted our first decoration to have a stone, and pendant with stone It is considered a less labor-intensive product than a ring with a stone.

The one on the far right is our planned type of pendant (a simple but figured frame - cast, with a cabochon inside). A ring and a loop for the chain should be attached to the cast:

Step 2. Selecting a stone for insertion

We agreed in advance that we would purchase an ornamental stone from the “studio” collection. Lyudmila brought us three boxes and offered to choose what we liked best.

Sergei is busy making a difficult decision:

Stones to choose from:

As a result, “ moss agate"- in our opinion, the most beautiful, milky-white stone with an unusual natural pattern:

Step 3. Melting the “material” - scrap silver

Melting metal is probably the most spectacular process. And in my opinion, the most risky. This is where you need to be extremely careful and follow safety instructions exactly. Just remember that silver melts at a temperature of approximately 960 degrees..

The following are involved in the smelting process: petrol or gas burner, fireclay crucible(a cup made of a special type of clay), mold(something like a rectangular spoon with grooves), container with water(for instant cooling of the smelted metal), and various auxiliary tools such as long tongs.

Workplace with a gasoline burner:

A little larger: here we first came across an association with medieval dentistry :)

Lyudmila lit the burner with an ordinary lighter and directed the fire towards the crucible with a silver crowbar. The material had to be melted until it turned red and turned into a liquid state.

The process is fascinating:

The metal melted. Lyudmila took the crucible with tongs and, without ceasing to heat it with a burner, began to pour the resulting alloy into the mold.

The mold was lowered into a container of water, and then the following silver bars were shaken out of it:

The piece of silver we received is in the hands of Sergei and mine. At first it looks unattractive). It is from this that we will make the frame for the pendant:

Step 4. Rolling

This stage turned out to be quite long. But, unlike the melting, we did it entirely on our own. The essence of rolling is to give an initially shapeless bar of silver a given shape with certain edge sizes. That is, we make a full-fledged “blank” from a block.

A rolling apparatus with grooves (streams) on the sides, and a smooth surface of the shafts in the middle. Streams give the workpiece the shape of a block with a square cross-section, smooth surfaces make flat “ribbons”:

Sergei sent the block into the first stream. Next, his task was to turn the workpiece 90 degrees (back and forth) and re-send it into the stream in the same direction. The screws on top were tightened after each pass. Then the part was moved to a “shallower” stream, and the process was repeated. And so on until the edges of the required size are obtained.

Operating the rolling machine resembles working with a manual meat grinder. A line quickly forms behind the meat grinder operator:

Passage results - different stages:

When the required size (in millimeters) was obtained, the workpiece had to be fired (to increase ductility).

The output is a thin silver “ribbon” from which we will make the base of the cast:

Rolling is a slow process. While Sergei was turning the handle of the “meat grinder”, I was turning my head accordingly and observing what was interesting around me.

Someone's tools and drawings - design bureau:

The girl casually burns or melts something - as if she is standing at the kitchen stove and stirring food..

A workshop participant who joined later melts the material:

The most crucial moment:

The ring is soldered (more on the soldering technique later), as well as working with a jigsaw:

The surface of the ring is processed by embossing (to obtain an embossed ornament). The ring is tapped with a wooden hammer to level the surface:

Stage 5. Caste formation

Finally, the rolling was done. You can proceed to the main stage of work. Here we couldn’t do without Lyudmila - we clearly didn’t have enough skills and equipment for the first time.

In general, the process is quite simple in essence, but complex in execution. The silver “ribbon” should frame our stone, following its contours. The metal must “remember” its shape (if this does not work, then it is subjected to additional firing).

This tool with semicircular tips helps to bend the corners correctly:

Stage 6. Soldering caste

The excess length pieces of “tape” from our frame for the stone are cut off, and then the edges of the cast mold need to be soldered to each other. Soldering is done using burners(we used its autonomous version right at our workplace), and also solder(our alloy with the addition of tin), gumboil(yellowish liquid for removing surface film), bleach(citric acid) and water(for cooling the metal).

Before soldering, castes are dipped in flux. Next, in order to solder the edges to each other, they are connected closely, heated with a torch until reddened, while simultaneously heating the solder, and then the solder is grabbed with a thin “knitting needle” and brought to the crack between the edges. The hot ball of solder rolls into the gap, filling its surface with itself.

The most difficult moment is to make the ball “jump” to the right place:

After this, the product is dipped in bleach and washed with water. The first part of the work is ready:

However, we have only done half of the cast so far. The stone will fall out of such a “frame”. A second contour is needed, like an inner rim, which will support the stone inside the frame. To do this, Sergey fires a new piece of the workpiece and rolls it to the state of a thin bar-wire.

Second cast outline nested in the original frame:

Cut off the excess. Lyudmila straightens the triangle shape with semicircular pliers:

The difficult part is soldering the inner circuit to the outer one. Here again we cannot do without Lyudmila. This operation will require a lot of solder - there are quite significant voids between the circuits.

It was and became: both cast circuits before and after soldering:

In fact, the frame for the stone (the base of the pendant) is ready. Next we have to make and solder a ring and a loop for the chain.

Since Lyudmila personally supervised all the students, sometimes we had to wait for her for quite a long time. We used this time to look around.

Meanwhile, there has been a noticeable increase in people, everyone is enthusiastically doing something:

Step 7. Placing the stone in the cast and adjusting

But before we start making the ring and loop, we need to achieve a perfect fit of our moss agate inside the manufactured caste. As one would expect for the first experiment, the stone did not want to fit, and I had to work with tools (correcting the corners) to fit the stone.

Lyudmila helps with adjusting the caste, including using a wooden hammer:

The cast has acquired the ideal shape to “receive” the stone:

Step 8. Making and soldering the ring and loop (ear)

This task did not seem so difficult to us - we just needed to bend the silver wire. The main thing is to master the right tools - pliers with tips of a suitable shape, so that the ring becomes round and the eye becomes angular (round ones are called round pliers).

And we have more or less learned to cope with the task of soldering one piece of metal to another. More precisely, we understood the principle. The most difficult thing was to decide which corner (and whether) to attach the ring to. In the end, we chose the corner on which the decoration “hung” in the most interesting way, with the left corner creeping away asymmetrically.

As a result, Sergey successfully soldered the ring to the cast. Then the eye was inserted into the ring, and its ends were soldered together.

On the left is “was”, on the right is “has become”. The soldered ends of the ear, however, had to be evened out a little more with a rasp:

Step 9: Sanding

By this point we have already spent time in the studio more than five hours(including a short tea break) and a little tired. On the other hand, we finally got into the atmosphere and stopped feeling like complete newbies. The open fire from the burners around stopped causing at least some emotions, it became clear which units made what sounds, and in response to questions like “what do you have in the jar?” began to confidently answer - “bleach.”

In any case, the hardest part was already over. And in the next hour we had to put the silver parts of the structure in order. For example, sand our caste using sandpaper (the shortest and easiest step):

Step 10. Making uneven edges at the cast

To make the pendant look a little more interesting, we agreed with Lyudmila’s suggestion to make the frame “uneven edges”. To do this, Sergei used a file to cut out indentations around the entire perimeter. These notches will later be used to bend the edges of the frame when the stone is in place to hold the stone inside.

Step 11. Polishing the cast

At this stage, for the second time, we were visited by an association with a dentist's office. The drill used for polishing was driven by the apparatus - one to one, like a “dental” drill. But our setting for the stone began to shine dully and generally for the first time took on a “marketable appearance”:

Step 12. Securing the stone in the frame and finishing

A pleasant manual stage in which you very quickly see the results of your work. Characters: Plug and Hurry dealer And ironer.

With help " dealer” (otherwise - “boot”) - a rod with a tip in the shape of the letter G - Sergey pressed the sections of caste between the notches so that they were adjacent to the stone.

The photo on the right shows the result:

However, the metal itself looked uneven in the “pressed” areas and needed to be straightened. For this we used " ironing board"- a tool similar to the body of a fountain pen:

During the time spent at work, it became completely dark, and inside the studio it even became cozy.

The photo shows a view from the next workplace:

Step 13. Final polishing

Polishing metal on a polishing machine turned out to be the most polluting procedure, “thanks to” a special paste that was periodically lubricated with the bristles of the roller. It was after her that Sergei acquired real “jewelry” hands :).

The part had to be held with both hands, otherwise it would easily fly out:

I don’t know why, but the entire polishing unit reminded me of a plastic bread box. And Sergei looked very organic:

“If you see your reflection, you can finish polishing.” We see. Finished:

Step 14. Washing the product and taking photographs of the result

We did not take pictures of the washing process due to its banality: we simply took the pendant to the toilet and washed it with a Fairy toothbrush. At this point, the work on creating the decoration was officially completed. There was time 17:00 - total 6 hours held in a jewelry studio.

But we filmed a lot of the final result, because this is precisely why we spent so many hours trying. We ourselves liked the pendant very much, and everyone present in the studio no less. But most importantly, Sergei’s wife appreciated the gift - she was very happy! Moreover, the decoration created a real sensation at her work. Some female colleagues were sure that the pendant was brought from abroad, because “they can’t be found here.” Others were simply touched and seemed quite envious of such an unusual gift.

So, we present our first piece of jewelry from the JEWELIRUM brand:) - a silver pendant of the author’s work “Forest Nymph”:)

Pendant - front and back view:

We ourselves did not expect that from uneven parts soldered to each other, with this coating and stains on the metal, we would suddenly get a completely shiny and even decoration.

Final photo - Sergey with his creation:

Our conclusions:

Remember, at the very beginning of the text we formulated our goal? We wanted to understand how realistic it is to make real jewelry on our own, without experience.

After this master class, Sergei and I decided that, of course, the product successfully made in one lesson was largely due to Lyudmila, a friendly teacher and professional jeweler. On the other hand, Sergey, in principle, mastered all the techniques and the general approach, and carried out some stages entirely on his own. Most likely, he could make the next similar decoration with minimal help from a teacher.

But our main conclusion was different. Making jewelry by hand is serious and painstaking work. Even if the teacher could deal exclusively with us, without being distracted by other students, it would take no less to produce one pendant four hours