While I know some of us are content using just hard solder for all of our soldering jobs, I know there’s still those select few of you who choose to follow the rules and use a variety of solders for your various soldering stages in the production end of your work.  And I confess, I actually do have a bit of easy solder sitting around on the bench somewhere, just in case I decide I might need it one day.  I think I’ve actually even used it! 

When you employ three different types of solder on your bench, chances are that, at some point, they’re going to get mixed up.  Snippets fly this way and that, trays of pallions spill and get thrown together in mass chaos.  Not fun, and once you’re unsure which is what, it renders perfectly good solder almost useless.

Tip of the Day? Color code your solder!

Make good use of those Sharpies yet again: grab a blue, a black and a red permanent marker.  Color your Hard solder red. Red is significantly the hottest color, indicating the hottest temp needed for proper flow. Color your Medium solder black and your Easy solder blue or green, indicating the lowest temp for flow.

Be sure to color your solder both front and back.  The ink will burn off neatly long before you reach flow temps and you’ll never again wonder which solder pallion is which.  

~D.

Posted under Tip of the Day!

Ferric Chloride is a traditional etchant for anyone etching circuit-boards, and sometimes by default, copper for jewelry components.  Who doesn’t love to etch?  It’s an easy way to impart many designs into your metal with relatively little hand work.  Far less time consuming than engraving and much less expensive than traditional metal stamps (if you don’t make your own stamps with recycled steel).  However, the acids and chemicals involved in etching can sometimes seem complex and dangerous to the novice jewelry maker and even to some of the more advanced metalsmiths who are just branching into the etching world.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a relatively simple formula to make a starter etchant that was cheap, reusable and stronger with each use, and easily formulated with 3 simple ingredients, 2 of which are available in your local hardware store?  Well, guess what?!  It’s totally possible and it’s called:

Copper Chloride in Aqueous Hydrochloric Acid Solution!

Say that three times as fast….  It sounds much worse than it is.  (As always, care should be taken when working with these items.  They may sound dangerous, but it’s always better to work safe and know the parameters of your chemicals.) The main two ingredients required from your hardware store are as follows:

• Hydrochloric Acid (AKA: Muriatic Acid or Pool Acid) 31.45% or 10M
• Hydrogen Peroxide 3% Solution (Same that you buy in the drugstore for mouthwash/first aid) **Please note that it is NOT safe to use the 6% solutions found in beauty supply shops. Anything stronger than 3% can produce potentially lethal fumes when mixed with the acid and inhaled. 

The third ingredient is the copper, which you should already have on hand and you’ll also need a non-metallic container (glass beaker or stepped pyrex for measuring purposes) to put your etchant in as well as two standardized measuring containers. While you’re out at the store, you may want to pick up some acetone, which is a wonderful resist remover.  Also, please be sure to wear proper safety equipment, use adequate ventilation and exercise caution at all times when working with any chemical compounds.

You will need to use a 2:1 Ratio for the starter etchant (2 Hydrogen peroxide to 1 Hydrochloric Acid) And, as always, for safety reasons, be sure to add Acid to Water. Please be careful to do this in a well ventilated area: The Muriatic Acid has strong fumes and the resulting starter etchant produces a bit of chlorine gas.  This will become more minimal over time.  The other hazard worth mentioning is to keep this away from stainless steel-it will eat the coating right off it upon contact, even by the dropperful. Keep water running at all times when near your sink.

So, now you have your first etchant.  This first batch will etch super-fast. The etchant will turn a lovely shade of green over time, which is good news. Upon adding your first piece of copper, the etched copper will turn into Cupric Chloride. This is the chemical that recycles as the etchant.  It can be used indefinitely by topping off the acid or the O2 levels.  Over time, you only need to maintain these two things.

Things to remember:

• When all the peroxide is used up, the etchant will turn brownish.  You can reinvent this by either adding more O2 with a bit of Peroxide (be sparing; a little goes a long way and remember that Peroxide is 97% water) or you can get an aquarium bubbler and recirculate via bubbling and swirling.  (Sounds fun, I know.)
• HCI (Hydrochloric Acid) is being consumed in the starter etchant, so you must add more over time. Toss in a capful every 3-4 etching batches.
• You want to make a fairly good size starter batch, but also be careful to not make too much. If you have a 750ML container, start with less than 500ML in total volume of combined materials. 
• If and when your volume becomes too high, evaporate it down by putting it in a shallow dish.  This will concentrate the copper which then translates into a stronger etchant.

HAZMAT WARNINGS:

The Environmental benefit of etching with copper versus ferric chloride is not having to dispose of your copper every few etch batches. Over time, as you end up with too much etchant, please observe your proper LOCAL HAZARDOUS WASTE GUIDELINES.  Copper salts are poisonous to fish, even in diluted concentrations. Always use proper ventilation to avoid breathing any fumes, wear gloves and safety goggles and anytime you’re working with acids, it’s best to have baking soda on hand to neutralize any spills immediately.

Legal Disclaimer:

*You assume all risks in working with these chemicals.  These instructions are for the benefit of those who understand and take on any responsibilities associated with working with hazardous chemicals.  We do not assume any liability for your results and we do not recommend that you try this with small children present. Please take the time to properly research all safety guidelines associated with these chemical compounds.

~D.

Posted under Inspired

Here’s hoping you all put down your pliers/tools/sheetmetals for the day and spent it enjoying the company of giddy children dressed in their Halloween finery…

Have a Happy Halloween!

Posted under Administrative

Packaging at it’s Finest!

Packaging.  It’s something anyone who makes jewelry uses.  We need it for our customers, we use it for shipping, we offer it at our showcase and trunk venues.  It’s part of our branding. Yet, many people now refuse excess packaging due to environmental concerns. Do you blame them?  Deforestation is a nasty side effect of our excess usage of paper products.  It’s no wonder people are no longer interested in taking a box with their newly bought jewelry or accepting our bags.  This can hurt your business in the long run; we depend on people seeing those carefully chosen color schemes in our packaging, our logos and stickers on the sides of the bags.  When you see someone walking with a brightly colored package, don’t you wonder where it came from?  I certainly do, and this is vital to bringing you traffic at many a craft show.

In hopes of alleviating the stress to both you and your customers, we’ve come up with a packaging company whose products are 100% Eco-Friendly. They offer more packaging options than I can ever wrap my brain around, including bio-friendly doggy wastebags, shipping boxes, and more. The best part? You can shop and search their site by category: Color, Industry, Season, etc. Pull up the jewelry category and you’ll find almost all of the tagging, packing, packaging, branding and sticking options we use in our field. This includes dumbell tags, sterling/gold stickers, hang tags, security loops, custom hotstamped satin ribbons and much, much, MUCH more!

Buy eco-friendly packaging, educate your customers on your dedication to “being green” and continue to spread the word about your business.  Visit dunwoody booth packaging here.

Enjoy!

~D.

Posted under Spied!

First, a Lesson in Firescale:

What is Firescale?

Firescale is sometimes referred to as “firestain.”  It is a purplish blotchy stain that can appear on silver alloys that contain copper.  It appears when the silver/copper alloy is heated in the presence of oxygen.  While some artisans may deliberately cause firescale, it is usually a blight that one wants to avoid and, when that fails, treat.

Most sterling silver contains 75 parts per 1000 of copper.  When the alloy is heated during annealing or as a result of soldering, the exposed copper is transformed into cuprous oxide (Cu20), which is purplish in color.  Attempts to prevent the problem center on heating strategies that are carried out in an oxygen free environment.  As for soldering-induced firestain, this can be prevented by applying a protective coating on the silver to prevent oxygen contact. 

So what do you do if you get Firescale and it’s unwanted?

It can be removed by mechanical means, which means polishing it off.  This isn’t particularly fun and can be rather time consuming, but it works, particularly if your starting metal has the initial thickness to allow aggressive polishing. Or, you can try our tip of the day!

Water of Ayr Stones

A Water of Ayr stone is a grey, somewhat soft stone that contains a blend of small discreet particles.  It is also sometimes called a Tom O’Shanter stone and was mined in Scotland before 1885 by a small company. It was used by professional jewelers as a gentle abrasion on sterling silver for cleaning before final polishing as well as removing firescale.  When used, it is best to moisten it and rub gently over the firescale. The argument is that this very same thing can be achieved with many of the wet/dry sandpapers on the market, and it doesn’t particularly work any better than starting with a 400 grit and following it by a 600, but the bonus of using these stones is that it can be shaped to get in those hard to reach areas that we as designers love aesthetically, but woe as finishers. Many of the older jewelry technique books reference this material, but it’s painfully absent from many of the newer classes and metalsmithing tool lists.

As far as I’ve been able to find, there aren’t any American suppliers of this product, but I have found some based in the UK.  It isn’t terribly expensive and does a wonderful job given the opportunity.

Enjoy!

~D.

Posted under Tip of the Day!

 

 

In Review:

The Jeweler’s Directory of Decorative Finishes

Jinks McGrath

Do you ever look at a designer’s work and see beautiful patinations, colors, & finishes and wonder how they achieve them?  Then this is the book for you!  As the back cover reads, “An indispensable reference for jewelers, designers, students and anyone working with base and precious metals…”

Jinks McGrath is well known for her visually appealing books as well as her wide knowledge base and ease of presentation in her writing style.  She doesn’t disappoint in this 128 page book of information regarding all types of finishes and patinas that are popular among jewelry artists. 

The book is set up with the main body of the directory encompassing 15 different types of techniques that can be used to produce a variety of decorative surfaces.  Each technique is broken down into 3 sections: tools & materials needed as well as the demonstration of the method, samples of jewelry pieces utilizing the technique and last but not least, the eye candy; a gallery of items by various artists also working within that technique.  

The author goes on to say in her introduction that it is not wise to expect exacting perfection when attempting many of the processes involved in obtaining the vast majority of finishes shown.  The beauty of patination especially is the unknown; temperatures, weather conditions, elevations, heat and many other factors can decide your results in advance of your skill and determination.  This is not to say that you haven’t achieved what the author is teaching; safe to say you may have discovered something new. Patience is a virtue with many of the techniques discussed & McGrath is quick to offer a variety of methods to try, hoping to lead you down the path to creative enjoyment and not that of frustration.  Last but certainly not least, safety information is always provided and valuable to boot.  For instance, I had no idea that when etching, it was best to use a combination of water and etchant solution and that is was vitally important to add water to the acid, not the opposite. Good to know!  For those of us who somehow managed to skip chemistry class, we’d hate to blow up our studios by not following the proper working rules of chemical reactions.

Wondering what the directory covers?  Here’s the list, chapter by chapter:

•  Stamps & Hammering
• Rolling-mill texturing (good way to finally use that H.F. rolling mill!)
• Fusing
• Polished, Matte & Satin finishes
• Etching
• Patination & Oxidation
• Casting
• Press forming
• Reticulation
• Gold & Silver foil
• Granulation
• Enameling
• Engraving
• Inlay
• Chasing & Repousse

Posted under Reviews

  UPDATE: October Jewelry Design Contest Submissions

Hi Everyone!  Please forgive the MIA the last two days; I’ve been traveling, but I haven’t forgotten you.

On to business at hand….

************************

The DEADLINE for the Recycled Jewelry Design Contest is TOMORROW (Saturday, Oct. 25th) at MIDNIGHT (Eastern Standard Time). 

 Please remember that all submission MUST come in digital format, no more than 3 images per piece. 

Please submit your entries to the following and include your name, how long you’ve been designing & any applicable website link:

Editor(at)PROJewelryDesign(dot)com

Judging will take place over a period of 2 Days, depending on the amount on submissions and we’ll keep you posted on the status of this as we take submissions.

Thank You & Good Luck!   

Posted under Contests

Anyone working with silver or gold will inevitably need a buffing tool more powerful than a Dremel.  When I first started out metalsmithing, I tried to get buy doing all my drilling/polishing with a Dremel.  I won’t tell you how much money I spent in burned up motors. Lets just say it was ugly.

So, to save you from a similar fate, the last Steal of the Week was a Flexshaft at a bargain basement steal of a price from Contenti.  This week, we’re bringing you a nice little 6″ buffing wheel from Harbor Freight.  They say it can cost an enormous amount of money to setup a working metals studio.  I say you can get some of your tools at a pretty good deal if you hunt around.  A lot of the big jewelry tool mfg. companies often have a section of their site reserved for people selling used tools.  That’s a great way to pick up an expensive piece of equipment on the cheap that someone else no longer needs.  There’s always a home in my studio for unloved and unwanted tools!

So.  Check out that link to HF and trust me on how much money you’ll save buying the buffing wheel versus the Dremel.  Work smarter, not harder.

Cheers!

~D.

Posted under Steal of the Week

Aluminum & Sterling-Not friends!

Do you do Chain Maille?  If so, you might be like one of many who use anodized aluminum links.

However, here’s the tip:

Never work silver and aluminium on the same bench if you are saving your sawdust for the refinery.  They consider it a contaminate and you’ll lose money!

Keep those metals apart, as well as your dust & scrap! 

~D.

Posted under Tip of the Day!

Jewelry Books are addictive!

I’m frequently asked what books I keep on my bookshelf, what texts I use for tips on techniques, what is the best book for various how-to’s. One must understand that as a jewelry designer, unless you’re just in this for the hobby aspect, it’s a tough business. There’s a lot of materials that one needs to read and absorb in order to build your business on a strong foundation as well as making it marketable and profitable.

That being said, I have a HUGE library of books I’ve read, some good, some bad, some just middle of the road. But no matter what, I’ve learned something valuable from each text and am glad they’re there for reference. My mind is a bear trap for the most part, but I can’t remember everything. Too much room is taken up by random song lyrics, childhood memories and Christmas carols.

A huge library translates great for me, but not so much for you. So, being the nice person I am, I decided to put a few of my very favorites and those that I feel will help you the most, in my left sidebar. Amazon shows their vote ranking, so you know I’m not recommending a crappy bunch of literary drivel for you to spend your hard earned dollars on.

To further my endeavor and help you pick a good read, I’ll take each one of those and review them in a blog post, giving you a good overview of what I found helpful and informative. This will prevent you from taking unnecessary trips to your local book store or paying top dollar for a book you can get gently used and discounted at Amazon.

See? I’m here for you. Isn’t that great?!

Posted under Daily Musings