Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Ambitious Silver Chain...

After Christmas, my wife and I decided to work on a common project.  It combines jump ring making and shaping with lots of torch work.

All components are made of "fine" silver.  It is very soft and easy to shape.  But it is pretty close to "impossible" to solder.

The picture shows the various components of the chain.  My wife makes the jump rings, then their  joints fused with the torch, then she forms them. Meanwhile, I make the pieces that look like push pins.  These are short lengths of silver wire with the ends melted into a ball.
Then, the fun part begins.  Assembling the chain links together.  This is accomplished by alternatively flipping the links and connecting them with the pins... I use the torch to melt the other end of the pin into a ball, that locks the chain link in place.

We have not decided if this is going to be a bracelet or a necklace.  It will probably depend on my patience. ;-)

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