This next tip comes from a reader of my blog named Sally.
Sally writes, "I have been gluing jewelery components with 2 part epoxy glue ie cabochon gemstones onto metal and watch cogs etc, but could not get the things glued on without the glue oozing out from underneath.
I can't clean it up when it is wet as whatever I am glueing needs to be left alone to set in place,so I tried using acetone to clean it up when it was set.It didn't work.I got pissed off so I picked up my little electric engraving tool and had a go with that!
Brilliant...I don't have a very hard tip on it,we mainly use it to engrave ID numbers on the plastic of our electrical items for security.If you have good control with this tool it turns the excess glue into powder very easily and will not scratch the metal.It leaves a neat finish very quickly.
Thought this might be of use."
You can find her work on Ebay at myworld.ebay.com/erin11599/
Thanks Sally, I appreciate the tip. I've had trouble with this myself and have had to discard a few pieces. Next time I'll have to try this.
If anybody else has a tip they'd like to share, just send it to me at LuxeOrnaments@gmail.com along with a link and I'll post your tip along with a link to your shop.
Jewelry making blog from LuxeOrnaments.Etsy.com Get ideas on how to combine components from my shop, how to create unique pieces,step by step projects and tutorials. Also visit my other shop at solivio.etsy.com featuring fine quality gemstone beads in small, affordable parcels.
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
How to Patina Raw Brass Filigree Pieces in 5 Easy Steps
In this post I'm going to show you how to darken raw brass filigree pieces in 5 easy steps. Using simple household items I'll show you a fast and non-toxic way to add a patina to your pieces.
You will need:
Tweezers or something to hold your filigree
A heat source - A butane torch works well, but you can use a gas stove and even a regular lighter
Scouring Pad - I like "3M Between Coats Finishing Pads" that you can get from the paint section of your hardware store.
Optional - Dremel with wire brush or a hand held wire brush
Acrylic Paint - I like a mix of burnt umber and black
Paper Towel to wipe off the paint
First here's a picture of a before and after of what we're trying to achieve
Start by heating the piece with a torch, gas stove or regular lighter. Use the tweezers to hold the filigree piece in the flame until it is completely blackened. You will see it change different colors as you do this. You'll see some various colors but if you hold it to the heat source long enough it will darken.
I don't have the flame going in this picture, didn't want to burn my photo station down, but you get the idea.
This is what it will look like when you're through. Allow the piece to cool. You can quench it in water if you like or just let it cool down.
Next, take the scouring pad and cut it into little one inch or so pieces. This is the perfect size for working with and makes the pad last a lot longer this way.
Clean up the piece with the scouring pad. You will start to see the lighter brass come through.
You can skip this next step if you don't have a dremel with a wire brush attachment or a wire bristled brush . This adds a nice shine to the metal as the wire burnishes the brass. Just go over the whole piece front and back with the dremel or wire brush until it lightens and polishes the brass filigree.
You can leave it like this after you're done but I think it looks a little flat. It is all one color and doesn't have any depth. I tried to get a picture of the piece at this point but the camera is adding shadows where there aren't any.
To make the piece pop we're going to add some depth using the acrylic paint. I was skeptical when I first read about it but it really works. I thought you would be able to tell that paint was used on the piece but you can't. I like to use equal parts of burnt umber and black acrylic paint loosened with a little water. It doesn't seem to matter how much you thin the paint down or if you leave it undiluted it worked both ways for me and watering it down a little conserves your paint for other projects. Brush the paint right onto the piece making sure to get all the nooks and crevices. You can let it sit for about 30 seconds then dab the paint off and wipe after you've dabbed as much as you can get off.
If the piece doesn't look darkened enough, you can repeat with the paint as many times as you need.
The following picture shows the difference between using a regular lighter, a gas stove and a butane torch. There is virtually no difference between the gas stove and butane torch. The one where I used just the lighter seems a little lighter and I probably could have heated it a second time just to darken it a little. I didn't try it with my propane torch, but I'm sure it would be the same as the butane torch.
In the next example, I have the original raw brass, a piece that I darkened with just paint, and a final piece using the method described above. I like the look of the 3rd but the one darkened with just paint looks pretty too. It's another option to try.
You can leave the pieces as they are but I like to seal them with a product called Permalac. I like the aerosol can in matte. This sprays on very lightly and doesn't make your piece feel like plastic.
Have fun experimenting!
-Sue
You will need:
Tweezers or something to hold your filigree
A heat source - A butane torch works well, but you can use a gas stove and even a regular lighter
Scouring Pad - I like "3M Between Coats Finishing Pads" that you can get from the paint section of your hardware store.
Optional - Dremel with wire brush or a hand held wire brush
Acrylic Paint - I like a mix of burnt umber and black
Paper Towel to wipe off the paint
First here's a picture of a before and after of what we're trying to achieve
Start by heating the piece with a torch, gas stove or regular lighter. Use the tweezers to hold the filigree piece in the flame until it is completely blackened. You will see it change different colors as you do this. You'll see some various colors but if you hold it to the heat source long enough it will darken.
I don't have the flame going in this picture, didn't want to burn my photo station down, but you get the idea.
This is what it will look like when you're through. Allow the piece to cool. You can quench it in water if you like or just let it cool down.
Next, take the scouring pad and cut it into little one inch or so pieces. This is the perfect size for working with and makes the pad last a lot longer this way.
Clean up the piece with the scouring pad. You will start to see the lighter brass come through.
You can skip this next step if you don't have a dremel with a wire brush attachment or a wire bristled brush . This adds a nice shine to the metal as the wire burnishes the brass. Just go over the whole piece front and back with the dremel or wire brush until it lightens and polishes the brass filigree.
You can leave it like this after you're done but I think it looks a little flat. It is all one color and doesn't have any depth. I tried to get a picture of the piece at this point but the camera is adding shadows where there aren't any.
To make the piece pop we're going to add some depth using the acrylic paint. I was skeptical when I first read about it but it really works. I thought you would be able to tell that paint was used on the piece but you can't. I like to use equal parts of burnt umber and black acrylic paint loosened with a little water. It doesn't seem to matter how much you thin the paint down or if you leave it undiluted it worked both ways for me and watering it down a little conserves your paint for other projects. Brush the paint right onto the piece making sure to get all the nooks and crevices. You can let it sit for about 30 seconds then dab the paint off and wipe after you've dabbed as much as you can get off.
If the piece doesn't look darkened enough, you can repeat with the paint as many times as you need.
The following picture shows the difference between using a regular lighter, a gas stove and a butane torch. There is virtually no difference between the gas stove and butane torch. The one where I used just the lighter seems a little lighter and I probably could have heated it a second time just to darken it a little. I didn't try it with my propane torch, but I'm sure it would be the same as the butane torch.
In the next example, I have the original raw brass, a piece that I darkened with just paint, and a final piece using the method described above. I like the look of the 3rd but the one darkened with just paint looks pretty too. It's another option to try.
You can leave the pieces as they are but I like to seal them with a product called Permalac. I like the aerosol can in matte. This sprays on very lightly and doesn't make your piece feel like plastic.
Have fun experimenting!
-Sue
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Basic Wire Skills for Jewelry Making Part 2 Wire
In this post we're going to take talk about the wire itself.
Gauge
The thickness of wire is measured as gauges. The higher the number the thinner the wire. Some of the most popular gauges to work with are:
14-16 gauges are good gauges for bangles or bracelets.
18 gauge - this is a good firm thickness for jump rings and base components.
20 gauge - can be used to form base components and to make jump rings for lightweight items.
22 - 26 gauges are good for wrapping either a heavier gauges of wire or to wrap beads.
Shapes
Wire comes in different shapes too. The most popular include round, half-round, square, and twisted.
Hardness
You may have heard the terms dead soft, half-hard and hard but weren't sure what they meant. Here's a breakdown.
Dead soft - This is the most pliable. Wire that is dead soft can be bent very easily. Most copper and brass comes in dead soft. This is my most preferred hardness. You can hammer a piece once you've finished working on it to make it harder. This is called work-hardening.
Half-Hard is a little bit stiffer than dead-soft but not fully hard. If you'd like to make earwires 20ga of half-hard wire will work beautifully.
Full Hard wire is so stiff it's very hard to work with. It's almost impossible to get smooth looking curves with wire that is this stiff.
MaterialsWire is made from different materials. The easiest metal to start with is copper followed by brass.
Copper wire is almost always dead soft and very pliable. It is the wire I recommend learning with.
Brass is good to work with before moving to Sterling Silver because they feel the same to work with. It's a little bit springier than copper. Here's an example of what I mean. When you wind a coil with copper, it almost stays the same size as the mandrel you're wrapping it around. When you wind it with brass or sterling it springs a little bit and it will be a little bit larger in diameter.
Fine Silver is made of pure silver. It is tarnish resistant and very pliable but sometimes too soft.
Sterling Silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The copper adds a little bit of strength to sterling but is also the reason why sterling silver tarnishes. Sterling silver is a very popular wire to work with but I would recommend practicing with copper first. Copper is more pliable than brass.
Gold-filled, which is considered heirloom quality, is a heavy layer of 10k to 14k gold over base metal. The layer is much heavier than for gold-plated and is a way to incorporate gold into your pieces without "breaking the bank."
I hope you learned a little bit about wire that you didn't know before.
-Sue
Gauge
The thickness of wire is measured as gauges. The higher the number the thinner the wire. Some of the most popular gauges to work with are:
14-16 gauges are good gauges for bangles or bracelets.
18 gauge - this is a good firm thickness for jump rings and base components.
20 gauge - can be used to form base components and to make jump rings for lightweight items.
22 - 26 gauges are good for wrapping either a heavier gauges of wire or to wrap beads.
Shapes
Wire comes in different shapes too. The most popular include round, half-round, square, and twisted.
Hardness
You may have heard the terms dead soft, half-hard and hard but weren't sure what they meant. Here's a breakdown.
Dead soft - This is the most pliable. Wire that is dead soft can be bent very easily. Most copper and brass comes in dead soft. This is my most preferred hardness. You can hammer a piece once you've finished working on it to make it harder. This is called work-hardening.
Half-Hard is a little bit stiffer than dead-soft but not fully hard. If you'd like to make earwires 20ga of half-hard wire will work beautifully.
Full Hard wire is so stiff it's very hard to work with. It's almost impossible to get smooth looking curves with wire that is this stiff.
MaterialsWire is made from different materials. The easiest metal to start with is copper followed by brass.
Copper wire is almost always dead soft and very pliable. It is the wire I recommend learning with.
Brass is good to work with before moving to Sterling Silver because they feel the same to work with. It's a little bit springier than copper. Here's an example of what I mean. When you wind a coil with copper, it almost stays the same size as the mandrel you're wrapping it around. When you wind it with brass or sterling it springs a little bit and it will be a little bit larger in diameter.
Fine Silver is made of pure silver. It is tarnish resistant and very pliable but sometimes too soft.
Sterling Silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The copper adds a little bit of strength to sterling but is also the reason why sterling silver tarnishes. Sterling silver is a very popular wire to work with but I would recommend practicing with copper first. Copper is more pliable than brass.
Gold-filled, which is considered heirloom quality, is a heavy layer of 10k to 14k gold over base metal. The layer is much heavier than for gold-plated and is a way to incorporate gold into your pieces without "breaking the bank."
I hope you learned a little bit about wire that you didn't know before.
-Sue
Saturday, January 8, 2011
3 Pieces Combined to Make a Unique Focal for a Necklace
This layering idea uses only 3 pieces. I would use epoxy resin to glue the medallion onto the base piece and wire wrap the top part on.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Brass Filigree Layering Idea to Create a Unique Medallion Style Necklace Focal
This next layering idea is made up of 4 pieces but I think they combine well and create something really different. The base is domed and so is the smaller medallion with the rings so it's has some depth when you put them altogether. You could keep the rings on the smaller medallion or you can clip them off.
I would use epoxy resin to keep the layers together and either drill a hole in the base, or use large jump rings inserted on either side of the medallion to create a necklace.
Have a great weekend!
-Sue
I would use epoxy resin to keep the layers together and either drill a hole in the base, or use large jump rings inserted on either side of the medallion to create a necklace.
Have a great weekend!
-Sue
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Clean Tarnish with Ketchup
Did you know that you can clean tarnish off of brass, copper and sterling silver with ketchup? Simply rub a little ketchup onto your tarnished piece and rinse off with water. Neutralize with a mixture of baking soda dissolved in water and rinse again. This takes just seconds to do and the ketchup does a really good job of cleaning the tarnish.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Welcome to my new blog!
Happy New Year and welcome to my new blog!!!
I am still trying to get everything posted into my new shop LuxeOrnaments.Etsy.com but have tons of ideas that I'll be posting here. It's hard to figure out from a picture what items go well together so I'll be posting some "layering ideas" of various components to show you some unique pieces that you can use. If there is space, some of the listings in my shop will have these "layering ideas" too.
Here's an example of what I mean by "layering idea"
To the left is what the layered piece looks like and the right shows which components were used with stock numbers so you can search my store.
My first priority is going to be getting the rest of my inventory items into my shop. I still have fabulous filigree items and more vintage glass rhinestones to post.
I am also toying with the idea of adding some hand patinaed pieces to offer for sale which the customer can buff to bring out highlights to their preference.
- Sue
I am still trying to get everything posted into my new shop LuxeOrnaments.Etsy.com but have tons of ideas that I'll be posting here. It's hard to figure out from a picture what items go well together so I'll be posting some "layering ideas" of various components to show you some unique pieces that you can use. If there is space, some of the listings in my shop will have these "layering ideas" too.
Here's an example of what I mean by "layering idea"
To the left is what the layered piece looks like and the right shows which components were used with stock numbers so you can search my store.
My first priority is going to be getting the rest of my inventory items into my shop. I still have fabulous filigree items and more vintage glass rhinestones to post.
I am also toying with the idea of adding some hand patinaed pieces to offer for sale which the customer can buff to bring out highlights to their preference.
- Sue
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