In the years since I made a certain filigree component, I forgot which gauge wires I used. I also forgot that I’d annealed several times during the process, an oversight which was easily remedied after the small twisted strands broke a few times and I spent a few seconds thinking about it. Turns out I liked the large wire combo better for what I have in mind.
20 gauge fine silver + twisted doubled strand of 28 gauge fine silver (top left half of the picture)
18 gauge fine silver + twisted doubled strand of 26 gauge fine silver (bottom right half of the picture)
Fine silver twisted wire components
Today’s samples could become a part of a filigree hinged cuff idea that is in the process of moving from my mind into silver. Yesterday I flattened wire and made fine silver diamonds that could maybe – possibly – perhaps also be part of the final design.
Fine silver diamond sheet shapes
The other day I made these
Variations of wrapped wire and flattened wire
And, tomorrow or someday soon, I’ll get back to making consistent versions of these
Combine all ingredients into the pan or dish with foil. Mix until salt and soda dissolve.
Place silver jewelry into pan/dish. Wait 2 to 3 minutes.
Rinse the jewelry thoroughly in water.
Dry the jewelry thoroughly with a soft cloth. Do NOT dry the jewelry with any paper product as this will scratch the silver.
Note: If cleaning jewlery not purchased from Sherry Cordova, beware that pearls, opals, or other items that have been glued into the jewelry may loosen in the hot water. If your jewelry contains glass or other heat sensitive objects, be careful to avoid temperature shock with a sudden pour of hot water. The cleaning process is not recommended for any jewelry that has glued components. Cleaning in this manner will remove all patina off the silver.
Snake chain. Half was submerged in the cleaning solution, half was left hanging out of the pan to remain tarnished
Last week, two friends asked me for the recipe to remove tarnish from silver.
Sterling and Fine Silver Cleaning Recipe
2 Tbsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. salt
Hot water
One aluminum pie pan or a glass dish with a sheet of aluminum foil placed on the bottom of the dish.
Combine all the ingredients into the pan or a dish. Mix until the salt and soda dissolve.
Place silver jewelry into the pan/dish so that the silver touches the aluminum. Wait 2 to 3 minutes.
Cleaning a silver necklaceWhere there is an absence of contact to the aluminum, portions of the sterling silver necklace will remain tarnished
Rinse the jewelry thoroughly in water. Dry the jewelry thoroughly with a soft cloth. Do NOT dry the jewelry with any paper product as this will scratch the silver.
The hotter the water, the faster the cleaning reaction. If your jewelry contains glass or other heat sensitive objects, be careful to avoid temperature shock with a sudden pour of hot water.
Note: If cleaning jewlery not purchased from Sherry Cordova, beware that pearls, opals, or other items that have been glued into the jewelry may loosen in the hot water. The cleaning process is not recommended for any jewelry that has glued components. Cleaning in this manner will remove all patina off the silver.
My recent experience in a chasing and repousse’ cuff bracelet workshop was very enjoyable. Davide Bigazzi is a great instructor; the three of us all learned a lot and two of us walked away with bracelets that were almost done. The other Sherry in the workshop finished hers!
I spent the day after the workshop finishing mine. Sawing, filing, and finishing … here it is:
My inspiration for the bracelet was this photo taken at dusk, years ago, at Poipu Beach, Kauai.
Davide Bigazzi is a great instructor; the three of us students all learned a lot and two of us walked away with bracelets that were almost done. The other Sherry in the workshop finished hers!
If you’re contemplating taking a workshop from Davide, I highly recommend it. Besides all that you’ll learn, it is therapeutic to hammer away on the metal. 🙂
I left the brass bracelet in the fuming container much longer than recommended, and the colored patina you saw in October washed off. Now that I’ve pushed that patina past it’s time limit, I’ll revisit it again someday and see how long to fume it so the blue greens stay.
The moist sorrel washed off, leaving nice colors on the copper sample.
My favorite new copper patina is shown below on flat and hammered copper samples. The fuming recipe is comprised of sea salt, cream of tartar, and vinegar.
You can read more about the cream of tartar patina in my “Accessible Patinas” article in the upcoming zine which Catherine Witherell and Deryn Mentock are publishing in January 2009.
Another fun result from the copper patina experiments is a mottled blue / green from sal ammoniac and tobacco. The results lead me to wonder what would happen if I ground up the tobacco even finer before this immersion process.
Here’s a closeup look at the flat piece after rinsing
I’m loving the book “The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals” by Richard Hughes and Michael Rowe. (Click on the title to see the book.)
Since I’m more of a “thanks for the suggested starting point” type of person, for the most part I’m using the endless patina recipes in the book as a very nice place to start. Here are a couple of the things I’ve learned….
When you boil sorrel in water to obtain the oxalic acid, and use the water with some of the now sad looking sorrel, you’ll see the copper in this type of blue mess after about a week:
Stay tuned for more photos of what the pieces look like after they’ve been cleaned off.
Emanuela Duca has some very nice pieces of jewelry on her site. Clicking the title of this post will take you to her site.
Back to work! For the upcoming SFBASCG meeting in Los Gatos, I’m preparing a patina demo on brass, copper, and silver. I enjoyed experimenting with different materials last year when I gave a patination demo for the Metal Arts Association of Silicon Valley.
Results of last years demo are shown below. The tobacco patina was interesting because the coarse and fine tobacco resulted in very different patinas. The friend that went with me to the smoke shop to purchase pipe tobacco for the demo was just asking me about the tobacoo patina the other day. She finds it amusing and interesting. Aren’t we artists odd?!
