HOME | DD
mooredesign13 — Catching a Stone
#agate #net #pendant #silver #sterling
Published: 2015-01-28 08:03:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 640; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
This was a really cool project for me. The project concept was to create a sterling silver net around this large oblong piece of black agate. I played around with various concepts before arriving at this solution. The piece was designed and then cast in two pieces. The agate was placed inside and then the top cap was welded in place, securing the agate inside. It was also important that the stone not rattle around inside or get scuffed on the inside of the net, so I had to devise a way to keep it from moving or touching the netting. My solution was to create two circular hollows in the top and bottom and place two nylon washers in each space. These hugged the top and bottom of the stone and because they have a small amount of give, also allowed my to tighten the piece down on the stone so it does not budge at all.(You can see a tiny bit of one of the washers in the picture) Lastly, the customer wanted to be able to put it on and off a titanium chain the he provided. So we used two "S" clasps that could be removed as needed. The double clasp system was also more secure than a single clasp.Related content
Comments: 17
That's pretty cool! Neat idea using the washers to hold it firmly without putting too much pressure.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah, that was a proud moment for me. And I was even more pleased when it actually worked!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Wicked design!
I also wanted to thank you for posting how you did it! I am not going to rip you off, but i think it is important to put out information out there to help people trying to learn how to make stuff but can't afford to take classes or live in a city where they can take one.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you. It was such a unique project that had so many variables that I felt I just had to post a little bit about the process. Its not that often a jewelry project involved a trip to the hardware stone
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Wow, this is beautiful. Great design! So the two cast parts were welded after placing the stone inside? Thought that'd damage the stone?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I use an Orion 150s arc welder which can create micro welds. You can see the 8 little holes on the underside of the top piece where the "strands" of the net were inserted, then I did the welds on the top of the top plate. After that I balled up the tails of the strands and then polished the ends of the net strands into little spheres. The whole time I held it clamped in my fingers to make sure that when the welds were done, there would be some tension against the stone.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ohh I see. Pardon my lack of knowledge on these things, I'm a beginner and I've only ever used a torch for soldering anything, and I knew you can't put a stone under a torch. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It has its uses... the welds are pretty dirty, so there is always a lot of clean up work. They boast that it can be used to fabricate an entire piece, and I suppose that is true, if you're okay with really cruddy joints. But it is no substitution for good soldering skills. I have used it mostly to tack things together and then I solder the joints... helps keep the flux from destroying my layout on the soldering board when it boils.
Also: You can solder with some stones, but no many, including untreated sapphires, and good quality diamonds. Just don't quench it or experiment on anything expensive
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, from what I've seen so far most welds are more or less dirty. Eh, I'm sure you could make an entire piece with it but it doesn't seem too practical. I've looked it up and seen people use it to weld even rather big pieced, which honestly makes no sense to me. Since it's dirty + takes more time + seems to leave quite a bit of not entirely melted solder. But I recon it's great for small things. Exactly. Just like with art in general, fancy tools aren't worth much if you lack the skill. Aha, I see I see.
Oh okay then. Well thanks for the advice. And haha I won't, don't worry I'm not rich enough or crazy enough for that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
yeah, It was a tool I purchased because I was hoping to be able to do more amazing intricate work with it.. and now it does not get nearly as much use as I would have thought.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Wow, that's a shame. Sure seemed promising. Well. If you knew that back then, would you have bought a different one though?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, its a tough call. From what I know, the technology for micro arc welders is all about the same so the brand is more about price and features versus quality of the results.Laser welders give much cleaner results but still have to be cleaned up some and laser welders are even worse for silver. However, it is slowly earning its keep on my work bench as I figure out creative uses for it. This pendant for example, would have been almost impossible without it. It is low maintenance and so that is nice.
Each year I usually devote a few thousand towards new tools or gemstones. I have not made it to the Tucson show in the last three years, so I've been buying better tools instead. Testing out different brands of polishing wheels, trying different techniques, slowing upgrading my clamps and vises...etc...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ah, I see. Well ultimately there's always some cleaning that needs to be done. That's understanding, takes some time to get used to new tools in order to use them the best they can be used. Yeah, it definitely comes in hand with projects like this.
Oh believe me I know. I've only started working with metal and making jewelry two years ago or so, and I've already invested so much into it just to get the basic tools so I can make anything for the start. Luckily my school has a pretty decent department for this stuff & luckily they let us come in in our free time and use the school equipment for our personal projects. So that's really helpful for someone who's new to this, like me. Considering there tools are definitely expensive. So I get that completely.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
For sure... There are still a few tools out there that I've managed to get by without like a die cutter, rolling mill and doping block. One interesting that I have noted, is that the availability of specialized tools (or lack there of) often has a large impact on the chosen style of an artist.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
True that, thought it comes as no surprise. We all try menage and make the best of what we have. Eventually we find more and more things we can make with less tools and just sort of get used to it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
