Beginner's Silversmithing : Part IV - Twist 'O' Rings

Well, just a couple of other basic stuffs in silversmithing I guess....

1. Jump rings

I was also taught on how to make jump rings on the first class. To be honest, my heart sunk a little when Yvonne told me she's going to show me how to make jump rings. I mean, I've talked about this before; how you can make your own jump rings at home with tools you can probably find lying around your house. It's like..... why am I being shown stuffs that I already know? o_O

But of course I didn't say anything and just went along instead cuz I think it's probably going to be rude to say I don't need to know that cuz I think I already know it. Either way, it's still going to be a learning experience nonetheless; seeing how silversmiths do it. :P

There isn't much difference, really, from how you would do it at home.

Well, what was being done was to clamp a piece of mandrel with a long piece of wire wrapped around it a couple of rounds onto the bench clamp. Take note here that the wire is also clamped on together with the mandrel.






And then just wrap the wires around the mandrel and later on cut each individual jump ring out.





Well, they are not entirely the same. There however, are some subtle differences.

For one, silversmiths aren't too bothered about how the rings are being cut off.

Remember how I've mentioned before (scroll down to the cutting section) that I was bothered about the small creek in the closing of jump rings due to the way that a flush cutter cuts?

Why does it not matter to silversmiths? Well, because they solder all the rings. Silversmiths do not use unsoldered jump rings! LOL......

Another thing is the tension issue. Remember also I've mentioned that the hand wrapped coils tend to produce a minor discrepency in the sizes of the coils on the same mandrel? Both our hands simply can't exert a consistent pressure throughtout.

What's good about clamping one end of the wire is in evening out the tension as you wrap the coils around the mandrel. The same principle as coiling with a drill I guess.

I reckon silversmiths could also use a drill for that but then and again, I don't know, *shrugs* .... they are quite a traditional form of jewellery making.

The only electrical stuffs I saw in the workroom was a grinder, a big one where Yvonne grinds stone and a handheld one for the polishing job.

Yvonne did however showed me a trick in closing jump ring. Well, it was something that I've been doing all the while but hearing it coming out from Yvonne's mouth means that I was right in doing it that way. Haha! :P

I'll write a post on it later on.

2. Twisted wires

Now, this is more interesting.

Well, I know how this is done as well. In theory, of course; from what I read from books and magazines. But I was still excited to see how it's done in person, not that I'm expecting anything spectacular but yea, I was looking forward to this one!

It was very simple and straightforward. Fold a long piece of wire into two, clamp it onto the bench clamp. Slide a pin through the loop i.e. on the bend of the piece of wire and turn the pin around; either clockwise or anti-clockwise.





Well, ever since I read about it from a magazine, I've been thinking how you can do it without a bench clamp. Basically, you need something to hold onto the wire ends so that you can twist both strands of wire together from the other end. You need the wires to be hold on to at the other end so that you can have the right tension to twist both strands of wire evenly together; either a loosely or tightly. Although a bench pin is the next best thing, but at the back of my head, I just felt that there must be a way around it.

I mean....c'mmon, a bench pin? Is it even necessary? Well, unless you really do want to get into the whole silversmithing thing and set up your own workbench, then, yeah. A bench pin is the next best thing after a bench clamp.

Well, I'm not lor.

But then, guess what? From this class, I was actually inspired to come up with a way to make twisted wire. Perfect tension! ;) Well, okay, maybe not perfect.....perfect might be too strong of a word already. Heheh! Let's just say the outcome was satisfactory. I'll be writing a post on that a bit later too.

But that's not the most interesting part. The most interesting part is what you can do with the twisted wires. I'm not exactly talking about projects that you can do with it but rather the different effects you can create with the wires.

Like the old saying goes, picture speaks a thousand words. Haha! Not exactly the best phrase to use here but will do for now. ;P

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Tadah!

Okay, these are bits cut off from the twisties that we made. I'll explain to you how each is created.

1. Tight twisty. I've just mentioned earlier on about how you can twist the wires together either loosely or tightly but you need them to be even.

2. Loose twisty. Do you see what I mean now?

3. I think this is just so cool! It does look rather familiar doesn't it? Well, it does, to me! I've seen designs like this a lot in jewellery shop. Not so much in silver but gold. Try taking a wild guess how this was done.

Did you manage to guess it?

I've mentioned the method before.

Still no idea?

Remember this?



Yeah, when we were making square wires. You run the twisty through it and you get number 3!

Cool, huh?

Although this is only a beginner's class but it was fun watching all the techniques first hand. It's somewhat like the lampworking experience. Because you've seen how things are actually done, when you see the end product, it gives you a sense of in-the-know for knowing how things are actually made and you come to appreciate them more.

4. This is a piece of twisted wire intertwined with a thicker single strand wire.

5. Ditto but this was done a bit more loosely. I can't recall exactly how no.4 and 5 was done already since you need the loop on one end to hold the pin. I don't think it's folding the two; a piece of twisted wire and a single strand, together cuz then you would have four strands intertwined together when it's only two here. Hhhhhmmmmm......