Here are the things I learned to make this Spring and Summer. Bear in mind that some of these are just learning exercises. And yes, that is a Sea Monkey. It was an exercise in using a jeweler’s saw. I think he is very fetching.
Techniques? Simple soldering/braze welding, bezel setting, making jump rings and chains, sawing metal, basic finishing/filing/sanding/polishing, very simple metal forming.
Last week, I started a new class that is very technique driven. We had a demo about etching, selected a design and cut out a hunk of metal to put it on. This week, we did the actual etching and learned how to form a simple metal bead. That involved cutting circles out of copper, beating it with a hammer into a hollow form, sanding until the two sides of the bead are totally level and then soldering them together.
The two pieces came out like this:
I am not the most confident woman with a torch for obvious reasons. Having a history of having been on fire makes me a little nervous about it, but it is kind of magical to use fire to stick pieces of metal together! Plus, if I want to make more beads then I have to get over it.
Current status: unreasonably giddy about making a silly little copper bead. And an etching. And a chain. And bracelets. And a ring. And a Sea Monkey.
Have YOU ever made a copper Sea Monkey? Have you? No. I thought not.