Well, it has been about 2 months since I began working with John Fritze, Jr. I have learned so much and am enjoying every bit of it.
Here are some process pictures from my first finished piece. Although it is not my own personal style, I appreciate the time it took to create. John found an old Arts & Crafts-style jewelery piece that I could emulate.
The whole project began with melting the silver in a crucible. Then pouring it (very quickly) into a mold that solidified the silver into a single block, called an ingot. I am partly writing all of this so that I remember it, myself! From there, I could roll the silver in a mill to create wire and small sheets of silver. It is fascinating that any shape can be created by metal that is altered with fire, hand tools and a person's own hands.
Although in the time it took me to create this, John could have made 20 of them, I am still pleased. There were quite a few mistakes made in the process. I took some pictures of the piece at different phases in its creation.
Here are some process pictures from my first finished piece. Although it is not my own personal style, I appreciate the time it took to create. John found an old Arts & Crafts-style jewelery piece that I could emulate.
The whole project began with melting the silver in a crucible. Then pouring it (very quickly) into a mold that solidified the silver into a single block, called an ingot. I am partly writing all of this so that I remember it, myself! From there, I could roll the silver in a mill to create wire and small sheets of silver. It is fascinating that any shape can be created by metal that is altered with fire, hand tools and a person's own hands.
Although in the time it took me to create this, John could have made 20 of them, I am still pleased. There were quite a few mistakes made in the process. I took some pictures of the piece at different phases in its creation.
It was a struggle for me to get each side to be symmetrical. In the end, you do your best and adjust as you go.
My very first bezel, which I proceeded to melt with the torch accidentally. Had to re-make that.
Here are all of the pieces ready to be soldered. I tried to temporarily place some of them so that I could get a preview of how things were shaping up.
Here is the final pin. It was polished up and antiqued to bring out some of the details in the shapes. The piece in the center is a vintage glass button.