New Silver - inspired by MDing and bdahunter

[shakakka]

Hey all,

I made a mold from the lion's head ring I found in the schoolyard the other day, then used some PMC (precious metal clay) to make a silver copy of it. Came out pretty cool... I might mount it into a pendant or something. Here's a pic:

http://www.thefrogandtheprincess.com/pm/lion1_s.jpg



Also, I was inspired to try a ring after seeing that silver ring bdahunter pulled out of the ocean. A little beefier and the lines a little curvier, but here it is:




Good luck hunting up here nowadays... the ground's frozen SOLID.

Shakakka

[bdahunter]

Nice looking Silver! Where did you learn silversmithing?

BDA

[EPC Guy]

Impressive...I'm amazed at all the talent of the people on TQ!

[shakakka]

Hehe, well this isn't really 'silversmithing' in the traditional sense. But I do have all the equipment needed to do lost wax casting, and have dabbled in it.

These pieces were made with precious metal clay, which is a new (maybe 8 or 10 years old?) process that enables almost anyone to make silver jewelry. In a nutshell, it's a clay that's 90% silver and 10% water and binder. You mold it into whatever you want, shape it, file it, and when you're ready you fire it in a kiln at 1200F or so.

The binder burns off, and what you're left with is .999 Fine Silver. From there you can antique it (I used liver of sulpher) and polish it (I've got a set of different-grade polishing cloths).

It's a little trickier than it sounds though, because the clay dries quickly once you open the package. It's a race against time, kinda.

[bdahunter]

Thanks for sharing that, it's great to learn something new.

Cheers,

BDA

[rip]

Well done ! I gotta try that ! Society of American Silversmiths - Precious Metal Clay

[JCWhite]

What a neat new jewelry making form. JC

[gordiesgirl]

Very nice, I would love to learn to make my own jewelry, Thanks for sharing.

[Lt1stone]

Nice!

[Buster]

That is so cool...Buster.....