I'm back after having a really, really busy holiday 2011 season! Hope yours was very good and hope for an excellent beginning to all of us!
Along with a busy show schedule, I managed to fulfill 8 custom orders - wow! My pieces are usually one-of-a-kind, sometimes I may make 1 or 2 similar but never exactly the same. I had an order for 7 pairs of earrings but of different colored gemstones.
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| soldering gone bad! |
What challenges do you encounter with production work? Any tips for streamlining steps?
I'm sharing the steps and sequence I followed to create them.
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| measure and torch ball posts |
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| flatten posts |
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| solder posts to bezel cup |
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| posts soldered to bezel cup |
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| sterling petals soldered to posts |
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| settings filed, polished, and tumbled - ready for stone setting |
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| garnets, moonstones, peridot, amethyst - all ready for customers! |
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| Another moonstone pair ! |
And this last one was a real challenge for me since I had never set faceted gemstones in this style, let alone make huge hoops!
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| Swiss blue topaz faceted gemstones with open setting - fine silver bezel wire and tiny sterling jump ring |
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| Last custom order |
And here is a sneak peak of several earrings I just completed and will be posted to my ArtFire shop tomorrow!
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| Rose cut green amethyst |
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| Tiny and dainty! |
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| Rose cut smoky quartz |
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| Filigree bezel |
Linda, these look great! I love how they came out, the rose cuts, too.
ReplyDeleteMy ear post method - no balls on the wire, no flattening, I just file 20 ga wire flat, sweat a small chip of solder to the back of the earring, place the post on and reheat. Quick and easy!
Thnx for the tip! I use 20gauge wire too but wanted a bit more surface for soldered piece to give it more stability?
ReplyDeleteI too use just wire - but I use the wire as my 'pick' and pick solder with it, take heat off when it flows. I then twist the earwire several times to ensure it is attached securely and also to harden the wire.
ReplyDeletegood to know!
DeleteThey look amazing!
ReplyDeletethnx! I love them, too!
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