Making of a daffodil pendant.. WIP

[squishy]

Hi Guys

Following a recent trip to Wales to visit my sister and having a good laugh at her trying on a very embarassing daffodil hat in tesco, I've been inspired to make a daffodil pendant I actually remembered to take a few pictures as I've been going along and thought I'd share them.

I started off with a piece of sterling silver sheet and length of tube and a rough sketch of my design. I actually started this a few days ago and only thought to take pics today, so unfortunately I don't have pics of the initial stages but here is the first one I took before starting this morning..



At this point I have already started on the tube which will become the centre of the flower. I have cut 6 grooves in the top and then using my doming punches, have opened it up slightly. I then rounded off the edges with sandpaper and files and have arranged my petal design on the sheet ready to cut out.



Using a piercing saw I then proceeded to cut each section out.



Two sets of petals cut out At this stage I am not concerned if they match up exactly, after all I am copying nature and it is very rarely perfect



Next I mark off how much tube I need for the centre (very roughly done as this will most likely change once the petals are shaped later ) and cut it to size.



Next I went round and tidied up the edges with my file, rounding the points slightly so I don't stab myself (again!) later on



And here is a rough idea of what it will look like when finished Next step is to sand the petals to get rid of any scratches, however for that I need some tape and I have just run out.. so off to the shop for me! More pics to follow later...


Rachael x

 

[Macaroon]

Keep it coming!

 

[HillBill]

Nice one

 

[Angst]

oooooh very natty!

s

 

[Clouston98]

Nice work .

 

[squishy]

Cheers guys

I managed to find some tape and have made a start sanding down the petals. I find it helps to stick the piece down on my desk to keep it flat while sanding.



The piece on the left has been sanded the other hasn't, not a particulary good pic but the scratches/marks are out and the edges have been rounded off. Luckily not much to do on these pieces as it was a relatively new piece of silver



And that is all I can do now until the end of the week as I am now away for a few days. I'll update this when I get back to it

Thanks for looking,

Rachael x

 

[British Red]

Keep going - and talk to Macmillan!

 

[Harvestman]

Keep going - and talk to Macmillan!

MacMillan as in MacMillan cancer care? Am I missing something? I work for Marie Curie and they have the daffodil as their emblem and are currently doing their daffodil campaign (wear a daffodil badge every day in March to support us) and out fundraisers wear those huge yellow daffodil hats.

Apologies if I have hold of completely the wrong stick, never mind the wrong end of the stick.

Great work so far Squishy! Glad you have been inspired.

 

[British Red]

Nah you got hold of the right end of the stick - Marie Curie was in my mind - but didn't make it to my typing fingers!

 

[Macaroon]

It's gonna look great, squishy, look forward to seeing it again

 

[thejollyroger]

That looks really good. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

 

[Harvestman]

Nah you got hold of the right end of the stick - Marie Curie was in my mind - but didn't make it to my typing fingers!

I'm almost surprised. I think that's the first time I've been right today!

 

[squishy]

Thanks guys I'm just hoping I dont mess it up when it comes to soldering it all together

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[Mesquite]

Looking good so far

 

[squishy]

Thanks Steve

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[squishy]

Hi guys.. finally got round to finishing this off so here are the rest of the pics

After sanding both petals, I then hammered them into shape. This also gives a nice texture and will reflect the light more when it is polished.

Once both petals have been hammered I then applied solder to each piece separately before soldering one on top of the other.

Each piece needs to be cleaned before the next stage of soldering. I use a slow cooker for this and safety pickle (not the branston type! ) The two petals are now stacked up ready to be soldered together.

I pickled the piece again before soldering on the next piece. And then repeated to add the bail on the back which is made from a flattened piece of 2mm round wire bent and soldered together.

Once everything is soldered together and pickled for the final time, it then gets a few hours in my tumble polisher and a quick going over with the dremel to get any bits the tumbler missed and finally comes out all shiney looking

On most pieces this is how I leave them, bright and shiney.. however the daffodil looked like it needed a bit more, so I decided to darken it up a bit with some liver of sulphur.

It comes out a nice matt grey colour, and then with a polishing cloth and a lot of elbow grease.. finally looks like this

It is now in my hallmarking pot and will be going up on my new website when I get round to sorting that out

Thanks for looking,

Rachael x

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[Macaroon]

Well I think that's a very lovely piece! I love silver anyway but tghat darkening process at the end makes this something special.....................Top stuff, Rachael!

 

[THOaken]

That's really great and it was interesting to see the process.

 

[HillBill]

The pics don't do it justice IMO. I know how long its taken her to do, and it is very nice indeed.

 

[John Fenna]

That looks superb!