Hi All,
In our endless quest to try the making of different things, the missus and I tried some silver ring making on Sunday. We did an introductory course at the Surrey Jewellery School in Woking, Surrey. It was good fun, though a little expensive. I found out a couple of things about myself too:
1. I have large/thick fingers. According to the standard ring gauge we had to use, all of my fingers except the little one (pinky for our US readers) were off the scale. My little finger ended up needing a UK size V (US size 11), so that was the ringsize I made. That seems to have led to:
2. My hands are a little clumsy for the small scale of jewellery. Making the ring was OK, but using up the little pieces of leftover silver and then soldering the drop rings was more than a little fiddly for me
The course includes making a hammered and finished band ring of sterling silver, teaching marking out, cutting, filing, forming, soldering and finishing (hammering and polishing) skills. As we could also use up the leftover piece of silver from our band/strip, we decided to make little hammered dog-tags with drop rings, and Helene can have those to add to her usual silver chain.
Anyway we ended up making:
For something so simple in appearance, there is a lot of work involved, especially as the instructor was insistent that hand tools were the only way to go. I tend to think along the same lines, and so it was a very enjoyabe experience for me. It has also informed my opinion on the price of good hand made jewellery when I see it for sale. It might seem expensive, but the work that must go into complex pieces will be very great.
We had a great time, but the amount of tools that are required to make stuff like this well will prbably put me off doing it for any kind of hobby. I'm not saying it couldnt be an absorbing hobbby, but it would be very expensive to get started.
Cheers, Bob
In our endless quest to try the making of different things, the missus and I tried some silver ring making on Sunday. We did an introductory course at the Surrey Jewellery School in Woking, Surrey. It was good fun, though a little expensive. I found out a couple of things about myself too:
1. I have large/thick fingers. According to the standard ring gauge we had to use, all of my fingers except the little one (pinky for our US readers) were off the scale. My little finger ended up needing a UK size V (US size 11), so that was the ringsize I made. That seems to have led to:
2. My hands are a little clumsy for the small scale of jewellery. Making the ring was OK, but using up the little pieces of leftover silver and then soldering the drop rings was more than a little fiddly for me
The course includes making a hammered and finished band ring of sterling silver, teaching marking out, cutting, filing, forming, soldering and finishing (hammering and polishing) skills. As we could also use up the leftover piece of silver from our band/strip, we decided to make little hammered dog-tags with drop rings, and Helene can have those to add to her usual silver chain.
Anyway we ended up making:
For something so simple in appearance, there is a lot of work involved, especially as the instructor was insistent that hand tools were the only way to go. I tend to think along the same lines, and so it was a very enjoyabe experience for me. It has also informed my opinion on the price of good hand made jewellery when I see it for sale. It might seem expensive, but the work that must go into complex pieces will be very great.
We had a great time, but the amount of tools that are required to make stuff like this well will prbably put me off doing it for any kind of hobby. I'm not saying it couldnt be an absorbing hobbby, but it would be very expensive to get started.
Cheers, Bob
