In the Studio: Soldering Handmade Rings

Here's a short video of me soldering handmade bezels onto handmade rings. It's pretty typical of what I might do in my studio on a given day. Alas, no makeup, safety glasses on, and a hooded sweatshirt gave me second thoughts about putting this up. But, let's all love ourselves just the way we are. :)

Eventually, the rings you see me making in this video will become these rings (the finished product).

14K white gold, white moonstone stacking ring. Ring & Photo by Emily Wiser.

In The Studio: Time To Clean Up!

Above: Emily Wiser's Jeweler's Bench. Photo by Emily Wiser.

Yes, it's my jeweler's bench. It's a big, giant mess! Boy, do I love tools! See that little white gold ring on the steel bench plate (bottom left). It's going to be one of these 14k white gold birthstone stacking rings:

Above: 14k White Gold & Turquoise Stacking Ring. Ring & Photo by Emily Wiser.

Bits N Bobs: Copper Pans

My bit of copper: Turquoise Enamelled Copper Heart Pendant. Pendant & Photo by Emily Wiser

I've been shopping for copper pots and pans, and I've found they are so expensive! I was quite shocked. $250 for a copper frying pan? I could make one for a lot less. I do have all the hammers I would need. It's pretty simple to make a copper frying pan (without handle), but it takes a lot of muscle and a lot of heat. Basically, you hammer until the copper is too tough, then you heat it to soften, then hammer again, and so on. Eventually, it takes the shape of a pan. It's slow going, but might make a good gift for the cook in your family.

Supplies:
1) A really big anvil with horn
2) Assorted smithing hammers
3) A really big blow torch
4) Safety glasses, hearing protecting, ibuprofin.

Getting Robbed: Safety for Jewelers at Art Fairs

Aquamarine Briolette & Sterling Silver Earrings. $40. Earrings & Photo by Emily Wiser

As part of my Trade Practices class at Revere Academy, we discussed getting robbed, mugged, held up--you name it. My teacher assured us that it was very common among jewelers. It's such a shame because most art jewelers live hand-to-mouth. Getting mugged means no rent money for the month. Not only that, but it's almost impossible to resell stolen jewelry.

The value of jewelry is in the craftsmanship. The value of a ring is in the skill needed to make it.

That said, how do you protect yourself if you're a little art jeweler selling your jewelry at a street fair?

1. Always go to fairs with another person who will help you set up your booth, tear it down, and watch your jewelry while you're talking to customers.

2. Ask art fair security to accompany you to your vehicle with your jewelry after tear-down.

3. Don't carry your jewelry or cash in an obvious place, like a brief case. Most jewelers get cased out during the fair, and then robbed after the art fair ends, when they're tearing down in the dark, or are carrying a brief case with cash and jewelry to their vehicle.

4. That said, leave a little bit of money and jewelry in the obvious place. You want them to leave with something if they should happen to open your briefcase or purse at the scene. One of my friends used to call this his "life insurance policy."

5. The other common way art jewelers get robbed is when someone asks you to take a ring out of the case and then runs off with it, disappearing into the crowd. How can you discourage this? Ask prospective buyers to leave their ID with you before you take the ring out.

6. If you do get robbed, you can check out the area pawnshops during the next few days. Chances are good your jewelry will show up there. If you see your jewelry in the pawnshop, quietly leave and then call the police.

How To Get More Twitter Followers

Sterling silver & aquamarine briollette earrings. Earrings & photo by Emily Wiser.

I know a lot of my readers are also Etsy sellers. So, I'll share some tips on how to get more Twitter followers.
1) Reciprocate. This means following people back and retweeting people who tweet you first.
2) Participate in Follow Friday. Type #FF and then @TwitterName to tell all your followers.
3) No Bots! Don't use any of the bots to send automated tweets. Don't you always hang up on those computerized telemarketing calls? People don't want to read robot tweets.
4) Twitter client. I use Tweetdeck. It works great. It allows you to make columns so you can actually sort and read your tweets.
5) Conversation. Don't just spam people. Tell them about yourself. Talk about something else once in a while besides what you're selling.

Soldering Fun

Silver solder chips on firebrick. Photo by Emily Wiser.

Soldering sterling silver is a fun process. Above, I've taken a photo of one of my firebricks. I put sterling rings on the firebrick, heat the ring, then melt one of the silver solder chips you see in the photo. The solder balls up, and I can pick it up with my pick and drop it onto the ring. At the very end, you get a beautiful sterling silver stacking ring (see below).

Sterling silver stacking ring. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

In The Studio: Engraving Copper Plates

Above: Gravers, India Stone (for sharpening gravers). Photo & gravers by Emily Wiser

I recently took an engraving class, where we learned to engrave copper plates by hand. It's great practice for my engraved book and for learning to hand-engrave jewelry. You can also set stones with gravers. We had to make our own gravers. Here's some photos of my engraving tools. my copper plate, and the print I made from it.

Above: Engraved Copper Plates. I engraved them by hand with the gravers shown above. Photo & plates by Emily Wiser.

Above: A block print from the engraved copper plate. I inked it by hand, wet paper, and pressed it down on the engraved plate.
Photo & print by Emily Wiser.

In The Studio: Palladium & 14K Rose Gold Wedding Band

Palladium & 14K Rose Gold Wedding Band. Ring & Photo by Emily Wiser.

A bride-to-be recently emailed me to request a custom palladium and 14K rose gold wedding band. She had seen my 2 separate rings, and wanted the bands soldered together. Palladium melts at much higher temperature than rose gold. It was going to be a tricky business, but I finished it successfully! Here are some pictures.

Above: Cutting the 14K rose gold and palladium to size.
Shears, ruler, ring sizing chart. Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: 14K rose gold ring on the soldering block. In the background is the pickle pot.
Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: Lighting the torch. Yes, I did take this photo with a lit torch in one hand and a camera in the other!
Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: Soldering palladium. High-heat soldering block. Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: 14K rose gold and palladium ring is ready for sanding. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: Sanding 14K rose gold & palladium ring. In a ring vise, sanding with a flex shaft. Ring & Photo by Emily Wiser.

In the Studio: Stacking Rings

Emily Wiser's Jeweler's Bench. Photo by Emily Wiser.

I'm in the middle of making a 14K white gold tube-set stacking ring with faceted gemstone and a sterling silver stacking ring with black onyx. Here's a picture of the rings in progress. You can see 2 3M radial bristle discs on mandrels. They're used for polishing. You also see large and small jeweler's files, a round-nose pliers, some scrap silver, and a 12mm black onyx cabochon.

Here's what the 2 rings will look like when they're finished.

Above: Sterling silver and black onyx stacking ring. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: 14K white palladium gold stacking ring with sapphire. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

In The Studio: Adventures in Enameling

Turquoise enameled copper scrap on tripod. Photo and enameling by Emily Wiser

I'm trying enameling for the first time. No teachers. No guidance. I'm learning on my own. But, I did find a great article at ganoskin.com. Here's a picture of my first enameling attempt. (Well, it's not really my first, but it's my first successful one, LOL.)

This is a piece of copper sitting on a steel screen. The screen is set on a tripod. I applied the turquoise opaque enamel 4 times, fixing it with Pantene hairspray. I heated it each time with a propane torch from underneath. I got the really deep color by adding a 5th layer of translucent turquoise enamel.

I'm going to make some cute enamel disc earrings and enameled flowers. Pictures soon!

Organic Pickle Recipes

Large black onyx and sterling silver stacking ring. Ring and photo by Emily Wiser.

After taking classes at Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco this summer, I've learned a bunch of ways to pickle jewelry. Pickling is simply cleaning jewelry with acid after you've soldered it. In the old, old days, silversmiths used hot white vinegar. Now, we often use sulphuric acid or Sparex. I used to use sulphuric acid. Then, one day, while I had my pickle pot open, and hot, steaming, sulphuric acid fumes were wafting out, a fly flew through this cloud and just dropped dead right out of the air! "Hmmm," I thought. "Maybe this isn't so good for me, either!"

I've been looking around for healthier and environmentally friendly pickle alternatives. So have my teachers and fellow students at school. Here's the alternatives:

1. Citric Acid. That's right--the kind that comes from citrus fruits. It's available in a powder form from Otto Frei.

2. Hot White Vinegar & Sea Salt. This is what I use. Keep it piping hot in a crockpot. It smells terrible, but works great! Just imagine salt and vinegar potato chips and you won't mind the smell at all.

3. Just Hot White Vinegar. This is what one of my teachers uses. She just adds some water to the crockpot when it gets low.

4. Lime Juice. One of the students I met at Revere uses this. She says hot lime juice works fine.

5. Kool-Aid. This is the best one, yet. I know that you can dye wool with Kool-Aid. It turns out you can pickle jewelry with it, too! It kind of makes me afraid to actually drink Kool-Aid. Just mix the Kool-Aid with water (don't add sugar). You'll have to refresh your pickle often. Thanks to Shirley at Etsy for this one.

How Much Gold Is In 14K Gold?

14K Solid Rose Gold Stacking Ring. Photo & Ring by Emily Wiser.

Were you aware that the gold in jewelry is not pure gold? Pure gold is called 24 Karat (24K) gold. 24K gold is much too soft to make any durable jewelry! So, pure gold is alloyed (mixed) with other, stronger metals. So, if 24K gold is 100% gold, 14K is 50% gold, and 18K is 75% gold.

Gold is alloyed with copper and silver for strength. Rose gold is an alloy of gold and copper. White gold is an alloy of gold, silver, and palladium, nickel, zinc or other white metal. Green gold is an alloy of gold and silver.

Below: 14K solid gold bead ring. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

How To Buy Stones At A Gem Show

Blue sapphire, white topaz, and 14K white palladium gold stacking rings. Rings & photo by Emily Wiser.

I just got back from the San Mateo International Gem & Jewelry Show. It was really crazy. Not a lot of professional buyers there, not even in the wholesale section. In the wholesale section, there were a good number of women from bead shops buying briolettes and a lot of rather silly women holding the temporary strung beads up to their necks and saying, "Does this fit?" I must admit they were beautiful stones, and I was tempted to do so myself!

At this gem show, there were a lot of fakes mixed in with the real stuff, and a lot of bad stuff mixed in with the good stuff. How can you tell the real from the fake, and the good from the bad? (Subscribe to my newsletter to get more tips like this. My next issue will tell you how to buy pearls at a gem show!)

Emily's Tips For Buying Stones at a Gem Show
1. Set your spending limit before you go! This is very important!

2. Bring your sales tax number or sales tax certificate with you. If you don't have a sales tax number, you can still buy in the retail section of the show.

3. Bring a 10x jeweler's loupe. This is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, you will not be able to tell real from fake gems. I brought 2 loupes: my 10x and my 20x. Look through your 10x first, and then if you see something interesting, you can use the 20x to see more detail.

4. Bring a piece of white paper to hold stones against. You can use your white business card. I simply used an envelope that held my sales tax certificate.

5. Shop at well-lit booths. Surprisingly, there were quite a few booths that were badly lit. It becomes very difficult to see the stones' colors and flaws clearly without good light.

6. It's better to buy fewer stones of a higher quality then more stones of a lesser quality. This is just my preference. I think it's best to be happy with your purchase.

7. Ask the salesperson a question to which you already know the answer. It helps to gauge whether s/he's truthful.

8. Bring a price guide with you. You can use your smart phone or just bring a wholesale catalog. It's difficult to keep the prices of all the different stones in your head.

9. If you see dyed or fake stones being sold at a booth, skip the whole booth. Don't shop there at all. You know you can't trust them.

10. Do not pull out the bead strands. You might have to buy it if you do.

11. Ask them if they will give you a discount. Often, the price marked on the strand is not the price they sell it at.

12. Look through your 10x jeweler's loupe for scratches at the facet joints of the stone. If there are scratches, chances are good it's glass.

Do you want to know how to tell real from fake pearls? Subscribe to my newsletter!

In the Studio: 14K Rose Gold and Aquamarine.

Here's a picture of the 14K rose gold with 6mm aquamarine setting being made. The swirl is the end of a rawhide mallet, a jeweler's tool. You see some 6mm aquamarines scattered about and part of a 14K rose gold bezel setting. It's all sitting on my jeweler's bench (which I carefully shield with cork lol).

How To Make Sturdy, Inexpensive Workbenches

My husband made these fabulous work benches for my studio this weekend! We got one heavy-duty steel frame bookcase. Then we supplemented the wood shelving by laying thick plywood on top. Finally, we stuffed weatherstripping in between the sides of the plywood and the metal shelving brackets. Voila! The best part is one bookcase makes two benches! There was a really nice guy working at Home Depot who showed us how to make it.

On my workbench, you'll see my anvil, plastic mallet, planishing hammer, brass head mallet, ring marking anvil, and bent shank ring stamps, and a coil of sterling silver wire. Pretty fun, huh?

Below, you'll see some of the rings I make on my workbench. They're 14K white gold stacking rings set in tapered tube setting with faceted gemstones: white topaz, red garnet, and blue sapphire.

Sterling Silver Stacking Ring Celebration!

I'm having a sterling silver stacking ring celebration! 9 sterling silver stacking rings for $45 plus free shipping to the U.S. and Canada. I love hammering out these little rings.

Do you want to know how I make these rings? Here's instructions on how to make sterling silver stackable rings!

Materials Needed:
16 gauge sterling silver round wire, half-hard
blow torch, propane or butane
fire brick or soldering pad
jewelry pickle (see my organic pickle recipe) in a crockpot
jewelry tumbler with steel shot and ivory soap chips
silversmith's anvil
silversmith's hammer
steel ring mandrel
jeweler's file
400 grit sandpaper
600 grit sandpaper
jeweler's cutting pliers or jeweler's saw
hard silver solder (you can use sheet, wire, or paste. i'm using sheet solder)
flux
copper tongs

Instructions:
1. With the cutting pliers, cut the length of sterling silver 1-2 sizes smaller for the ring size you want using a ring sizing chart.
2. File the ends of the wire with the jeweler's file.
3. Bring the ends together to form a circle.
4. cut a silver solder chip and put it underneath the ring.
5. spray the flux on the ring or dab flux on using a paintbrush
6. Heat ring with a blowtorch in a circular motion.
7. Wait for ring to cool, then put in hot pickle.
8. Once ring is shiny again, take it out of the pickle using copper tongs. You must use copper, not any other metal tongs, for this.
9. Sand or file any rough edges.
10. Hammer the ring on the anvil horn to get a rough shape
11. Hammer the ring on the ring mandrel to get the size
12. Lay the ring flat on the anvil. Tap it gentle to make sure that it is straight when it lies flat. This is called "trueing" the ring.
13. Put the ring in the jewelry tumbler half full of water and add ivory soap flakes. Tumble for a half hour.

Your ring is done!

Organic Pickle Recipe

I've researched ways to find an environmentally safe alternative to traditional sulphuric acid pickle. I've found that 30 ounces of white vinegar combined with 3.5 ounces of sea salt does a terrific job of cleaning sterling silver, white gold, yellow gold, and rose gold. You put the white vinegar and salt in a crockpot and set the crockpot on high. It should be really hot. It smells terrible, but it's better for your health and the environment.

What does the .925 Mean On Sterling Silver?

The .925 you see stamped on jewelry means that it's sterling silver. .925 means that it is 92.5% silver, with the rest of the alloy being mainly copper. Sterling silver is tougher than fine silver. (Fine silver is 100% silver). Sterling silver works well for rings and for jewelry that needs strength. Fine silver is used mainly for pendants that do not need to be made out of a strong metal.

I'm on HGTV

Earlier this year, my HGTV appearance on the craft show "That's Clever" finally aired. The shoot took all day long. They had one director, a producer, a camera man, and a sound technician. It certainly took a long time to get a short segment. We had to do a lot of shots over again. But the crew were all very nice and it was a lot of fun.