Jewellery Workshop Induction

 To prepare for the creation of my 3D outcomes, I participated in an induction for the jewellery workshop. The induction included health and safety measures, a tour of the workshops and creating a simple ring. 

For this particular ring we used a thick, brass piece of wire. Before doing anything, I used a torch to soften the wire. To turn on the torch, I turned on the gas and used a lighter to lure the flame out of the torch. I then used the middle part of the flame (the part where it changes colour) to heat up the wire while keeping the torch moving. As soon as the wire started glowing, I turned the torch off and used tweezers to grab the wire and cool it in water. I used a coping saw to saw off one end of the wire to make it flat.

To measure my ring size, I used a tie wrap around the finger I would wear it on. I uncurled the tie wrap after making a mark on the part where it closes and made a mark at the exact same spot on my piece of wire. I used a coping saw to saw at the marked spot of the wire, creating a flat end. The flat ends are important in the soldering process. I used my fingers to bend the ends together as much as I could, using a cone shaped taper to bring the ends together perfectly with a hammer. 

Next, I used a small piece of soldering strip to solder the ends of the wire together. First, I brushed wet borax onto the parts that needed soldering and applied the piece of strip so it covered both ends of the wire. I was then able to gently torch the parts until the piece of strip melted the ends of the wire together. I then put the wire in a hot acid bath to clean it.

To make the ring round, I used the taper and hammer again. This was a hide hammer, to not damage the brass. I slid the ring onto the taper as far as it could and started hammering on it while turning the taper. I repeated this process until the ring was round. For decoration, I used a piece of copper sheet that I had created a pattern on using the ends of a hammer. To cut a circle out of the pattern, I used a hammer and a cylindrical part that fit into the metal cutting mould. I then used a different mould to round my piece of copper sheet.

My pieces were now ready to be soldered together.

I used the same steps as before, except now I filed both parts to create a flat surface on the ring and the copper sheet. I used sanding paper from grade 600 to 1200 to sand the joint so none of the sharp edges remained.

After another acid bath, the ring was now ready to be polished. I used a brush that was attached to a rotary tool and used a pedal to control the speed. I covered the brush in polish while it was rotating before I used it on the ring.

The last step was to clean the ring using soap and warm water. 

In the end, I regret using copper on brass, since they wash out each other's colour. The brass and copper by itself looks much more vibrant than they do together. However, I am happy with the technical results. I am unsure whether I would be able to hide the joint more than I have without using a coating of another metal. The process took much longer than I originally anticipated, however, I assume that I will be able to work quicker now that I know how the different processes. Unfortunately, the pattern on my copper sheet completely disappeared after working it. I do not think I hammered it hard enough, although my strength prevented me from doing so. 

In the workshop there are only three colours of metal available, brass, copper and silver. This means that I will not be able to use a gold colour for my jewellery, as this is simply not an option available to me at the moment. I think brass is the closest I could get, but I am going to experiment with copper in my colour palette as well.