Buckle Alchemy

This project started when a collector called me to see if I could make a buckle for 1 1/2 belts from a spear head he found about 20 years ago. It all depended on how wide the spear point was of course so I had him send it to me. That size is pretty rare in a perfect condition spear point so I was pretty amazed when this beauty shower up.  

As luck would have it, this one was just barely wide enough for 1 1/2 belts.

I made an open face box mold with silicon and then made a wax impression from it

The wax is then changed into silver using the ancient process of lost wax casting. The wax model is surrounded with a special high temp plaster and the wax is burned out.  The hollow left in the plaster is then filled with the molten silver using centrifugal force or vacuum assist. Shown here is the rough casting after an acid bath to remove oxides from the surface leaving a layer of frosty white pure silver. 

Pictured here is the original stone point on the left and a bronze patinated casting. The bronze version looks a little smaller but that is mostly a camera thing. There is some shrinkage in the wax model as it cools and in the metal as it cools but it's not really noticeable  it still fit the 1 1/2 belts

This is a silver copy with the stone original. This project was for a custom limited edition buckle, It's not available on my site.

I have also made a buckle from a spear head found by my brother in New England. It fits 1 1/4 in belts.  You can see that here. I make it in silver and bronze.
If you have an object like a sharks tooth or arrow head or even a sea shell that you think would make a unique belt buckle, get in touch with me and we will see if I can perform some magic and turn it into silver.
 contact me at www.jewelryartstudio.com/studio

New Trout Money Clip

I finally finished the new version of my trout money clip. It's on my website and the Etsy store. What took so long? I'm not sure but probably everything else took priority. I started from scratch so I had to re carve the design.  I made it longer and heavier and thicker at the tail and face where it was bending too much  I also think I made it more realistic and true to the actual fish. This is hard to do sometimes because the proportions of the fish don't always fit into a money clip dimension.

It holds a few bills, business cards and credit cards

I like to use them to have cards at the ready

It wont take a big roll but if you only have a few bills they can fold up and it will still have plenty of grip

Forest Life pendant with sugilite and Amethyst

This pendant was made for my forest life series. I used a heavily hammer textured piece of silver for the backing. It reminded me of a leaf that had been on the ground for some time. I forged a silver wire into the shape of a curling vine. The round amethyst at the bottom to finish and give the eye a resting and a way to keep from going off the design.

Setting the big stone

The Making of The Silver Farrier Quater Horse

This buckle was designed for 1.25 inch belts. It is now on my Etsy store.  Its based loosly on shape of a horse shoe and the Western style buckles. This is the process for making a Quarter Horse Farrier buckle in silver. I have done this one in bronze but this is the first time I've done it in silver. You can see more about this design here and see the finished bronze version here
After the casting process, which takes many steps, I start sanding down the silver to get all the surface imperfections and oxides off.

 Then I use various hammers to get the final size, shape, and texture. 

 The silver is then oxidized to create the dark areas and the highlights are polished.

Crashing Wave Bracelets

I've been working on a collection of crashing wave bracelets.( Instead of a week at the beach ) I'm now doing them in Four or five different weights and price points Each link is individually made. The heavy ones take some serious plyer twisting.  I love making these bracelets it's one of my favorite things to make.  Interestingly, I know almost everybody who owns one. In fact I have only sold one to a total stranger. You might think I would have made hundreds of these over the years but actually I have only sold about two dozen. Join the exclusive club!

The Teaball Project

This is a metal smithing project I did on my art blog.  It's both art and metal so I think it should be on both blogs   I made a teaball out of sterling because the standard store bought ones are not big enough for a pot of tea. This is not on my website  But pictures are on my Facebook page.

Braided rings

I've  been working on a set of braided gold and silver bands. These are open braids with one 2gold and 1 silver. The other is 2  silver and one gold

The braiding starts with 16 gage wire annealed to dead soft. I'm doing 2 different patterns so I need 2 coils 

The braid looks irregular and uneven at this stage but it can be straightened after soldering  the ends together by forcing it onto a mandrel

the finished rings silver and gold braid