There many ways to set stones including; bezels (hand-fabricated or pre-made), claws, flush set, tension set, channel, etc. but knowing how to set your stones in hand-fabricated bezels is an essential technique in metalsmithing. This technique is not difficult, [ … ] Read More
Category Archives: Techniques
What Is Water Casting and How Is It Done?
Humans have been casting metal for the past 5000 years! Our world without casting is unimaginable! Casting has also been used in jewellery making for thousands of years. One of the beauties of Water Casting is that it’s a [ … ] Read More
What Is Fold Forming?
Fold forming is one of the most beautiful ways to sculpt metal into graceful shapes. This technique gives you the ability to transform flat metal into flowing, three dimensional shapes that have a natural, organic quality to them. The [ … ] Read More
Be A Learner, A Maker, A Creator……..Take a Class!!
The year has a natural rhythm, and fall is time for shorter days, cooler weather, and back-to-school. After a busy summer, we’re back in our routines. The kids are at school, learning all kinds of wonderful new things. Now [ … ] Read More
Polish Your Style!
When I first ventured into silversmithing, there were a lot of things I knew nothing about. One of these was polishing. Like many other people, most of my experience with polishing silver had been either polishing my mother’s flatware [ … ] Read More
Texture and Patina-the Dynamic Duo
Is your jewellery a snoozefest? Do you drift off while you’re making it because it’s so boring? Have no fear, texture and patina are here to save you from a life of criminally dull jewellery! These are two of [ … ] Read More
Hammer Textures
Texturing metal with hammers and stamps is a fun, relatively easy and inexpensive way of adding interest to a jewellery piece. I’m a big fan of textured pieces, finding most smooth mirror finished pieces a bit of a bore, [ … ] Read More
Which Torch is Best for my Metalsmithing Studio
Successful soldering, annealing, melting, reticulation, enamelling, along with many other jewellery techniques requiring heat, starts with the right torch for the job. Each torch set up has its pluses and minuses, and particular uses. As jewellers, we become very [ … ] Read More
What is Reticulation?
The technique of reticulation is a lot like a sporting event – you never know what’s going to happen and what happens can never be repeated. Both Sterling Silver and Reticulation Silver can be reticulated, but Reticulation Silver produces the best [ … ] Read More
What Gauge Should I Use?
What gauge of metal should I use? This is a question we get asked at Workingsilver all the time. Unfortunately there is no single answer to this one. It really depends on many different factors: are you making a [ … ] Read More
What is Keum-Boo?
Keum-Boo is an ancient Korean technique where 24K gold foil is applied to silver using heat and pressure. Pure gold (24K) and silver have a similar atomic structure, so once the metal is heated to a temperature of [ … ] Read More
Soldering vs. Fusing
Soldering vs. Fusing What is the difference between soldering and fusing? What are the benefits of each technique and what are the difficulties? What tools and equipment are needed for each technique? These are just some of the questions [ … ] Read More