I have had a rather busy lesson although I have not quite finished my silver ring. It is almost finished… almost! Ten more minutes and it would have been all nice and shiny and I would once more have been quoting Gollum on the bus home. As it stands I have a silver ring with four quite detailed little castles in it -not quite evenly spaced- with a satin-brushed finish. I have sanded the hell out of this bloody ring and to be quite honest I’m surprised it hasn’t worn through- but still it had nicks and scratches in it!
So… this week I have learnt that 1000 grade sandpaper cures many evils and that patience is key to beautiful jewellery!
Soldering did not go as smoothly this time because I somehow managed to saw the two ends in some kind of crazy zigzag pattern, which made joining the ring unimaginably difficult. I had to keep sawing the ends to try to get them to join, which explains why the castles are not evenly spaced as I lost a good 2mm in silver through sawing! I don’t think people will make too much of this. Especially if I kick them in the shin if they point it out. After all, it is the first ring I have ever made out of silver. I also ended up soldering twice to ensure that the gap was properly filled but I suppose it was good practice.
Anyway, I don’t think it can hurt to practice and to try making as much jewellery as possible before I start to make to sell silver pieces. If I had a drill I’d probably already be doing just that! I will have to see what my dad has come up with on friday. If it’s anything like the apron he got me, the drill will be pneumatic. The apron was like a cowhide. It was beige suede, trailed on the floor and wrapped round me almost twice over. It also didn’t have any string and made me look like a sausage roll. I bought one from Robert Dyas instead!
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