September Project: Roman Earrings

This month has a lot going on, so I wanted a quick project. I didn't expect it to be this quick! I finished these in an afternoon. I'll probably make a second pair. I want to try harder to get all the links to close up completely, even if I have to solder them separately. They're amazingly tiny and fiddly, made with 20 ga fine silver. The hooks are the same wire, and the beads are wired on with 24 ga. Next time, I'm going to see if I have any 22 ga. I think it'll be better. Getting the twists around was tricky, and i think that shows. The plate is 26 ga, and I think it's perfect. The originals are at the British Museum, 3rd century Roman in origin.

A few progress photos: 

August Project: Revisiting a Favorite

I wanted to make another version of the Byzantine necklace from the Met collection. I've given away the other two I've made (and in all honesty, I'm making several now so that I can give more away). This may be my favorite piece to gift. Here's the original (photos from the Met website).

I approached different versions (this time around) different ways. I wanted to try 18 gauge wire for the inner "heart" shapes, as opposed to 20, which I've used before. The first one, I made up the hearts one by one, to fit my drawing. This was a mistake. It didn't come out terribly, but it lacked consistency and one of my clasp pieces is decidedly oblong. It's not the absolute worst thing in the world, but it bothers me. So for my second version, I went back to 20 gauge wire (fine silver) and actually measured, going in stages so that I ended up with precisely measured V shapes that fit together nicely. Then I formed the hearts, and I'm much happier with the finished pieces. Finally, not one to give up, I followed the same method with the 18 gauge wire (also fine silver), and achieved a much happier result. 

And here's the 18 gauge version. 

I feel like the 20 gauge is more true to the original proportion, but the 18 works. Here are the two pairs side by side after soldering. 

The next step is to form the beaded wire frame. 

Following that, I added the loops for attachment, the bail, and the hook. This is the hardest part. These attachments definitely aren't as clean as I'd like on all the pieces. See that little bead at the bottom of the second one? Yeah, that was a hiccup. I can't get it off (I tried) so that'll become a hook end. 

And the hooks (what will become hooks). These were easier than the small bails. Still less than perfect, but I'm happy with them. They vary from the original. I tried doing something more like the original, but it didn't work. These little granules offer support and municipal the other side of the piece, so I rolled with it. 

My writeup from the last time really helped me with this step. Melting the piece at this point is heartbreaking, and I've done it before. Holding the piece the the third hand and placing the larger bail on the charcoal block really helps. I also tinned the larger bail this time, for two out of the three. Not a period practice, but in period, they would have had powdered solder, which is definitely a step closer to tinning than using chip solder.

They just need a little polish and they're ready to become necklaces! I'm calling the project here, for this month. The one that I freehanded came out quite a bit smaller than the ones I carefully measured. They were all based on the same sketch, so that's interesting. I may make a smaller sketch at some point, and purposefully make smaller ones, but I think the larger ones are the right size to match the original more closely. What is a happy thing is that while you can still see that one of the smaller ones is decidedly oval, it's not as bad now as it was before the bails went on. 

In the end, I definitely want to make another one of these, probably multiples if I'm being honest. The originals use square section wire, and have a substantially thicker bail. I use to have some half round wire that I used on a previous version, but I apparently ran out. So I used 16 gauge because it's what I had on hand, but it's woefully puny compared to the original. So yeah, I think I have the process down for making the components, I just want to get or make more accurate materials for the next time or three. 

Bonus Project-Anglo Saxon wire work

A friend asked me to make her ten of these little wire loop pendants for a recreation she's making of a grave find from Kent. She's inspired me to attempt my own full recreation of the necklace myself, at some point, when I get into making beads. (It'll happen eventually.)

But for these little wire pendants, she even sent me a video tutorial. I strayed from it a little bit, but I'm very happy with the end results. And I can't wait to see her finished piece.

They are more regular than the originals, and I'm torn about that.  But overall, they're the same shape and style. And it was a fun project for an evening.

Project 3!

Continuing my work with Hercules knots, this is my first interpretation of a common motif in necklaces. Most examples I've found have been from auction sites, though the Walters Museum has at least two in their collection, and the below example is from the British Museum. All the examples that I've seen have had emerald or otherwise green beads. It's sometimes listed as green agate. I really only trust the museums so much in correctly identifying ancient stones. One thing the museums and auction sites do seem to agree on is that most examples date from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE.

This example below, which may or may not be at the British Museum (I found it on Pinterest, and reverse image search didn't bring up anything definitive. It could be a modern copy, but the bead quality and cut makes me doubt that), is what I based my knots on. Mine are definitely not perfect, but this was meant to be a quick project to get my feet wet again. Success! My feet are wet, and my goal is to remake this with better knots that are a little smaller. I think I also want to shoot more for the shape of the one above, with a completely closed neck. 

One final example from the British Museum, an individual link that's 2.5 cm long. This one has less refinement, and is more like what I accomplished. I need more practice. Though this is the size I'd like to aim for next. My current ones are more like 4 cm, end to end.

My links are 20 gauge fine silver (all examples are gold), soldered into loops that were further formed into shape using a ring mandrel, round nose pliers, and my fingers. Each knot is soldered at 4 points. I chose not to solder the center points. I probably should have, but I melted quite a few of these, and decided to call them done with 4 points of contact connected. I would probably use 18 gauge wire next time. 

Loops! 

Rough forming. 

The shape is kind of like a club, or almost a ping-pong paddle. I want to get a more defined neck with a more circular smaller end next time. 

Finished knots

All the failures. I love saving my failures! These will eventually have the solder cut off, and then probably become granules. The rings may be salvaged for smaller rings or filigree. 

First (and second) Project of July

This project sort of fell into my lap, happily, when a friend asked me to work on a collaboration. Khalja supplied three fine silver coins, struck by Arion Wanderer, and asked me to make earrings and a pendant with them. She knew exactly what she wanted them to look like, and I knew what she wanted. They were a gift for her new Majesty Brynhildr of An Tir, SCA.

The earrings are set in a frame of fine silver wire, with prongs soldered on. This is a modern design that's commonly found using old Roman coins. I used modern silver ear wires, but in hindsight, I wish I'd just made my own. If I'd had hard silver wire, I would have.

The pendant, on the other hand, is a medieval as they come. A very simple design, the bail is a piece of fine silver sheet that I cut and formed over, and then it was riveted to the coin. Examples of riveted coins are all over the Viking era, and they're easy to find. What I haven't researched enough is if they're regional to anywhere specific, or if it was a more generally diffused practice. There are definitely examples from Gotland. Again in hindsight, I wish I'd don't some stamping on the bail before forming it. That's not as common a practice based on examples, but I found at least one. If I get to do this again, I'll do that. 

The little pin rivet was made from 18 gauge fine silver wire. I melted a little head on one end and peened the back side flat. The head flattened a little bit, but that's okay. It still stands up like a little button. This is truly so much fun to do! The biggest trick was getting the head melted on the wire. I started out holding it in pliers, which were too much of a heat sink. Next time I'll just wait until I've melted the head to cut it, so I can just hold it further down, in my hand. That's how I've done this before, for Tilda's pendant.

Back at it

First time back in the shop in two years, and I'm pretty pleased. I spent yesterday sketching projects I want to try this year, and today I finally lit the torch. And I started none of those projects. I want to knock the dust off, literally and figuratively. So basic soldering, shaping, a little pick soldering. The latter isn't, to the best of my knowledge, period, but until I make my own solder powder, it's what I sometimes need to do with chips. 

Making my own solder is in the cards for this year, I just need a graphite rod, some powdered borax, and a crucible. I have the raw materials already. I'm a little nervous about soldering with just an alloy of silver and copper, but I'm trusting the process. Worst case scenario, after I try it a few times, I can melt it back down and add some zinc if I don't like it as is. I'm really game to try it, though. It worked for medieval goldsmiths.

For now, these are imperfect, but I'm not trying for perfection. I'm just working on progress. (These are also desperately in need of cleaning, and that's going to be a job for the flex shaft, which needs an extension cord.)

Starting over

I have barely made anything since the pandemic. I stress wrote a book when I got laid off, then we moved and I've gone from one high intensity job to an even higher intensity job. But I've finally got the inspiration back to get back out in the shop. I suffered a few failures when I tried shifting to larger projects, and that was discouraging. I'm over it! 

My goal is to make one object a month from July 2024 through June 2025. A minimum object is a soldered bronze ring (my very first soldering exercise). At the absolute least, I'll make one of those. But I have tons of materials sitting on my bench just being to be made into something. I bought butane today, and I have a lead on what's wrong with my oxy-propane torch. 

The struggles with that torch have not helped my artistic journey, but I'm convinced it's just regulator settings.

On a happy note, let me share a project that I made for a friend's elevation to the Order of the Laurel back before we moved. This might be the last thing I made before taking my break. I'm not 100% thrilled with how it came out, but it was my first real adventure with pin style rivets, making them and setting them, and that came out well enough. And the Laurel wreath broke, but I "fixed" it by doing the wire overlay, which I like better anyway. The inspiration piece had more depth to the settings, and I'd like to figure out how that was accomplished. Those pie pan shaped bezel settings are still boggling my mind. Anyway, photos!