Month 4 - Still Roman

This was another exercise in repeatability and batch making links. It was easier to make the filigree than I thought it would be. The shape is very forgiving. First step was to make and solder the outer hoops. 

Then I rough cut and formed the filigree in a batch, and then went through and did the fitting and adjustment. 

I had to do very little cutting at this point. I then soldered that on. This was my first go using paste solder for some of the filigree. I used medium, and it worked very nicely. See my previous post if you want a bit more of my musings on soldering. Though I will say that that post was a bit too optimistic. I had to re-fire most of my second batch, and I still managed to melt a jump ring. 

On to that, I made jump rings for the bails and attached those last. It went really quickly, all things considered, in two batches of five. 

The final necklace is strung with agates. The original (at The Met) had glass "paste" beads. I couldn't find glass beads the right size and shape, and I really struggled to find anything that would fit the late Roman empire, but I have multiple written sources that site agate being used in jewelry, so I was happy to find the beads that I have. 

Progress!

Not a project post, just a general update. 

I'm on my 4th project in this series and my skills really do seem to be improving. Of course, I also started using a better torch, and the torch is still a modern tool. However, I'm not melting things as much, and making fewer mistakes. Soldering rings is easy, even though I accidentally fused a ring today. That was a surprise. But this was my hope: that practice would breed better skills. 

I'm using hard solder (and medium), working my way up to period solder. I'm very nervous about using it with filigree. I've also played a tiny bit with paste solder, though, and that gives me hope. When I make my own period solder, I'll use the chunk to file into powder. I can mix the powder with water, and la! Paste! Maybe? We'll find out. 

I'm also slowly actually making the necklaces with these clasps, so this post still gets a photo. I'm choosing to be creative with bead choice, only because I didn't have enough amethyst to do all three. And I've belatedly found my half round 12 gauge, so I'm yet going to make a 4th version, with a more accurate bail.