Hello

 I am making  silver leaf post earrgins from sheet. I have made the shape and I want to make a leaf veins on it. I dont know how to engrave and even dont have tools for it. I thought about 'punching' them with eg small chinsel or screwdriver but I think this wont look as good as engraved. So, do you have any ideas howto make those lines?

 Second thing is that I would like to make a silver rope chain, so I bought some wire. But it is hard wire, bad luck. In order to make good jumprings the wire must be annaeled. But when I try to anneal it, I end up with firescale - but the wire is soft now. To remove the firescale I think I can use some sand paper but it will restore some hardness to wire - so so the circle closes andwe have clean hard wire again. Another idea I have is to make the ring from soft but ugly firescaled wire and polish the rings, but this make polishin difficult because of small ring sizes. I dont have tumbler, so it is a problem to me...

Thanks for help, Mark
 

Your idea of a small chisel is not bad but you can buy or make a graver. There are some tutorials over at the Orchid forum. If you sharpen you chisel or small screw driver to a fine lien you should be able to make fairly decent veins. As to the wire why not just by some dead soft for your jump rings. If your are going to anneal the wire you will need a pickle pot to get rid of the fire scale. By the time you sand it all off you will have hardened your wire again. The pickle will remove the scale and your wire will still be soft. I use an old crock pot, ceramic not metal, with plain white vinegar. It takes about ten minutes for the scale to disappear. The pickled wire will have a slightly frosty look that you can polish off a lot easier then fire scale.

I know about the pickle... I am using citirc acid with some hot destiled water but its not working very well for me. you are using only vinegar? hot or cold? maybe ill try this...

Maybe you are right.. but i dont know much about engraving... but we always start from zero...

 thanks, Marek
 

I use it hot, not boiling hot of course, but hotter then you want to put your finger in. Did you get the the latest issue of AJ? Well it has two articles that may help you the first is "Get Started Engraving" and the other is "All About Gravers". I was looking for graver and found  carbon  steel gravers below $6 at http://www.pearson-jewelry.com/index.html which didn't seem to ad a price for something I wouldn't be using everyday. Carbon steel is a good, tough metal but is best reserved for occasional use.

no, i dont recived AJM yet, still waiting.

I dont have money now to buy any graver, in poland they are expensive(at least for me), so maybe another day... I have punchet veins with small screwdriver - they are not perfect but... i like them.Ill show picture of those earrings as soon as theywill be finished - right nw im waiting for .. dont know whats the name of it... these little things that you stop the post earrings from falling...

about thewire - thanks for help

cheers, Marek 

Sorry about that, I get so used to everyone being here in the USA that I forget about the rest of the world. Well I'm almost certain that you can scrounge up some tool steel in Poland and maybe even for free if the piece is small enough. You can make your own graver. Even an old knife would work for a graver for fine lines. With judicious grinding and heat treating you should be able to make some wonderful tools of your own, even repousse tools.

Marek, If you use a screwdriver to mark the veins; make sure you file and sand the edges round. If not it will leave sharp, square imprints.

Got paper clips? I use them sometimes to make vein imprints. The wire gives you one long vein instead of a short choppy line. Straighten one end of the paper clip to the length of the vein you will need. File and sand one end to a tapered point. On a steel plate or hard surface, either hold it in place and hit with a hammer to make the vein or rubber cement (or some kind of temporary glue) the paper clip in place and hit with a hammer. The rubber cement works best for long lines. I bend shorter pieces for the side veins. Paper clips or any wire that's harder then your silver work. Anneal your silver first.

The piece that holds the post on is the ear nut. Billie

p.s. I've used a pizza cutter for veins too!

I have picked up used tools at flea markets and modified them in many ways to use in making jewelry. Almost everywhere has flea markets of some kind so I'm almost sure that you can find something made out of fairly decent tool steel to grind down for a graver. Even a nail will work but not for very long but they are inexpensive and plentiful. Try getting some cut masonry nails. They are hardened and hold up best for punches and repousse tools.

Other options for a leaf center vein:

You can fold the leaf in half, gently hammer the fold,  When you open, the crimp from the fold creates the center vein.

Solder on a small piece of silver wire for a center vein.

I like Billie Ann's suggestion of using a paper clip - hammer it into the leaf shape to create the center vein.

You can also use a sharp scribe to scratch the veins into the leaf. This has a quiter look, but it can look great.

Lisa

I use the "Dremel engraver" for such engraving tasks. This is a common tool available in any tools shop (you may look it up at Amazon). Very affordable and saves a lot of time and effort. The vanes in the leaf earrings below are made using this electric engraver.

 Good luck!

Sarit.

Sarit Wolfus - Unique Handcrafted Jewelry

Hello Marek,

a very good working and cheap pickle is 10% Alum-salt in 90 ml water. Warm it up to about 50 degree Celsius. If, after a time the salt fail out, you can refill water. Alum you get for a few cent in a drugstore. The pickle is very safe!

Edmund

www.emailkunst.de