Bracelets

Everything I make is made from sterling silver. I use sheets of sterling silver and wire as well. Most of my bracelets are constructed from sterling silver rectangle wire measuring 5mm wide by 2mm thick. I hand saw each bracelet to 6" lengths. Then I hand saw a piece of 16 gauge square wire to it that is also measured at 6". Once this is complete I use hard solder to solder on the square wire to the rectangle wire using my Smith Mini torch which heats the metal to 1540 degrees. Once this is complete and I have cleaned the metal very well I take the bracelet, which is still flat, and hammer it (with a rawhide mallet) around a steel bracelet mandrel completing the shape. After this I take a #80 drill bit (which measures .0135 inches) and drill random holes in the 16 gauge square wire. I then take 24 gauge sterling silver wire and cut each piece to approx. 1". I ball the ends of one side of each wire by using the Smith Mini Torch. Then I thread each individual wire through the holes I drilled and using the same method for balling the first ends, I ball the other ends completing the "pins". Now it's time to make the bezel! I pick out a stone I want to use that I source from all over the world. Some come from Colorado, some come from India, others from California and some from Tibet. Most are from India. Once I've chosen the stone I want to use for the bracelet I grab my bezel wire which either measures 1/8"x26 gauge or 3/16"x26 gauge depending on the height from the girdle to the top of the stone. I wrap the appropriate bezel wire around the stone. measure it and mark it. Then I take my jewelers saw with a 8/0 size saw blade (about the size of a few strands of hair) and saw the bezel wire to fit. Then I take my Smith mini torch and solder the bezel wire together. I grab my 24 gauge sheet of sterling silver and hand saw (using that tiny saw blade!) a piece that that will work for the back plate of the bezel. I then take my hallmark stamp and hand stamp my initials and .925 on the back of the bracelet. Once that part is done I flux the bezel wire and the back plate (it's a mixture of denatured alcohol and boric acid that I buy at lowe's to keep the sterling silver from getting dirty while I heat it up) I place the bezel on the back plate and individually cut enough pallions of solder and place them individually inside the bezel wire to solder the bezel to the back plate. Once I've cleaned the metal again I take my hand saw and cut off any excess of the sheet. Then I take a #4 Swiss file and hand file the excess silver down to be flush the the bezel wall. Usually after this I use my Flex Shaft and a brown wheel (it's like an industrial strength dremel that is way better! hahaha!) and clean up the file marks. Once this is done I figure out the orientation of where I want the stone to lay on the bracelet. I dip it in flux again, place some medium solder on the back of the bezel where I want it soldered to the cuff bracelet and heat the solder until it flows. I clean the bezel again, pickle it again and then balance it where I want it to go on the cuff. From here I sweat solder the bezel onto the bracelet. Once I'm done with all of this I clean the metal again, file down the ends of the cuff with my #4 swiss file and use the brown wheel on my flex shaft to make the ends of the cuff smooth. From here it is time to oxidize the sterling silver. So I take liver of sulphur and really hot water. I dissolve the chunks of LoS in the hot water and dip the bracelet into it. After about 15 minutes the piece is completely oxidized and i take it out and wash it in cold water to stop the oxidation process. I take steel wool and hand polish it to highlight the raised parts and the pins while leaving the lower parts dark. Once I've gotten that entire process down it's time to tumble the bracelet. So i put it in my tumbler with steel shot, cold water and Sunsheen steel shot cleaner and let that run for about 45 minutes. Afterwards I take it out, rinse it, dry it off and now I begin to set the stone. First, you place the stone into the bezel wire. Then you take the bezel pusher, or a hammer or a hammer hand piece depending on the piece and proceed to go around the bezel in a specific pattern pushing the bezel wall down. Once it is perfectly flat and the stone no longer moves, I take the planisher and go over the edges of the bezel wall one more time to ensure that the stone is set correctly. Plus it adds a tiny bit of shine to the edges of the bezel which no one except me probably notices. And VIOLA! I have one sterling silver bracelet.