Manmade/Handmade Necklace Project Download

Description

Create and exquisite frog-encrusted turqoise and emerald green necklace inspired by vintage art deco pieces.

Skills: Advanced soldering, lapidary, stone setting, beading

Materials:

• Slab of RusGems standard emerald
• Five strands of 3mm round Kingman turqoise beads
• 13.5mm half-drilled pearl
• 1″ x1″16-gauge sterling silver sheet
• 6″ of 14-gauge round sterling silver wire, cut in half
• 24″ of 20-gauge round sterling silver wire
• 4″ 22-gauge half round sterling silver wire
• 4″ 12-gauge half round sterling silver wire
• 4″ 14-gauge half round wire
• Sterling silver casting shot
• Two 21mm cast sterling silver frogs
• 10″ SoftFlex Very Fine cable for beading
• 4 2mm x 1.8mm crimps
• 24 1mm x 1mm crimp beads
• 24 2.5mm crimp covers
• 2 sterling silver clasp and catch
• Heavy sterling silver chain
• Hard, medium, and easy solder in wire form
• Extra easy past solder in a synringe
• Midas Black Max oxidizer solution for patina

Tools:

Design: color scanner/printer/copier and cell-phone camera
Lapidary: Eye protection, magnification, respirator, InlandCraft 6″ SwapTop with diamond saw, 1200- and 3000-grit diamond flat laps, polishing lap; Fabuluster and a clean muslin buff on a bench polisher
Hand: Bench pin, giant black Sharpie Permanent Marker Pro with chisel tip, fine-tip Sharpie, scribe, jeweler’s saw and 2/0 blades, blade lube, digital calipers, smooth bench block, spring-loaded center punch, #54 drill bit and flexible shaft with handpiece, vise, acetone and rag, regular half-round file, needle files, 3/4″ Moore’s medium, fine, X and XX-fine sanding disks and disk mandrel, fine-tipped wire cutters, heavy-dutry cutters, fine-tipped round nose pliers, chaine nose pliers, sandpaper in 400 to 1000-grit, 1mm bud bur, silicone polishing points in medium and fine grits
Soldering: Respirator or soldering ventilation system, 12″x12″ soft Solderite soldering board, ballpoint pen, metal ruler, small flat-bladed screwdriver, sharp soldering pick, fine tweezers, cross-lock soldering tweezers, air/acetylene Smith Silversmith torch with #0 and #00 tips and tank of fuel, Prips flux in spray bottle, yellow ocher mixed with alcohol in an air-tight container, a small brush, quench, pickle pot and copper tongs
Finishing: Shot-filled tumbler setup, clean buffs, Tripoli and Fabuluster polishing compounds, hot, soapy water and tooth brush, Midas Black Max Patina, cotton swabs
Stone Setting: Blue painter’s tape, 2-part colorless epoxy, clamp. Optional: flexible shaft hammer handpiece
Beading: Crimping pliers, bead cloth, bead stoppers

Originally published in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, September/October 2019.