Vintage Swan Pendant Project Download

Description

Antique buttons make for intriguing and beautiful earrings and pendants. You can easily create the setting – one that can be used with gemstones, glass-covered mementoes, even rare coins.

Skills: Soldering, stone setting

Materials:

• Vintage Satsuma button about 29mm in diameter
• 13.5mm half-drilled pearl
• 2” x 2” sheet of 20-gauge sterling silver or 35mm disk
• 5” 4mm 26-gauge sterling silver bezel wire
• 24” 20-gauge round sterling silver wire
• 10” 16-gauge round sterling silver wire
• 18” 14-gauge half round sterling silver wire
• 5mm OD 20-gauge jump rings
• 2 equal 10-inch lengths of silver-plated 6mm rolo chain
• 8mm sterling silver spring ring clasp and catch
• Hard and medium solder in wire form

Tools:

Safety: Eye protection, magnification, ventilation or respirator

Hand: Sandpaper assortment from 320 to 1200 grit, Sharpie Pro Permanent Marker with chisel tip, circle template, sharp scribe, bench pin, jeweler’s saw with 4/0 blades and lubricant, half-round file, flush cutters, bench block hallmarking stamps and chasing hammer; rechargeable, battery powered drill with adjustable chuck, non-marring mallet, set of mandrels, doming set, bench vise, fine point Sharpie; precision machinists square or graph paper, straight edge; dental floss and blue painter’s tape, two pairs of chain nose pliers.

Soldering: 6” x 6” Solderite soldering board, steel straight edge and matt knife with sharp blade; sharp soldering pick, fine tweezers, air/acetylene Smith Silversmith torch with #0 and #00 tips and tank of fuel, Prips flux in spray bottle; brass hammer, metal shears, two small containers for hard and medium solder chips; fireproof cross-locking tweezers, quench, pickle pot and copper tongs, soft absorbent cloth, ballpoint pen

Finishing: Bench polisher or rotary tool, clean muslin buff and Fabuluster polishing compound; hot, soapy water and toothbrush, 2” x 3” zip lock bag for jewelry.

Stone setting: 2-part epoxy, mixing cup, microfine brush or toothpick, acetone and cotton swabs for cleanup; burnishing tool, 3M light green radical bristle discs on mandrel for touch up

Originally published: Lapidary Jouranl Jewelry Artist May/June 2020.