Enjoyed this exchange - as usual learned more than I bargained for.
Thank you all.
Will silver plate hinges as noted earlier. Next time I am in Durango I
will look for some. If I find a source I will post it.
What's wrong with tomatoes in a fruit salad? Cherry Tomatoes that is?
"-) Love 'em...
[email protected] wrote:
> On 6 Feb 2005 09:44:21 -0800, "Mike in Arkansas" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>><<Okay, I'm not trying to be contentious here, but>>
>>
>>Of course not :) No problems here at all, mostly a matter of sematics.
>>
>>Of course I was refering to commercial products (chains mostly) that
>>are rhodium plated. They will never tarnish. Otherwise the jeweler
>>would need to continually polish his stock to keep it shiney. Wasn't
>>refering to hand made items by real smiths and I am aware that silver
>>can be polished to a shine or a variety of other finishes applied. As
>>far as bezel wire is concerned, it is so thin that sterling or fine
>>silver bends about as easily. heavier gauge gets increasingly more
>>difficult even in fine silver.. Suffice to say thay I work with fine
>>(content, not craftsmanship necessarily) silver quite a bit for
>>suitable applications. For stuff like earings or pins that that must
>>be light and/or thin, then absolutely sterling is more suitable.
>>Casting is pretty easy and I do a little using different methods.
>>Having never done inlay, it appears more formidable. A matter of my
>>ignorance I suppose.
>
>
> Try wire inlay. It really isn't that difficult and it can add a lot of
> a project.
>
> --RC
>
> Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit;
> Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad
>
> -- Suzie B
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
Another hobby of mine is silversmithing. Making a good hinge from
sterling sheet is a difficult and time consuming process. You have to
make a large tube from flat stock and pull it through a drawplate until
its the proper size. Continuous annealing is required after every
second or third pull as the sterling work hardens. While drawing it
down you have to plan for the hole size for the pin as well. Then the
tube is cut into pieces and silver soldered to the two opposite sides.
Sounds pretty easy but the tubing edges should be cut perfectly flat
and all the pieces should fit together after soldering with no side to
side play but without binding. Check out some antique sterling tea
pots to see what I mean. A well made hinge with no play at all but is
strong and attractive is the mark of a fine silversmith. Just being a
hobbiest, it would take me several hours to make a single hinge from
sheet. Having said all that, like you I some day want to make some
silver hinges for boxes but will probably make wax patterns and try
casting them first. Of course silver is pretty soft and if using solid
silver, one would want to make pretty thick hinge leafs and barrels and
maybe use a non-metal pin. Sterling is harder but with the additional
copper added it oxidises and needs to be polished periodically.
Another hobby of mine is silversmithing. Making a good hinge from
sterling sheet is a difficult and time consuming process. You have to
make a large tube from flat stock and pull it through a drawplate until
its the proper size. Continuous annealing is required after every
second or third pull as the sterling work hardens. While drawing it
down you have to plan for the hole size for the pin as well. Then the
tube is cut into pieces and silver soldered to the two opposite sides.
Sounds pretty easy but the tubing edges should be cut perfectly flat
and all the pieces should fit together after soldering with no side to
side play but without binding. Check out some antique sterling tea
pots to see what I mean. A well made hinge with no play at all but is
strong and attractive is the mark of a fine silversmith. Just being a
hobbiest, it would take me several hours to make a single hinge from
sheet. Having said all that, like you I some day want to make some
silver hinges for boxes but will probably make wax patterns and try
casting them first. Of course silver is pretty soft and if using solid
silver, one would want to make pretty thick hinge leafs and barrels and
maybe use a non-metal pin. Sterling is harder but with the additional
copper added it oxidises and needs to be polished periodically.
I had a similar problem a few years ago. My solution was in fact a
solution:- The Silver Solution! Made by Sheffco, it is a "Patented
Formula for Plating and Re-plating Silver"
It certainly does that, and as the instructions state, it can also be
used on many other metals, but performs best on copper, brass, and not
very well on mild steel. I also used it to plate some bullets to give
to my kids to keep them safe from werewolves.You just can't be to
careful, can you? Anyhow, in the U.K. it cost me =A310, and it is
available from:
SHEFFCO LTD.
50-52 CHANCERY LANE
LONDON
WC2A 1HL
TELE. 01-405-8868
I hope this helps
Silver is harder and stronger than one might suppose. I still plan one
day to cast some hinges in pure silver so they won't tarnish. These are
going to be thick hinges. If you have ever seen the really nice thick
solid brass hinges sold by woodworking supply places, well thats what
I'm talking about. Sufficently heavy, I am convinced they will be
fine. Sterling is used a lot for jewelry where weight, thus thickness
is important. Same for holloware that has to be hard enough to be
servicable. I believe a pure silver hinge thick enough will last a
very long time indeed in a small decorative or jewelry box. Of course
I may find out differently some day. What I plan to do is buy a good
quality hinge and use it to make a rubber mold so I can make multiple
waxes and then have a go at casting. Also on my want to do list is to
inlay some pure silver wire into a small project as decoration.
There's a name for that but I forget what is is. Breide or something
like that. Lot's of Indian (not american indian) objects were donein
this manner. Contrast between a dark wood and the light silver is
really nice. BTW, most 'sterling silver' jewelery you buy nowadays has
been rodium (sp?) plated so it wont tarnish. That explains the high
shine you see.
<<Okay, I'm not trying to be contentious here, but>>
Of course not :) No problems here at all, mostly a matter of sematics.
Of course I was refering to commercial products (chains mostly) that
are rhodium plated. They will never tarnish. Otherwise the jeweler
would need to continually polish his stock to keep it shiney. Wasn't
refering to hand made items by real smiths and I am aware that silver
can be polished to a shine or a variety of other finishes applied. As
far as bezel wire is concerned, it is so thin that sterling or fine
silver bends about as easily. heavier gauge gets increasingly more
difficult even in fine silver.. Suffice to say thay I work with fine
(content, not craftsmanship necessarily) silver quite a bit for
suitable applications. For stuff like earings or pins that that must
be light and/or thin, then absolutely sterling is more suitable.
Casting is pretty easy and I do a little using different methods.
Having never done inlay, it appears more formidable. A matter of my
ignorance I suppose.
Wow!
Now that is nice stuff.
http://www.gtcreations.com/engagement2.html
Joe Gorman wrote:
> Will wrote:
> can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>>>
>>
> http://www.sanmartin.com/ looks expensive
> http://www.anthonyholt.co.uk/astonmartin/ they make stuff with 'silver'
> hinges, maybe real
> http://www.gtcreations.com/engagement2.html also uses silver hinges,
> price seems right for the real stuff
> These were the best options from alltheweb.com
> Joe
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
Will wrote:
> thanks to everyone who read this and tried to help.
>
> Still looking.
>
>
> Will wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small
>> jewelry boxes.
>>
>> I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>>
>> So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>>
>
http://www.sanmartin.com/ looks expensive
http://www.anthonyholt.co.uk/astonmartin/ they make stuff with
'silver' hinges, maybe real
http://www.gtcreations.com/engagement2.html also uses silver
hinges, price seems right for the real stuff
These were the best options from alltheweb.com
Joe
> Willwrote:
Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small
jewelry
> boxes.
>
> I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass
only.
>
> So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>
> --
> Will
> Occasional Techno-geek
You asked about Silver hinges, what size are they, and what gauge are
they. and how many do you want?
email [email protected]
[email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, Will <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>>Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
>>boxes.
>>
>>I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>>
>>So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>
>
>
>
> google is your friend. somewhere out there they exist.
Tried google. If It had worked - I would not have posted here. Phoned
Jewelers. No one likes making custom hinges.
>
>
> if that fails, any bench jeweller could whip out a pair or three in no
> time. might not even cost all that much.
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
Mike:
This is what I heard from a silversmith. So I wanted to find a
commercial silversmith who had overcome these problems and had set up
some commercial processes to bring down the price...
I got some used fixer (from SWMBO -- the xray tech) and was going to try
plating some brass hinges. This is what the next lady is suggesting
Other alternative is Precious Metal Clay - You can find it on the web.
You form it and fire it - like ceramics in a nice hot 1100-1800 Deg. F.
degree oven. But the other smith -- who had made hinges as a student
project -- felt the stresses would be too high.
FYI:
http://www.pmcguild.com/resframes.html
http://www.metalclay.com/OtherPages/ProductInfo.htm
I have enough hobbies :-))
Mike in Arkansas wrote:
> Another hobby of mine is silversmithing. Making a good hinge from
> sterling sheet is a difficult and time consuming process. You have to
> make a large tube from flat stock and pull it through a drawplate until
> its the proper size. Continuous annealing is required after every
> second or third pull as the sterling work hardens. While drawing it
> down you have to plan for the hole size for the pin as well. Then the
> tube is cut into pieces and silver soldered to the two opposite sides.
> Sounds pretty easy but the tubing edges should be cut perfectly flat
> and all the pieces should fit together after soldering with no side to
> side play but without binding. Check out some antique sterling tea
> pots to see what I mean. A well made hinge with no play at all but is
> strong and attractive is the mark of a fine silversmith. Just being a
> hobbiest, it would take me several hours to make a single hinge from
> sheet. Having said all that, like you I some day want to make some
> silver hinges for boxes but will probably make wax patterns and try
> casting them first. Of course silver is pretty soft and if using solid
> silver, one would want to make pretty thick hinge leafs and barrels and
> maybe use a non-metal pin. Sterling is harder but with the additional
> copper added it oxidises and needs to be polished periodically.
>
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
After looking at GT Creations, I seems that silver plating some good
hinges is what you have to do. So that is what I will do.
Joe Gorman wrote:
> Will wrote:
>
>> thanks to everyone who read this and tried to help.
>>
>> Still looking.
>>
>>
>> Will wrote:
>>
>>> Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small
>>> jewelry boxes.
>>>
>>> I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>>>
>>> So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>>>
>>
> http://www.sanmartin.com/ looks expensive
> http://www.anthonyholt.co.uk/astonmartin/ they make stuff with 'silver'
> hinges, maybe real
> http://www.gtcreations.com/engagement2.html also uses silver hinges,
> price seems right for the real stuff
> These were the best options from alltheweb.com
> Joe
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
thanks to everyone who read this and tried to help.
Still looking.
Will wrote:
> Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
> boxes.
>
> I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>
> So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
"Mike in Arkansas" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> I still plan one day to cast some hinges in pure silver so they won't
> tarnish.
Pure silver will tarnish just as much as the sterling variety -- I have a
few silver ingots (.9999 pure) that have a "nice" coating of black silver
oxide.
Will <[email protected]> writes:
>thanks to everyone who read this and tried to help.
>
>Still looking.
You could try to make your own, I suppose.
Some leads here: <http://users.erols.com/jyavins/solder.htm>.
Try looking for Nickel-Silver hinges, too.
scott
On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, Will <[email protected]> wrote:
> Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
> boxes.
>
> I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>
> So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>
Kinda important:
Is silver rigid enough in the size you want for the application?
All the jewellery boxes I've ever seen (and I have four sisters...) have
had small brass hinges.
Will wrote:
>These hinges appear to be brass and steel - lots of hinges - did not see
> anything made of silver.
As I said in my original reply, I was assuming you meant
chrome or nickel.
Sorry, can't help you and I really doubt anyone else will be
able to either.
>Went through many sites like this.
A'yup. One of the problems with the Internet. Have you
Googled the Hunt brothers?
Unisaw A100
Will wrote:
>
>
> [email protected] wrote:
>> On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, Will <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
>>>boxes.
>>>
>>>I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>>>
>>>So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> google is your friend. somewhere out there they exist.
>
> Tried google. If It had worked - I would not have posted here. Phoned
> Jewelers. No one likes making custom hinges.
If you have access to a ceramics studio (look around--lots of schools and
community centers and the like have ceramics programs) you might find
<http://www.pmcguild.com/v53techtip2.html> to be of interest. I'd never
heard of it before--seems like intersting stuff.
>> if that fails, any bench jeweller could whip out a pair or three in no
>> time. might not even cost all that much.
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
Will wrote:
> Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
> boxes.
>
> I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>
> So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
Just a comment here but remember that silver tarnishes. And polishing it
when it's tightly fitted to wood without staining the wood with the polish
is likely to be a bear. You might want to take a look at nickel as an
alternative--almost but not quite the same color and it tarnishes a lot
less. It's also pretty tough stuff.
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
"Will" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mike:
>
> This is what I heard from a silversmith. So I wanted to find a commercial
> silversmith who had overcome these problems and had set up some commercial
> processes to bring down the price...
>
> I got some used fixer (from SWMBO -- the xray tech) and was going to try
> plating some brass hinges. This is what the next lady is suggesting
>
> Other alternative is Precious Metal Clay - You can find it on the web. You
> form it and fire it - like ceramics in a nice hot 1100-1800 Deg. F. degree
> oven. But the other smith -- who had made hinges as a student project --
> felt the stresses would be too high.
also, pmc shrinks when fired, anywhere from 6-20% depending upon which
flavor you get
> FYI:
> http://www.pmcguild.com/resframes.html
> http://www.metalclay.com/OtherPages/ProductInfo.htm
>
> I have enough hobbies :-))
>
> Mike in Arkansas wrote:
>> Another hobby of mine is silversmithing. Making a good hinge from
>> sterling sheet is a difficult and time consuming process. You have to
>> make a large tube from flat stock and pull it through a drawplate until
>> its the proper size. Continuous annealing is required after every
>> second or third pull as the sterling work hardens. While drawing it
>> down you have to plan for the hole size for the pin as well. Then the
>> tube is cut into pieces and silver soldered to the two opposite sides.
>> Sounds pretty easy but the tubing edges should be cut perfectly flat
>> and all the pieces should fit together after soldering with no side to
>> side play but without binding. Check out some antique sterling tea
>> pots to see what I mean. A well made hinge with no play at all but is
>> strong and attractive is the mark of a fine silversmith. Just being a
>> hobbiest, it would take me several hours to make a single hinge from
>> sheet. Having said all that, like you I some day want to make some
>> silver hinges for boxes but will probably make wax patterns and try
>> casting them first. Of course silver is pretty soft and if using solid
>> silver, one would want to make pretty thick hinge leafs and barrels and
>> maybe use a non-metal pin. Sterling is harder but with the additional
>> copper added it oxidises and needs to be polished periodically.
>>
>
> --
> Will
> Occasional Techno-geek
On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, the inscrutable Will
<[email protected]> spake:
>Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
>boxes.
>
>I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>
>So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
Try www.Ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm or the links there. They're
jewelry folks.
--
The clear and present danger of top-posting explored at:
http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote2.html
------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Premium Website Development
There is a similar site for Silver smiths. I tried that - could not find
any one.
I will look through here some more - but no luck after a quick review.
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, the inscrutable Will
> <[email protected]> spake:
>
>
>>Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
>>boxes.
>>
>>I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>>
>>So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>
>
> Try www.Ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm or the links there. They're
> jewelry folks.
>
>
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
On 6 Feb 2005 09:44:21 -0800, "Mike in Arkansas" <[email protected]>
wrote:
><<Okay, I'm not trying to be contentious here, but>>
>
>Of course not :) No problems here at all, mostly a matter of sematics.
>
>Of course I was refering to commercial products (chains mostly) that
>are rhodium plated. They will never tarnish. Otherwise the jeweler
>would need to continually polish his stock to keep it shiney. Wasn't
>refering to hand made items by real smiths and I am aware that silver
>can be polished to a shine or a variety of other finishes applied. As
>far as bezel wire is concerned, it is so thin that sterling or fine
>silver bends about as easily. heavier gauge gets increasingly more
>difficult even in fine silver.. Suffice to say thay I work with fine
>(content, not craftsmanship necessarily) silver quite a bit for
>suitable applications. For stuff like earings or pins that that must
>be light and/or thin, then absolutely sterling is more suitable.
>Casting is pretty easy and I do a little using different methods.
>Having never done inlay, it appears more formidable. A matter of my
>ignorance I suppose.
Try wire inlay. It really isn't that difficult and it can add a lot of
a project.
--RC
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit;
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad
-- Suzie B
On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 10:43:01 -0500, "J. Clarke"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Will wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>> On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, Will <[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
>>>>boxes.
>>>>
>>>>I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>>>>
>>>>So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> google is your friend. somewhere out there they exist.
>>
>> Tried google. If It had worked - I would not have posted here. Phoned
>> Jewelers. No one likes making custom hinges.
>
>If you have access to a ceramics studio (look around--lots of schools and
>community centers and the like have ceramics programs) you might find
><http://www.pmcguild.com/v53techtip2.html> to be of interest. I'd never
>heard of it before--seems like intersting stuff.
It's very good stuff. Pure silver (or gold, depending). I don't know
how strong and hard it is, though. Although I suppose you could form
your hinges around pieces of brass tube to provide the bearing
surfaces for the hinges.
--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.
On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, Will <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
>boxes.
Silver is far too soft - they will break. Use nickel silver instead.
You might well plate silver on top of this.
Silver-plated brass is a slightly lower cost, but much less quality.
When the plating wears on the corners they're more obvious, as there's
a colour contrast.
A convenient source of metal stock for making these in small
quantities is old "EPNS" (electroplated nickel silver) tableknives
from a charity shop. If you want bigger sheets of nickel silver, talk
to the model railway people.
I can't help you with local .ca sources, but talking to a silversmith
who works on teapots, jugs and the like rather than jewellery ought to
help.
These hinges appear to be brass and steel - lots of hinges - did not see
anything made of silver.
Went through many sites like this.
Unisaw A100 wrote:
> By silver you are referring to chrome or nickel plate?
>
> Try Sugatsune.
>
> http://www.sugatsune.com
>
> I don't know who sells the line but there is a link on the
> home page.
>
> I can vouch for their quality being one of the better.
>
> UA100
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:20:17 -0500, Will <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Does anyone know who can supply Silver Hinges suitable for small jewelry
>boxes.
>
>I know about Lee Valley and many of the usual suspects - brass only.
>
>So far only hinges I can find are brass.. or brass-plated steel.
google is your friend. somewhere out there they exist.
if that fails, any bench jeweller could whip out a pair or three in no
time. might not even cost all that much.
I got some used fixer (from SWMBO -- the xray tech) and was going to try
plating some brass hinges.
Let you know if it works - I am sure I have a battery and a nail here
somewhere? Or a nickel if that doesn't work. :-))
Limey Lurker wrote:
> I had a similar problem a few years ago. My solution was in fact a
> solution:- The Silver Solution! Made by Sheffco, it is a "Patented
> Formula for Plating and Re-plating Silver"
> It certainly does that, and as the instructions state, it can also be
> used on many other metals, but performs best on copper, brass, and not
> very well on mild steel. I also used it to plate some bullets to give
> to my kids to keep them safe from werewolves.You just can't be to
> careful, can you? Anyhow, in the U.K. it cost me £10, and it is
> available from:
>
> SHEFFCO LTD.
> 50-52 CHANCERY LANE
> LONDON
> WC2A 1HL
>
> TELE. 01-405-8868
>
>
> I hope this helps
>
--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek
On 4 Feb 2005 18:06:40 -0800, "Mike in Arkansas" <[email protected]>
wrote:
Okay, I'm not trying to be contentious here, but. . .
>Silver is harder and stronger than one might suppose.
Sterling silver is. Pure silver is a lot weaker and softer than
sterling -- which is why silversmiths use sterling for most things. If
you want to see what pure silver is like, play with some plain bezel
wire sometime.
> I still plan one day to cast some hinges in pure silver so they won't tarnish.
Oh they'll tarnish. It's just that pure silver tarnishes more slowly
than steriling. But it still tarnishes.
> These are going to be thick hinges. If you have ever seen the really nice thick
>solid brass hinges sold by woodworking supply places, well thats what
>I'm talking about. Sufficently heavy, I am convinced they will be
>fine.
For something like a jewelry box, the silver wouldn't have to be all
that thick -- if you used sterling. You could probably use 18 gauge
nicely.
> Sterling is used a lot for jewelry where weight, thus thickness is important.
I'm not entirely sure I understand what you mean here. The main reason
most silversmiths use sterling is because it is considerably stronger
and longer wearing than pure silver. Sterling is only about 7 percent
copper so you don't save that much money by making a piece in sterling
rather than pure silver -- that is if you could make the two pieces
equally thick.
However you'd not only have to make the pure silver piece thicker, it
would accumulate nicks and scratches much more quickly.
>Same for holloware that has to be hard enough to be
>servicable. I believe a pure silver hinge thick enough will last a
>very long time indeed in a small decorative or jewelry box.
I think you're undoubtedly correct here.
> Of course I may find out differently some day. What I plan to do is buy a good
>quality hinge and use it to make a rubber mold so I can make multiple
>waxes and then have a go at casting. Also on my want to do list is to
>inlay some pure silver wire into a small project as decoration.
>There's a name for that but I forget what is is.
There are many names for the technique because cultures from Japan to
Norway have traditionally practiced it.
Inlaying silver wire into wood or metal is much easier than learning
to cast.
> Breide or something like that. Lot's of Indian (not american indian) objects were donein
>this manner.
BTW: A lot of that 'wire' inlay you see is actually strip silver
(called 'bezel wire' in the trade which is inserted into cuts made
with a jeweler's saw. I learned the technique from a friend of mine, a
wonderful woman who sadly died in December.)
>Contrast between a dark wood and the light silver is
>really nice.
It makes for some beautiful pieces. Silver combines wonderfully with
wood.
> BTW, most 'sterling silver' jewelery you buy nowadays has
>been rodium (sp?) plated so it wont tarnish. That explains the high
>shine you see.
Onk? You get an absolute mirror finish on silver by simply polishing
it correctly. I don't know about commercial products, but I know most
silversmiths don't rhodium plate their pieces.
--RC (who has a couple of silver projects sitting on his bench right
now)
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit;
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad
-- Suzie B