tips
This page is for you. It contains tips on jewelry care plus information for the metalsmith, jewelry maker, sculptor, and small business owner. You will find various pdf downloads containing resources, helpful tips and tricks, and how-to videos on everything from dapping to photographing your own work. This page is a work in progress, so check back often.
Oh, and since this page is for you, please let me know what else you would like to see here!
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PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR WORK:
DIGITAL IMAGES: This presentation by Harriete Estel Berman is a brief tutorial about Digital Image File Extensions:Digital Images from the SNAG Professional Development Seminar 2011View another webinar from Harriete Estel Berman
PHOTOSHOP: How to Build a Better Shadow – A Photoshop Tutorial by Christopher Conrad from the SNAG Professional Development SeminarView more presentations from Harriete Estel Berman
PDF:Photography in Flux Handout from SNAG Professional Development Seminar, 2011 Photography PDS 2011
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BENCH TIPS:
Art Jewelry Ergonomics by Jean Wilson
Good download on ergonomics at the bench! Your body is your most valuable tool. Care for it properly.
Video: Liver of Sulfur Patina – Art Jewelry Magazine.
More Tips on Liver of Sulfur: If you have an ultrasonic cleaner, place your Liver of Sulfur pellet inside a small container. A small glass container with a little distilled water added is ideal (I recommend using distilled water for creating any patina solution or for making soap solutions to use in your tumbler. This prevents any local mineral content in the water from contaminating or altering results). Place the glass container with the distilled water and pellet of LOS inside the ultrasonic cleaner (which also has some water or cleaning solution in it). Turn on the ultrasonic for two minutes. The waves will break up and pulverize the LOS quite handily, and you are ready to go. When you see how this pulverizes your LOS pellet, you will no longer wonder how kidney stones get dissolved with this method. Once your pieces have been patinated to your satisfaction, leave them to dry completely. Then sand lightly or brass brush to polish and bring up high points. Warning: this method is permanent! While it may wear down over time, it will not pickle off. If you don’t like the effect, burn it off with a torch (with proper ventilation, of course) or use Tarnex (one of the few times I recommend this product). If you want to tumble your works with stainless steel shot, do it after you apply patina. Discard your tumbling solution afterward, and rinse the shot, otherwise it may tint future batches of jewelry an unfortunate color. The polishing effect of tumbling typically burnishes over and closes the pores of the metal, and the patina has no place to “stick.”
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BLOG POSTS:
Metalsmithing in the Digital Age:Part One
Simple Care for Sparkling Silver Jewelry
Ten Things Metalsmiths Love, Plus Two
How to Make Jump Rings – A Free Lesson
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RESOURCES:
Jewelry Fabricators Resource Guide
In my metalsmithing classes, I provide this handout every time I teach. It has been refined over the years, using personal experience to make recommendations. Note that some of the resources are local to the Indianapolis, Indiana area, but most are available online.
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