Photo Brooch

You will use a photographic image in a composition for a jewelry piece.

Design elements to consider:

• How will this function? (this must be addressed in this piece; plan from the start)

• What kind of juxtaposition can be used to make the composition interesting?

• Can the design use historical jewelry as a reference?

• Can the design incorporate irony, humor, or another emotional element?

• Do not plan on only using an image with a bezel around it. You must use other metal elements or other materials as a supplement to the image to make the design more interesting. 

The Photo Brooch project, is printing a photo on photographic paper (printed professionally, not on any old photo paper), making a border out of metal and filling with resin. Since I knew this project was coming up, I have been thinking about it, and always knew I wanted it to be something kind of personal! We had the option to do something humorous, meaningful, personal, etc. So I have decided to use one of my boyfriend's drawings, as he's so talented, and I have always been interested in his drawings. With his permission, I have decided to use this image, and will create the look of a frame out of metal. I am very excited to do this project!

To see Ken Cotter's art, visit his Tumblr page and his blog.

Tumblr: http://deadendsgallery.tumblr.com
Blog: http://kencotterart.blogspot.com

Materials:

• Copper alloys, other sheet metal (titanium, silver are available for purchase)

• Photograph: high quality, printed on photo paper

• Resin

• Other materials you would like to try incorporating (no glue allowed!)

Techniques:

• Basic sawing, filing, finishing

• Bezel making, soldering

• Cold connections (optional)

Step 1
First the base must be cut out, I have decided to design it similar to a Victorian photo frame. It has a few small parts to be cut, and so I need to keep this in mind whilst sawing.

 

Step 2
The band will be soldered, using the same technique as the bowl and silver ring; where the two ends meet and are parallel.


Step 3
It will then be shaped, as mine is an oval shape, I will use the large mandrel, but with more control from myself and not the mandrel, to ensure it doesn't shape in to a perfect circle.

Step 4
The band will then be soldered on to the base, ensuring that it's centre. At the same, or just after, I will solder the brooch parts on the back of the base, with easy solder as this is the last thing to be soldered. This then needs to be thoroughly cleaned and pickled, for the next part.

Step 5
I will colour it using the ajax pattination, to give it the Victorian effect.  Once it is thoroughly dried, with an air torch, the photo needs to be cut as near to the edges as possible and glued down, with or two layers of glue on top to ensure the resin will not have access to the image. The edges of the image need to be completely covered also.

I had to come to the decision wether I wanted it matte black or cleaned a little with a scourer to have the copper showing through a little for some colour. I decided brown/copper! 

Step 6
Now to pour the resin. The piece must be flush to a flat surface, and so we used to mount board to place the piece on top of, ensuring it's completely flat so the resin pours evenly. The resin is made up of two different liquids; one which is the resin and one which is the hardener. With a ratio of 1:1. It needs to be slowly mixed with a wooden stick, for exactly 5 minutes, no more, no less. The reason it needs to be slowly mixed, is to get rid of any air bubbles, if mixed or whipped too quickly it will create air sockets. Once it has been mixed, it needs to be left for another exact 5 minutes, then poured.

 

Getting rid of air bubbles with a pin!

Step 6

It needs to be poured into the middle of the piece, letting it flow to the edges. Once it starts filling up, I will use the wooden stick, to let the resin run off the tip of the stick, not for it to over flow and more importantly, too add in small parts to ensure it has a domed effect. It is then left to dry for 24 hours.  

 

Silver ring

This project is to make a ring, using silver with a bezel set stone. I will be making it very simple with an Amethyst stone set into it. I will be adding text to it, either on the inside or the outside.

Here are some images of my sketchbook pages, that include sketches, designs, methods, sizing, the process and final images. 

'xo'

The reason I put the 'xo' into my piece is, it's put at the end of all letters and cards our family send to each other, and so it was just a little reminder of home whilst I've been away.

Here is the final image for my first ever silver ring...

When I make another ring, I will consider how it fits on the finger, this ring is very wide (which was purposely intended) but I should have considered how uncomfortable it would be to wear, so the next time I make a wide band ring, I would flare out the edges so that it's comfortable. I would also like to add a little texture in to the next ring I create, or perhaps drill some holes to add a little detail. 

Solder Bowl

Soldering is the process of joining metal by using an alloy with a lower melting point than the metals being joined. When metal is heated to a high temperature, the metals’ crystals move apart, which opens up microscopic spaces. The alloy, called solder, melts and flows into the spaces of the expanded metal, creating a strong joint. We are using hard, or silver, solder which is not to be confused with soft or lead/tin solders.

When choosing a solder, a general rule is to use the solder that has about the same strength and color as the metals being joined. Hard silver solder is the closest match to sterling silver.

Properties of common metals and solders:

Name	Ag (silver)	Cu (copper)	Ni (nickel)	Zn (zinc)	Sn (tin)	Melt Pt º F
Copper		99				1981
Bronze		90			10	~1750
Brass		70		30		1750
Nickel silver		60	20	20		2030
Fine silver	99.9					1761
Sterling silver	92.5	7.5				1640
Hard solder	76	21		3		1425
Medium solder	70	20		10		1390
Easy solder	60	25		15		1325

Process and Tips

Good Fit: Solder does not fill large gaps. If pieces do not fit tightly the solder won’t make a strong joint or may only flow to one side of joint.

Cleaning: Joint and solder must be CLEAN and free of dirt, oil, tape, pickle, pencil, etc.

Flux: Use a brush to coat the joint evenly. During soldering, flux protects the metal surface from oxidation and breaks the surface tension of solder so that it can flow.

Solder: Use the right kind and amount of solder: use only enough solder to fill the seam. Excess solder takes time to remove. Solder must be placed so that it touches both pieces to be joined. Solder flows towards heat so consider the direction of flow, and plan solder placement for minimum clean-up.

Heat: Pieces being soldered must reach the soldering temperature together. Consider the size of pieces, and heat sinks such as binding wire, steel mesh, soldering boards, etc. Heat the whole piece and avoid heating solder directly. Heat must be applied equally to all pieces being joined. If not, solder will flow to the hottest piece only. Position the torch to draw the solder through the joint. Using a soft flame, slowly and evenly heat the joint and surrounding metal before flowing the solder. Let the heat of the metal flow the solder, don’t directly flow the solder with the flame.

Heating tips:

• Volume of pieces must be considered. If a small thin piece is being soldered to a heavy large piece, all of the heat should be directed onto the large piece.

• When soldering an enclosed object, such as a bead, provide a vent for gasses inside. They will expand rapidly and can cause the piece to explode.

• Zinc in the solder will burn off as a vapor, changing the alloy’s proportions. Each time solder becomes fluid its melting point is raised. Overheating can cause a pitted seam. 

Pickle: Pickle dissolves surface oxidation and flux residue from a metal’s surface and also absorbs copper ions, making it a green/blue color. Pickle the piece to clean the surface after soldering. Do not quench the piece immediately after soldering.

Safety: Use ventilation for flux/zinc vapors. If you use a tool that gets hot like tongs or a soldering pick, quench it so the next person doesn’t burn themselves.

 Solder Cleanup: After completing all soldering on a piece, use files and sandpaper to remove any solder that has flowed out of the joint. If you clean up solder then raise the piece to soldering temperatures again, the previous solder may flow, leaving gaps. Cover previous seams with yellow ochre to prevent this. For the first soldering, use a solder with as high a melting point as possible, which will enable you to do secondary soldering or repairs with a lower-melting solder.

Firescale: After completing all finishing, there may be cloudy purple stains on the surface. This is called ‘firescale’ and is a result of the copper content of sterling silver. It appears after sterling silver has been heated to soldering temperatures, and can be removed by two methods. The first is to physically remove the firescale using sandpaper, leaving the sterling silver surface. The second method is to gently heat the piece with a torch until a gray oxide appears (watch carefully and do not overheat). While the piece is still hot, it is quenched in hot pickle (be careful of splashes!!) and allowed to sit for a few minutes. After pickling, the piece is cleaned with dish detergent and a scrub pad. This process is repeated several times until the surface is a bright, matte white, which is actually a thin plating of fine silver.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Reason	Solution
Incomplete/unsoldered joint	• Not enough heat • Not enough flux • Metal is dirty • Prolonged heating	• Clean joint • Use more flux
Solder will not fill a joint	• Joint too wide	• Clean joint and fit tightly
Solder balls up	• Heat may be flowing away from joint • Metal or solder is dirty • Joint has oxidized	• Avoid direct flame on solder • Clean and flux
Solder jumps to one side of joint	• One side is hotter than the other	• Heat the heavier piece first, use care with flame placement

The aim of this project is to practice soldering for when we make a silver ring. The final piece would then be a 'Solder bowl'-somewhere to keep the cut solder pieces.

Step 1

Firstly, we will solder the band by pulling the two ends of the strip of copper to meet, it is important that the ends are parallel to each other, as the solder wont run through if there is a gap. 

Step 2

After it has been cleaned and pickled, it goes on to a tool, which is basically a large ring mandrel to shape it into a perfect circle. 

Step 3 

On to the bowl part, it needs to be cut perfectly for it to sit on the ring base evenly. It is then annealed and pickled to soften the metal, ready to be domed. I will keep the ring base near, so that I can measure the bowl needs to be domed. 

Step 4 

Once it is domed enough, it is ready to be soldered to the ring base.

Here is my final bowl, I textured it with a small hammer, then pattinated with ajax to enhance the detail. I also curved the edges, as I wanted it to look rugged, but after finishing it, I have decided this is the one thing I would change. A clean edge would give it more of a finished look.