The steps involved in silversmithing jewellery

What is silversmithing? The method of making objects from sterling or silver is called silversmithing. A silversmith is a person who makes the objects. Such articles can be ornaments, tools, trophies, medals, etc. 

You can find silver metal in the form of flat sheets or wire. It is then divided, carved, joined and smoothed into a piece of jewellery through silversmithing procedures.

Let us see the steps involved in silversmithing jewellery: 

1. Cutting:

Using a special saw, silver plates are cut into shapes or strips to make jewellery from them. Various types of blades are used to cut the silver plates or wires. When choosing the right jewellery saw size and quality matter the most. 

2. Filing:

After cutting the metal pieces, it is time to file the edges. Filing will smoothen sharp edges of the metal. If you require the heavy filing of the edges, you will need a size 0 or 1 file. The number indicates the fineness of the saw. A larger number means the saw is used to file finer details.

3. Hammering and shaping (metalwork)

Silver is malleable, and this property makes it easy to hammer, texture and bend into different shapes. The shaping of silver is done when it is cold. hammers vary in sizes too. At Silversmithing Courses Kent, you can learn about every different type of saw, files and hammers that are used for particular purposes. 

4.Soldering

To join two pieces of silver together, you have to solder the pieces. 

5. Finishing and polishing

When the silver cools after soldering, the silversmith may reshape by beating the pieces again if needed. Some additional filling can also be applied to further fill in any gaps or cracks. The goal is to get a fine, uniform polish. At Silversmithing Courses Kent you can learn all the techniques elaborately to ace the silversmithing job.

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Susan California Professional blogger and content writer Joined: March 17th, 2019