It is the small things that drive me wild. You know, attaching a tube set so that it is placed just a bit off center. Or, making one earring slightly larger than the other. These small mistakes have motivated me to find ways to be more precise. In this series I will talk about ways to avoid pesty little inaccuracies.

Dividers
Transferring Measurements    I remember the day I started making more precise measurements. It was a class with Tom McCarthy (great metalsmith and teacher by the way) where we were making tiny hinged components that required more accuracy than what I was used to doing. Instead of my usual “eyeball” or marking with a Sharpie® approaches, I started taking measurements on a ruler with the dividers and transferred them to metal. This method is much more accurate than lining up the ruler to a piece of sheet metal and marking it with a Sharpie or scribe. Sometimes a very small difference doesn’t really stand out. Other times cumulative small differences add up to one big noticeable goof.

Tom also showed us how to find the center of a short length of wire or a rectangular piece of sheet metal. Measure the total length and divide by 2. Mark your dividers with this length and scribe from both ends. You then eyeball the center of those two lines.

Adjust your dividers to match the desired measurement. In this case I want 10mm.

I want to find the center of this 27mm wide piece of sheet metal. The center is 13.5mm. I start with scribing a line on the left.

Next I scribe on the right side.

Because of very small inaccuracies the two lines don't exactly meet (often the case). So, I find the middle of these two lines for my center. In general, this procedure will yield a more accurate location of the center than if I used a ruler and simply marked 13.5 mm.

Now scribe 10 mm using your dividers.

More to come on dividers…….

One thing about a camera, it sure sees inconsistencies and small errors better than my eyes do. Even in this image you can see where there are gaps in the bezel.

Note on 10 Hour Challenge:
8 hours into challenge. Although I have a bezel that I can cut, solder and hammer set, I decided not to move on until I am more proficient with shaping heavy bezels. I recall Charles Lewton Brain describing his training as a goldsmith. He said that his mentors required him to master a skill before moving on. I sure need more mastery than what I currently have so I will continue practicing the shaping skill until my 10 hours are up. At that point I will decide what to do.

The bezel I recently worked on (see image) has gaps that were not evident when forming the bezel on the table. I was a little disheartened. On the other hand, I was able to make it in 2 hours and I can adjust for the problem later.

~Connie

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

Heat shield protecting bezel when soldering frame to pin.

I taught a class on Pins over the weekend and am reminded yet again how much I appreciate heat shields. In the first image you see a bezel which has been soldered with medium solder. I am attaching a frame to one side also using medium solder. The frame and bezel are pretty close together so I was concerned about re-flowing the bezel solder or worse, melting the bezel. Enter an 18 g brass heat shield which protected the bezel perfectly. In my finished pin you see a frame that is a lot closer to the bezel than the copper and silver sample – even a dicier proposition.

Pin with bezel and handmade pinback by Connie Fox

So, why didn’t I just bury the bezel in the firebrick and avoid these issue all together? I have found burying a 2x1mm frame more difficult than soldering right side up. I can see exactly how it is going to look in the end, burying the frame is more difficult to adjust if needed, and the solder flows more easily and cleanly when working face up.

Handmade pinback by Connie Fox

When we worked on the back of the pins we also used a heat shield to protect parts of the pin mechanism. Hats off to heat shields!

BTW, I haven’t forgotten my 10 hour challenge – just trying to catch my breath after a pretty hectic teaching schedule.

~Connie

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

I am making a change in my 10 hour challenge. Initially I said I would practice 10 hours in addition to time spent in class. Now this isn’t really fair because it is no longer a 10 hour challenge. So, I am including time spent in class and practice time at home in the 10 hours. Here is a summary of my progress:

This bezel was worked on primarily during the first two hours and some during the fifth hour. It looks much less tortured in the image than what it should look like.

2 Hours into Challenge – My first two hours were in class practicing the heavy wall bezel. I got frustrated pretty easily and wondered why my reaction surfaced so quickly. Well, it was as if I was on day 6 of my former weeklong class. Just picked up right where I left off and added a little more angst to the heap. Several times had to tell myself to keep breathing and wisely, I left a half hour early. There is only so far one should go with frustration. Short spurts of frustration is clearly preferable to help regain balance (sanity?).

This bezel was worked on 3 hours into the challenge. What is not shown in how many times I opened and closed the bezel.

3 Hours into Challenge – I spent an hour at home practicing with a different shaped stone. The square is supposed to be easier than the pear-shaped stone I am working on in class. Could have fooled me. No progress. Put it down and felt high level of frustration again. I decided I need to start saying “I am good at forming heavy wall bezels” – act as if I can do this even when it flies in the face of what is going on in the moment.

This bezel was worked on during the 4th hour. It was a big improvement, although I noticed in the photograph I have a gap on the left side. Still, progress was made.

4 Hours into Challenge – The next day (at home) I decided I needed to “chunk down”. Great psychotherapy tool when you get overwhelmed. Don’t try to take on the whole task, just go at it piece by piece. So, I identified one thing that was going wrong – torquing the metal. By taking the rest of the tasks off the table and only focusing on one thing I discovered how I was distorting the metal – not holding the pliers straight up and down in relationship to the bezel. This felt like a victory. I started checking for torque after each incremental step in forming.

This represents a big leap forward during the 6th hour. I had help with the angle but the rest was done by moi. No gaps!

6 Hours into Challenge – Back in class. While I was feeling like the Lone Ranger on the road to a town called Desperation (I know, a little dramatic), I recognized that there were other people in the class having trouble too. While I hate seeing people struggle, I hate even worse me being the only one! After an hour and a half of no improvement, I decided that I would complete my 10 hour challenge and if progress was too minimal, I would stop. You just can’t do everything and I can live without heavy bezels as much as I like them. So much for “I am good at making heavy wall bezels”.

My bezel was mangled and so was my spirit (histrionic?). Anyway, in the midst of all this I thought of my dad, a furniture salesman by trade. He had a philosophy that if a piece of furniture fails to sell, you raise the price. Astonishingly it worked every time. How does this apply to what I was doing? Well, I threw the copper aside and moved on to silver. In 20 minutes, and with the help of Deb working on the point of the bezel, I wrapped that puppy around the stone. It was definitely a victory. I learned 2 additional principles which helped serve my “chunk down” method. I stopped for the day before cutting and soldering – just wanted to savor the victory for awhile.

~Connie

…and just a FYI. My bangles made it into the 65th Anniversary issue (may/June) of Jewelry Artist magazine; pages 2 and 9. Look for Freida on page 44. On page 12 there is an article about Pinterest for those of you who want to draw people to your website or blog. Ah yes, and if you love viewing jewelry images, Pinterest can keep you busy for hours.

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

Do you have a list of jewelry making techniques you would like to learn? I’ve got mine, for sure. Rather than keeping these goals on the back burner (back bench?), I am wondering – can 10 hours of practice make a difference?

This is my "five day pendant".

Several years ago I took a class at Metals Week on making sculpted bezels with heavy gauge sheet metal. The class was taught by a very good instructor, Pauline Warg. I had a great deal of difficulty forming the bezel to fit the stone. Only by slipping down to thinner metal (20g) was I able to get a bezel around my stone. Yep, it took me 5 days to do it, and I walked away knowing if my life depended on it, I probably couldn’t do it again. Now let me make this clear. My difficulty had nothing to do with Pauline’s instruction. Most of the people in the class were able to pick up the skill so I was pretty much a lone ranger. It is really hard to feel so incompetent for 5 days straight. And I like most of you, really like feeling competent.

Sometimes you are kind of lukewarm about what a skill can do for you. I feel this way about chasing and repoussé – the results when well done are beautiful, but it’s not for me. Heavy gauge bezels are a different matter. I LOVE them, and thus the rub. It is a skill I would like to have but the brain and body can’t seem to put it together.

So here is another opportunity. I am taking a weekly class with another great teacher, Deb Jemmott, and heavy bezels are the focus of her instruction. In addition to my time spent in class, I have decided to devote 10 hours of practice time. Will it make a difference?

Would you like to join me in doing a 10 hour challenge? If so, please let me hear from you. And please make sure you have enough background to do the skill using good safety practices. The only thing I can hurt is my psyche and fortunately my husband is a psychotherapist!

~Connie

PS – I wasn’t clear with my intention for people to participate in a 10 hour challenge. I am inviting you to do your own challenge to develop any jewelry related skill that you want. Just make sure you know enough about what you are doing to do it safely. I surely will not be doing any instruction on the topic of heavy bezels – I just want to be able to make one myself! Would love to hear from anyone who is doing the challenge – please post a comment below…

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

Tube benders. Note the fifth bender is holding a piece of brass tubing ready to be bent.

You may have been making jewelry just fine without knowing how to bend tubing. However, if you know how, you just might develop a passion (or maybe an interest) in using this skill.

Make sure you anneal the tubing first, and place it in the spring where it most closely fits. Gently curve the spring and remove when you have the desired arc. It is pretty easy to get a nice curve using one of these cute little springs.

Tube Bender Resources – Home Depot – Mealliferous – Micro Mark

Here are a couple of videos demonstrating a different method in curving
tubing. Great for making tube hoop earrings. I must admit I would need more
detailed instruction before I tried this…

Tube Coiling Device by Aaron Willoughby based on method designed by David Cruikshank.

Making Hoop Earrings From Tubing by Gary Dawson.

Toot-Toot to Tubing
Well, that is it for tubing. I know there is more that can be said, but I am ready to move on. I thought I would end with a few pictures of jewelry using tubing. You can click on each image to see an enlargement. ~Connie

Acrylic Cuff by Connie Fox

Tubing Cuff by Connie Fox

Key Hole Earrings by Connie Fox

Cuff by Jan Spencely - ©Copyright 2012 Jan Spencely

Square Tubing Ring by Debbie Brown - ©Copyright 2012 Debbie Brown

Tubing Earrings by Debbie Brown - ©Copyright 2012 Debbie Brown

You can email Debbie Brown at: debbiebrownjewelry@gmail.com

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox except where indicated. All rights reserved.

The riveting hammer is used to curl the ends of the tubing to meet the sheet metal. That cut on my finger was not done in the studio - yep, it was the kitchen.

This is the Universal Eyelet Setter making a flare in the tubing.

Continued from Part 4….

10) Flaring a Tube
Using a flaring tool, a brass or chasing hammer, and a steel anvil, begin to flare the tube on one side. With the flaring tool in place, lightly tap on the top side until you get a slight flare. The hammer blows should be light taps. Turn your piece over and repeat. As you work try to keep the height of the tubing equal on both sides. Continue tapping back and forth until the flared section is almost touching the sheet metal. Use your riveting hammer to gently curve the tubing completely over. Make sure there are no areas that have not flared down fully to the sheet metal. Leaving a gap between the rivet and the sheet metal invites all kinds of little fibers to get caught. If you have prong setting tools the final stages of flaring can be finished with these handy little tools. When the tubing is close to making contact with the sheet metal a prong setting tool can be used to complete, and nicely shape the tube rivet. Select a prong setting tool that just slips over the edges of the tubing.

These are the tools used in flaring a tube rivet. The prong setting tools are optional. Whoops - forgot the riveting hammer!

Flaring Tools

I use a Universal Eyelet Setter from Making Memories to make tube rivets of many sizes. Available at Amazon – Universal Eyelet Setter.

The Universal Eyelet Setter

You can also use dapping punches and other tools to flare.

Prong Setting Tools (also called Bezel Setting Tools). Available at our Jatayu online store – Bezel(Prong) Setting Tools.

The prong setting tool may be used in the final stage of flaring.

Tube Riveting a Curved Surface

It isn’t possible to tube rivet on flat metal and then shape it without distorting the metal. What is required is to shape the metal first and then rivet on a curved surface such as a horn anvil, a bracelet mandrel or a ring mandrel. It is trickier than working on flat sheet metal so try a curved surface once you are comfortable working flat.

~Connie

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

Continued from Part 3 ….

6) Anneal the Tubing
It is important for your tubing to be malleable. Mark the tubing with a permanent pen. Heat with a torch until the mark disappears. Pickle and clean the tubing. If you don’t know how to anneal, get instruction from a qualified teacher.

This image is a little funky. The metal looks bent but it isn't in reality. The tubing diameter is 3 mm and the height of the tubing on each side should be in the neighborhood of 1.5 mm. Do a test first to make sure the height is ideal.

7) Determine the Length of Tubing
Place the tubing through the holes of the sheet metal. A rule of thumb for estimating the length of both wire and tube rivets is to allow 1/2 the diameter of the material. Thus, if your tubing is 2 mm, 1 mm is needed both above and below the sheet metal. It is always good to practice making a tube rivet in metal of the same gauge as your project before diving into your jewelry.

8) Saw the Tubing
Using a tube cutting jig, set the stop at the desired length. Cut all of the tubes to complete the project.

Sand one end of the tubing prior to cutting. This image shows sanding the recently cut side of the tube.

9) Sand the Ends of the Tubes
Using 400 grit sand paper, remove any uneven edges on ends of the tubes.

… To be continued next time …

~Connie

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

Continued from Part 2 …

4) Choosing the Correct Drill Bit Size
Aim for this: a hole that is nice and snug for the tubing. Start by placing your tubing into a drill gauge to determine what size drill bit is needed. Sometimes the tubing swims in one hole and the next smaller drill bit size is too tight. In this case, go with “too tight” and use a diamond reamer in water to expand the hole. Be careful, it is easy to make the hole too large.

Pilot Holes
A pilot hole is a smaller hole that is drilled in the metal before drilling with a larger drill bit. Creating a pilot hole prevents the larger drill bit from slipping on or catching the metal, a hazardous situation. If you aren’t sure if a drill bit is too large to use, start with a pilot hole and be on the safe side. When you want to drill large holes you may need to do successive pilot holes. Hold the metal with a ring clamp and always wear safety glasses.

5) Drilling
These instructions will help you accurately place multiple tube rivets in a piece. It takes longer than other methods, but it is worth getting good alignment. When you are using larger tubing you may need 1 or more pilot holes. A diamond reamer in water can be used to enlarge holes.

How to Clean Burs – A drilled hole will have a bur. This needs to be removed or it could impede a cleanly set rivet. I use a drill bit 2-3 sizes larger (than the last bit I used) to remove the bur. By hand, rotate the bit in the holes on the back surface of the metal to remove burs.

The following diagrams lay out the drilling sequence:

A) Drill top plate with a drill bit smaller than what is needed to tightly fit tubing. A #55 drill bit is small enough to create a little pilot hole. This little pilot hole will help you accurately place your first hole in the bottom plate.

B) Align the top and bottom plates. Mark the bottom plate through one hole of the top plate.

C) Center punch and drill the hole in the bottom plate. Use the same drill bit that you used in the top plate.

D) Place the top plate onto the bottom. Insert a wire through the matched pair of holes and secure. If you initially drilled with a #55 bit, a 16 g wire will fit nicely into the hole. Align plates; tightly grasp the two pieces of sheet metal with a ring clamp. Drill a hole through the top to the bottom plate (black arrow) opposite the wired hole. There is no need to center punch when you are drilling through the top plate.

E) Using a drill bit that will snugly fit your tubing, drill one hole in the top plate. Pilot holes may be needed depending on the size of the tubing. Clean bur.

F) Drill a hole in the bottom plate with the same drill bit. Clean bur.

G) Rivet the one hole. Steps 6-10 will follow (in next blog post) on how to make a tube rivet.

H) Clamp two plates together with the ring clamp. Drill, clean bur, and rivet.

I) Drill through remaining holes (may need pilot holes). Don’t forget to clean burs.

J) Rivet remaining holes.

…To be continued next time…

~Connie

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

This metal was textured with a MaxiMat Pro Texturing Brush (Rio Grande 338219).

Continued from Part 1 ….

2) Cleaning and Texturing
In most cases if you want your metal textured, first clean the metal, texture, and then rivet. Occasionally I find I wish I would have textured a piece of metal after I complete the riveting. In this case I select a type of texture that will not alter the shape of the metal. For example, use a ball bur on the surface. Another alternative would be to rivet another layer of metal that has been textured.

3) Top Plate: Measuring, Marking and Center Punching
Start by sketching your piece of jewelry marking where you want each rivet. Also take into account other accessories you will be adding, for example a bale. Taking the time to sketch your project will prevent mistakes. Mark all holes in the top piece of your metal first. Make sure you have enough space from the rivet to the edge of the metal; about the diameter of one rivet should suffice. For rectangular pieces I use dividers to mark the metal for accurate placement. The dividers can be used like a compass for circular pieces.

Pendant with 4 tube rivets.

Taking your time to mark the metal will pay off in the end. It is distressing to discover that your rivets are not marked accurately after your piece is complete. I have a cuff with rivets that are not placed correctly, and although I really like the cuff, I wish I had been more careful. Use your center punch on a steel anvil to create divots for all rivets in the top plate.

~Connie

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.

If you browse through books and study tube rivets, clearly some are prettier than others. Actually, if I peruse my own work some are more fetching than others. What makes for a great tube rivet?

- No unintended split in the rivet
- A rounded lip at the edge of the rivet
- Makes for a good, strong connection
- Hole is placed correctly so that the link (i.e., jump ring) moves freely
- Hole is placed correctly for aesthetic reasons
- Metal is not distorted due to the riveting process

This bracelet has tube rivets for some of its connections.

In the cold connections world I get that some folks have a more organic, natural style that is not aiming for perfection. I believe this style works best when you have good technique and you have chosen a more relaxed look because it is your aesthetic. Why slip into the “organic look” only because you are lacking technical skill?

Here is some information about tube riveting that I hope will help you make these little cuties with ease and precision. These steps will apply to working with flat pieces of metal.

Safety

If you do not have experience with power equipment, tools, or methods mentioned in this tutorial, I recommend you get guidance from a qualified instructor. In drilling, always wear safety glasses. Drill bits can break and harm your eyes. Any time you use your flex shaft or Dremel, wear safety glasses. No cheating here! Always hold the metal with a ring clamp with fingers away from the metal. The metal can catch, spin up the drill bit and cut your fingers. Use good common sense, foreseeing potential problems before they arise and ask for help if you are uncertain about a procedure.

1) The Sheet Metal and Tubing It is easier to rivet on heavier sheet metal. The metal will have less of a tendency to distort in the riveting process than with thinner metal. The wall thickness of the tubing is important. Stay in the range of .014″ (thinnest) to .032″ (thickest) wall thickness. One thing that makes shopping for tubing wall thickness a challenge is some suppliers use gauge and others use mm or inches.

Conversions

26 g = .016″ = .40mm

24 g = .020″ = .50mm

20 g = .032″ = .81mm

A Couple of Additional Resources for Tubing: Hauser and Miller (for sterling silver and gold) – Micro Mark (for copper and brass)

More on this topic in an upcoming blog post!

~Connie

All images and text are ©Copyright 2010-2012 Connie Fox. All rights reserved.