Mystic Spirit Design: 2011-12-11

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

We are now on Facebook

If you look on this Blog you notice there haven't been any new posts for a loong time. We are now using facebook as a way to provide our friends and clients with up to date information and news. Visit our Facebook page using this link.

The Creation of the Dragonfly Fairy

People often ask me how my pieces are made. Here's a short description.

First, of course, comes the idea and creating the design for the piece. This is often the longest part of the process. The flow of ideas is pretty constant, but actually coming up with a design I like can take a long time. Once I have it I draw it out and redraw it again and again, each time refining it a bit more. When I have the final design at the actual size of the finished piece I make several copies of it. One of these copies is glued to each piece of metal that I need to cut for the piece. Then I sit down with my jeweler's saw and start cutting. This piece is only two layers of metal. Some of the pieces are three or four. Once each piece is cut out I spend a lot of time with small jeweler's files smoothing each cut. Once all the pieces are finished I lay them out and silver solder them together to create the total piece. On this piece I used brass and copper for the top layer and sterling silver for the background. After soldering the cut pieces onto the silver, the silver was cut around the pieces, more filing, then polishing. This creates what is called the Master.

A silicone mold is made from the master. Then a wax replica of the master is made from the silicone mold. This wax is invested in a heat resistant plaster, the wax is melted out, and metal is cast into the cavity, creating an exact copy of the master. This copy will have casting sprues attached where the metal entered the mold and will be rougher than the original, so it must be trimmed and filed and polished until the quality matches that of the original piece. Once it is polished the stones are selected and set and the piece is finished.