Silversmithing for Beginners - Hammered Chain Bracelet

1. Hammered Chain Bracelet: Hello. My name's jointing me. I'm a jewelry designer and shooter from UK on Welcome to the having to change Breast Trump's. This class is part of the silver slipping for beginners. Siri's learning how to make a change. Bracelets from a simple length of Why is one of the most important projects I teach my beginner students because it teaches so many skills, you will learn how to make a jump rings a very useful skill. It's so and you're there, knowing how to texture them, join them together on and all the finishing touches that will result in a really beautiful piece of jewelry. Your soldering skills be greatly improved by the end of the class, and that will help you in every future project. Let's get started by looking at the equipment on the materials that your venture need for the project. 2. Hammered Chain Bracelet - equipment: These are most of the hand tools that you're going to need to make the chambre sit. And if you've watched any of my other joy making videos, then that quite a bit of the equipment should already be familiar with to you. Ah, lot of this equipment can be used for making many money off the jury making projects. The first thing that we're going to need to do with the wire that the bracelet is going to be made from is to coil it up. I got a nifty tool here that holds different size metal. Mandel's Andi. Once you slotted the wire into place, you can start winding it around the Mandel by turning the handle. It doesn't lost the work for you. However. If you don't have access to something like this, then you can wrap the wire around by hand around anything that's a suitable size. I'm going to be using a 12 millimeter Mandel, and you can get knitting needles on Wooding Dow in those in that size. It just takes a little bit longer to wrap it my hands than it does to use a tool like this . I'm going to use a jeweler's saw to cut down one side of the coil to separate into links. And I'm going to support the work as always, on the wooden bench, Paige and have the apron underneath to catch any of the dust. The masking tape is here because I'm going to use that to help me whilst cutting the coil and you'll see what I mean about that later. Once the links are sold it, I'm going to hammer anthem using both of the Hamas even see here on day, I'm going to put the links on the steel bench block on top of the leather cushion whilst I have with them. The joints might need need tightening up a little bit on. That's where both the needle files on Duthie Emery paper that you can see here come into play. But I'm going to be using the flat nose pliers, the round nose pliers, the wire cutters and the statue Mandrell to make the clasp for the race. It each link on the class we're going to need to be sold it, so I'm gonna show soldering equipment next 3. Hammered Chain Bracelet - soldering equipment: This is the soldier equipment, as I use for all of my smaller projects, such as earrings and sore pendants, everything sitting on a couple of slate tiles, a heatproof surface to help protect my desk on my work sits on a couple of soldering bricks , soldering blocks, while some heating it up. One of these soldering bricks is made of a softer material than the others. Because it's softer, it's picked up some dips and some cracks in it. It's being used over the years, and these could be very useful for supporting work that isn't completely flat. The charcoal block is there because I melt small piece of scrap. On top of that on. Do they form nice of my balls as I am used to decorate my projects when I need to pick up my work or to support it whilst I'm soldering? I used reverse action tweezers that you can see here and have also got a pair on a stand through 1/3 hand, and it's there when I need 12 on extra hands to help me out. The blue handled stick is a soldier pick on and that I used to push soldier move it about to make sure it it's exactly what I wanted to be. Soldier usually comes in strips or sticks. Andi, I've got three different melting temperatures here that I using combination for different projects. The soldier gets cut into small pieces or Palin's you ting. The red handles snips as I keep those little pieces in the labeled boxes that you can see do. Make sure that you label your boxes because once a soldier is cut up, you won't be hard to tell which is which. Melting temperature. My curl over the ends off the sticks of solder so that I can tell which melting temperature they are, the more cold over they are, they're higher. The mountain temperature, bright yellow liquid is a flux. Solder won't actually flow out through the joining unless you use a flux with it. Andi the paintbrushes. What? I used to apply the flux to the joints in my work, so he was also available in a paste form, its ground up soldier that's already mixed with a flux, so you don't need a separate flux. In fact, if you were toe adds the yellow Fluxus, I showed you it would stop this soldier pace from working properly. It's most commonly available in syringes with small tips that she can see here. You can also buy it in tubs and pots, just like with the traditional sticks or strips of soldier, so the pace is available in three different melting temperatures. Easy, medium and hard. I've just got easy and medium here. The easy is the one that's 268 degrees sent rate for amounting temperature. The medium is 732. Recent weight. As you can tell, the easy solder paste, is a favorite newer than the medium soldier paste. When you have a new syringe, it's best to pull back on the plunger after you finished using it. Otherwise, the soldier pace is going to continue to snake out of the tip a little bit, and you don't want to waste it because this is actually the most expensive way of buying soldier. I like to use the solder paste on projects like chains on door, so hollow beads sometimes might use it on sucking rings if I'm in a bit of a hurry, because one of the advantages sort of place is that the soldier usually stays exactly where you want it to be. Unlike the sort of Italians that can jump off as you start to heat the metal up, small projects like hearings only need a small blowtorch, and I've got two different makes of those here. Both of them are easy to refill with the gas that comes in aerosol cans since the same type of gas butane gas that you use to reform cigarette lighter. At the back of the picture, you can see a so cooker that Scots a very mild acid solution. Good safety pickle in it. When you heat silver up, the surface becomes not darker and dirtier looking that some of the capo in the study silver reacting with the heat and auction flame to forward cause copper oxides on the safety pickle cleans that copper oxides up. Before you put your work in the safety pickle, it needs to be cooled down or quenched in a pot of water. Andi, you need to put your work in and out of the safety pickle with brass or plastic tweezers, not the stainless steel ones that I showed you before and thus, but definitely not least our have safety glasses. You've only got one pair of eyes. Look after them carefully 4. Hammered Chain Bracelet - materials: the only materials that you're going to need to make a change place. That is some sterling silver around wire. I'm going to use 1.2 millimeters around why? Which is an ideal gauge for this size of link chain. Um, maybe go up to a maximum of 1.5 millimeter standing so around why anything thick hurts on 1.5 millimeter will be really quite difficult to form into a coil, which is the first stage of making the links with the chain bracelet. Anything thinner than 1.2 millimeter will actually for quite a weak link for the size of links that we're going to make. You can use a smaller gauge of wire, but you don't have to use a smaller site of jump ring so that you made your priest such strong enough. We're going to use the same gauge of wire to make the hook or the clasp to close bracelet 5. Hammered Chain Bracelet - coiling the wire: So I got my jumping maker set up on Got the 1.2 millimeter wires I'm going to use to make this change. But I'm going to make a few more jumps, rings or links the same time so that I've got to stop with them to use for other projects. Now this Mandel has got, you can see his got a notch at the end of the Mandrell here. By the way, this is a 12 millimeter Mandel here, so my links are going to have an inside diameter of about 12 millimeters, I say about because when they're coiled tightly around here, that's going to be 12 millimeters. Were once I released the pressure of the tension on the wire, they August 3 over open, ever so ever so slightly. But what I can do, how ankle the why is to put it in that notch at the end of the Mandal there. But first of all, what are going to do is just loosen the Poile younger take off, undo this end of the wire, so sit that spring open like that looks like a bit of a mess, but it's going to be easy to put back together. I'm just to hear the coil hang off the end of the bench Now until pull the wire through my finger in some as I need to. So I've got the wire in the notch like so. And then it has start turning the handle and bend that y around. I'm gonna heat my finger in some next the Why here rather than down here. So I've got control like a stuffed off just by turning it quite slowly. If you're doing this by hand, you're definitely going to have to do this quite slowly to make sure there we go. That the coils, our city nicely next to each other. I can get a little bit faster with this. I'm pulling the wire. So that's it's quite taught because for a bit pressure and that helps me to make the best links was through this coil that I can he has a nice, steady pressure. Okay, then that's enough links. So just going to snip. Why there? You see, the pressure was taken off and then we go. That's the coil, So I've got plenty there. What I need on the next stage is going to be actually cutting those into separate links 6. Hammered Chain Bracelet - cutting the coil: the next stage for forming the jump rings were no matter what size they are from teeny tire , for ones that you used to attach dependent to a chain to the larger ones here that we've been to be using to make a chain bracelet is to cut the coil just out one side of it into separate links. There are quite a few different methods. Will cutting a coil into the separate jump rings different ways of holding the coil in relation to the sword. Late on, they all focus on being able to cut through it safely without cutting through that of sorbets slipping on, damaging the other side. I'm going to show you my favorite way, which uses the masking tape I like to do is use the masking tape to wrap around the coil. Would it nice and fab, And if you had gaps in the coil, then at this stage is good to try and push them together a little bit about your taping. The taking the cool together now because I've had quite a bit of practice it doing this, my coil. My links are nice on Duh bison meat lying. I see against each other, so I didn't have that problem. But if you do have a gap in between separate links as your blade cuts through one and then goes into a gap, it can take a little bit of effort to find its way again. So it's nice to have the coil nice and neat. Now the advantage of my message off holding the coil together with masking tape is that even though I can't separate links off, it's still going to stay as a nice long length. That's going to be easier for me to hold on to with some of the other message. You end up with just a very short coil of a few jump rings that I find really awkward hold onto. The next thing is that I thread my coil on to my so bright. So I got my sword blade going through the middle of the coil. You can see here Onda what I like to do because I use the Mandel's that got notch at the top. I have that extra bit of wire at the top so that we're starting off my believe in. Sit in that in that corner. Is this ice slip? No. So they want to do is hold the blade at an angle, usually until you to hold it Bison upright. But this summer, when you told it is an angle, this is because if you hold it upright, you're going to end up trying to cut through all of those coils, one of those separate leaks. At the same time. If you hold it at an angle, we're going to cut food. First couple met 1st 1 or two and then what? Your way down the coil? And that's going to be a lot easier. Yeah, she's something to mention now is that you don't want to coil the wire up too high this size of link. On this height, a coil works quite nicely. It's is about 34 links here. Andi. I can still tip the blade over nicely, but if it had bean a smaller diameter link, it's more diameter manual that I coil the wire around with this height of coil. I wouldn't that wouldn't be ruled to tip the blade over very far, which would make cutting it a lot more difficult, because I'd be cutting several links at the same time. So I'm going to ocean angle. They have my fingers on the top coil because I don't want as I saw back upwards. I don't want that talk oil to be pulled out of the coil and for the shape to go. So I'm going to embrace it with my fingers. I've got the coil sitting on top of the V in the bunch pike and the way we got. - But but you should be out to see now that some but business still with dust here showing that I am definitely cutting so on the blade is starting to show down the side of the coil . You might want to shift your fingers at some point so that you are giving a bit mawr strength to the coils. It gets cut. But make sure. Obviously, you don't have your finger like that. It really would hurt. Yes. What? Well took fewer started to fall off. That was a very long oil that I did. Okay, so you say the first sexually coil did start to fall off, but the marshal tape still held it together nicely, so it's still enough for me to hold on to without it being too fiddly. So if I take the masking takeoff, we'll see the cut line there. Lots of lovely links cuts there. Thes two little pieces are from the very top of the very bottom of the coil. There's always a little bit of waste, but those would be balled up, melted and walled up. Nice sick tomate to silver voices that great another project. There's probably about 33 or 34 separates links here, which is more than enough to make a change. Race it. But I always tend to cut more than I need, just in case something goes wrong with one or two of them on also because I do tend to go through jump rings and links quite quickly, so I like to have a stock of them. So that seems to do is start joining links together on show you how to make sure that the separate links are properly closed. Onda off. That starts soldering. Another tip for you is that I even put the masking tape in my scrap hot because it's got little bits of silver dust. Such a tape on every little bit does add up, so I have some with wet wipes that I used to work my fingers after being polishing essay habits of masking tape on sometimes stickers have uses templates to cut complex shapes out . All of those go in scrap pot as well. And then when I send all the scrap, including those bits up to my brilliant supplier, thou melt everything down the bits. Thank the paper will burn off, but the silver dust will remain on. As I said, it does add up. 7. Hammered Chain Bracelet - preparing for soldering: of course, a pile of 18 of the large jump rings of the links I've just cut on. My next job is to join them together to form a chain bracelet. One of the requirements of soldering is that the joints and silver must be nice and tight. You mustn't have any gaps. The soldiers, not a grew, is not going to fill the gaps for you. So as I joined the links to go to form the braces, I'm going to need to make sure that the joins are tightened. Close. Let's do that. We can see here. That's although it's a nice, neat circle here. The joint is quite visible. You can see a darker line, but I moved about in the light just by my fingernail there. But I can actually get my finger outside the joint. I don't need to do any filing because the coil was cut through at the same angle the way down. So they are nicely lined up to each other, just ahead which of heart. So what I'm going to do to close thumb is to twist the link back and forth a little bit. I'm also pushing it in with they do. So Andi gets tighter and tighter until the spring back and join a nice and neat join. Um, hopefully you can't see that now. It's just a lot more difficult to see, but I can still feel my fingers have rough. So it's the first thing done. I've actually another link here that I'm not going to use. I kept back an example for you. This was the top of the coil on what probably happened here. The coil, the wire wasn't nice and neat it against the Mandalore. So it's a bit of a misshapen link here. If you compare it to this one, finish one. The the ends do me quite nicely. So a little bit with Japanese sorting out. But they're lined up against each other. This one is not such a nice guy. Circle now can still use this one, but I'm going to keep it in the in reserve and use it. If I run out of the other ones, I'm going to use the nicer ones first. Put that out the way now. So I'm going to do is close about half of thes links up, and you do get quicker at doing the links that closing links up on better it doing it with practice. I was pushing post pushing those ends past each other. It doesn't spring back. I've got what's number six? We're gonna do eight of them. Okay, so got 10 links still open. Eight links. Nicely closed up. Andi somehow going to do? Let's take one of the ones making fun joint. There it is. Take one of the ones that I haven't close properly yet and push it open quite away because it's quite a large link. I cannot should push it with my fingers. If it was a smaller link or even if it was the same site of this but a much heavier gauge wire, it would be a lot harder for me to move. My fingers would have to use a pair of pliers or to pet supplies one of these aside instead . But now I've got that open link I couldn't hook on to If the link such as closed place that one up. Well, that's a start. The chain. Make sure that Christ tight. Next one, open it up, Pop on one. That I've really checked and closed nicely was good going Open it up link on the chain that I've just been forming and keep going with its growing quite nicely. Okay, steps, 15 links. Check that That goes around my wrist quite nicely. Room for a class was, well, so much going to leave it like that. So I've used 15 of the links, so we cut their so that coil that I showed you start is enough for slightly more than two chain bracelets of this length. So actually, I need to do It's the soldiers. I was linked closed. 8. Hammered Chain Bracelet - soldering the links: now that the think So we're joined together. It's time to sold them close so that they stay together, Don't get pulled apart. I've laid the chain out on the soldering brick and I zoomed in quite a bit. So you actually going to seethe soldering properly? But just to let you know of a few things that are out of shots that you can't see, you can just about see the flux here. Closer hands. Andi, we'll see seashells. I've got a paint brush in my hand. Andi, I've also got tub off et solder Palin's little pieces, he conceding listening at the bottom, the top there. I've taken the time Teoh, prepare and cut quite a few small pieces so they're ready. Ready to go when I need them. I've also got the quench pot just out of view. Andi, I've also got annulled scruffy t tell because I'm going to use that at times also quenched the chain just to give the change for bit of a patch dry. Before I do any more soldering, I've laid the chain out so that I'm going to focus on this link first. I was tend to work from right to left. So if they sense this and the gap or the joint in, the link is just here. That's not going to be easy to see on film, because I have taken the time to close it up very tightly. Although I have closed or the links up tightly, I am going to give them a double quick check before I sold with, um, Andi, if necessary, Stop on and make sure that they are completely closed. So at first I'm just gonna take one, think time. But as we go through the chain, I'm going to show a couple tricks that can actually speed things up but only go into those tips. I try and use myself once you get a pretty confident with doing it. The slow away first. So going to get a little bit of flux on the brush? One person that first join Andi just scraping the excess flux off the brush so that I can use the brush to pick up a piece of soda on and just brushed. That's on the joint, Positions said. I've got a soldier Pick him as well. Um, that's always useful that that piece of solder is nicely across the joining there. It doesn't matter whether it's one side or the other or on top. Or indeed, if it goes slips underneath as long as it's touching. Now what small blowtorch? Andi, I'm going to heat up away from the link, first of all, right for the joint mother, first of all on, Then go back and focus on the joint. So I'm heating up a piece of silver and then go back and make the join the hottest part. So solder flows nicely. Most are going to make sure that I try and heat up either side to join evenly. It might work out. That said, I go across the chain that I have one or two links that don't soldier properly on natural, which only really the main reason why that would happen is if I heated. One side joined more than the other, um, or the other reasons and what the soldier might have slipped into the wrong place. But I will show you some tricks to sort that out. I'm teaching up away from the soldier. First of all, you see the link a darker takes on a reddish tinge and then across the join. Now you might have seen him, but you go back watches in, sire Ocean. But you might have seen a brush of flash rather of right soldier here as it melted. And you can see the oxide starting to build up on the chain as well. So I'm going to quench that on give it a pat try own the Cheech. How recent doesn't need to be bone dry, But just reason why I'm giving making it, um a little bit drier is that if it was too wet, it would dilute the flux and you'd have trouble soldering. Just making sure that I know where the yet the joint is there and it is tightly closed. So some flux Try and make a police soldier up from the porch. He's a soldier on the joint. One thing I says says I've laid out the next link three soldiers is that I've made sure on the one that I have already sold it, that the soldier join is not touching any of the other links. So if I were then to overdo the heat actually re melt that piece of solder, it wouldn't then flow until you the other links and it wouldn't join the links together. Make a bit of a mess because I'm doing all of these links with easy soldier, you see, up, down and then even the across to join This is quickly sent. By the way, my habit is to pick up the chain by the next link to be sold. It help me to keep my face quench chuck dry. Make sure when I was a joinus on and put the joint put the link down so the joint is away from the other links on. Just going to turn this link around, you little bitch. There we go. So that the joint that one is over here, that's the way joins that one. They're not touching any of the other links are not gonna cause any damage If they remote, it's unlikely that I'm going to re melt them because I've done these this quite a bit. I no signs of soldier melting what size to watch out for. But it's always best to be on the safe side. Okay, So such up good. That's so far. The's pieces of soldier have thankfully behave themselves, and they haven't jumped off and moved away from where I wanted them to be. Um, but they will, given the chunks jump off at some point. So if that happens thing to stop on and move them back, checking up, joined in my place. I can't see where that join is. Sometimes you have to feel with your finger. There we go to make sure where it is, we go, sir, You're reflux. Many pieces, soldier. Also, if you can. Now, this time I'm not going to quench the chain. I'm going to get to pass of trees. Is Andi I'm going to use both system to help me pull out the next Think. Okay, The reason why I quench the chain was that so I said it was cold enough for me to handle safely. But once he gets a little bit more confident with what you're doing or so more confident with using these tweezers, you can actually use them to reposition the chain instead. So I'm happy with that. Where that is that noise with the bit of flux drying off because it was touching the hot metal. But that's not a problem, but more soda definitely does speed things up. If you can get confident with doing it this way. Remember, as I positioned each new link, I'm just checking that I'm happy with the joint that is tightly closed. - We're just over halfway through the chain. Now let's do one more link. Fight this and I'm going to show you another trick. 9. Hammered Chain Bracelet - soldering two links: now is promised. I'm going to show you another trick that you could move on to once gets, but more confident of what you're doing. Just getting join of this rain accessible. So join there and then keeping up one. Still I'm going to say, if I could find, Then I got the joint own. That's Link. So I've got check when there No one there. And this time I'm going to do is flux some both and put a piece soldier on both of them. Good. I'm going to heat up one link and then the next for that. That's the 2nd 1 gun as well. So it's better care. You can speed things up even more on soldier two things at the same time. Join that and to join there. - Okay , so just two more to dio one, two more links, - right ? Then this now needs to be quenched on journeys, going paper to clean up, and then I'm going to check the joints 10. Hammered Chain Bracelet - soldering troubleshooting: I've just got the chain out of the pickle. So are those ugly copper oxides of being cleaned off. Its when I something. However, I've checked with links on one of them. Didn't close up and see there. It's still twists open. Um, I can see not so easy to see that you really, really close up. But I can see that the soldier have flown on this side of away from the joints that go this side of the joint. It hadn't actually flowing across it. So either I had positioned the solder itself. Slight was one side and not across the joint or I hadn't eat. I hadn't heated up evenly across. But either way, the solution is the same to double check that, uh, join us here. The rest of chain away, Andi, but some more fuck son Andi. Another piece of soldier sometimes, I'm sure said before the trickiest things getting soldiers ago where you want it to go. But there we go. We're going piece of soldier. And I've bean very careful this time to make sure that it's across the joint. So we go back and each up we go was very careful to make sure this times I did heat up evenly on and yeah, I'm happy with that. So crunch again, and then I'm gonna pop it in the pick or to clean off the little bit of copper oxide that's reformed on. Then I want to show you how to clean up the joints before we hammer the chain. 11. Hammered Chain Bracelet - hammering: the soldier joins air now or nicely closed. Andi. The bracelet has been cleaned up in the pickle as well, and now there are three jobs that we need to do before we can polish the chain. Andi. Then wear it. You need to meet up any untidy soldier joints that might have a little bit of excess solder . We need to give the links of texture, and we need to make in attach a class to finish the chain off. Now it doesn't actually matter what order you do those next three jobs in. I'm going to leave, making the clasp until the end so that we can concentrate on finishing a chain itself first . But she could either hammer first or you had needing up the joints. It's up to you. Not all of the joins were actually need meeting. If you use just the right amount of soldier on the joint that, then the joint should hardly be visible. It all. I'm actually going to hammer the links first because I find that even if there is a tiny bit of untidiness to join, the hammering does actually hide the most You two since so I find it. If I hammer, then I've actually got a little bit less needs setting up with the joints to do afterwards . I've got two different hammers out to use. I've got a smooth ball peen hammer. You don't want to use hammers that leave marks that a too big because these are very small links that were texting. If you use a hammer that's too big, then you won't actually see the effect on these baseball relatively thin pieces off wire. So the four born peeing hammer gives a nice texture, as does the cross pain on my favorite Swiss stung hammer. So I'm actually going to do half the things that one and half thinks with the other. Okay, start for the boat pain that without the way. For the moment, Andi, I've got the change, sitting on a steel bench block on top of the leather cushion that's going to support the bench block and keep the noise down a little bit. Andi just going to work. Someone linked to time. Andi, I'm going to work by holding the link that I'm working on. I'll decide the bench. Paige, with the rest, the chain hanging off the side that doesn't get damaged. I'm going to keep the hammer more. That's still and turn the link around a little bit to help me hit to all of this. - So we are to see their I moved that one around in the light. That's the 100 marks on their catching a light. Quite nice. See, um, mostly going to then Hamma the second side. But when I hammer the second sight, it's actually going to flatten out the first side a little bit. So I'll show you how I deal with that in a moment. Place the first size being flattened out just a little bit. So if I'm going to do is just go around a little bit. Touch your top on. That helps make the two sides Seaside's match, but I should think that's and we do the same to this one out. So that that's going to be how much with a Swiss star hammer. So all the odd numbered links I'm going to do the ball peen. So do a few more. Now the second sight, and then back over the first scientist to touch you top a little bit. Okay, Miss one out. I got this next one, - I think going touch up the first sight again. I just went out and going to the next one. I'm going to speed up a little bit now, so my hammering is going to look super fast. The that's half of the links Hammond with a small ball peen hammer. So I'm going to do the rest of thumb with the Swiss style across being hammer. This is a contrast. Same again. I'm going to hold each link in turn that these hammering on the age of the bench pain so that bench bloc, rather with the rest of the chain hanging offsets and get damaged, I'm going to do my lines for 98th radiating out for the middle and same second sight and again the first side who have become flattened out just a little bit When I how much the second side because it was resting on a steel blocking that extra acted as extra hammerhead, really, on the other side of flashes out of it. So don't you to go all over it again, just touch top in a couple of places that will be enough. So, you know, got contrast there 300 links in a row, two ones on the edges, on with the crust be booking hammer. Andi got lines on this one with a cross being hammer, so I'm not gonna continue onwards and do the rest of the chain to completely pattern the That's all the links. Hamed's alternating between the small ball peen hammer on the cross, playing the Swiss style hammer I've now. It was a little bit of filing to remove one or two bits of excess soldier around a couple joints, but as usual, a lot of the little bits of untidiness around some of the joints has been hidden by the hammering. So it's not too much tidying up to do, but that's what we're going to be 12 nights. 12. Hammered Chain Bracelet - filing: as predicted. Hammering links has hidden a lot of minor imperfections around the joints. But sometimes, if you've used is a bit too much soldier at the join, there might be still a little bit of access Soldier. A little bit of a noticeable join that needs to be tidied up, so we'll show you how to do with that. Now I've got a flat needle file this I'm going to use around the outside of any links. Onda, a rounded need of volatile use on the inside of the rounded inside because you want to match the shape of the needle, found the shape of the silver that you are filing. I've also got some 240 grit emery paper just to give the links a bit of a light rub. Where of being filing. If there any minor fire marks that needs to be removed, I will stop with the The fact file I'm just going to do is just fail around the links. Andi, see if I can feel if I feeling excess soldier now, this one's fine. Doesn't need a thing doing to it. I can see might not be able to see in the camera. But I could see because I really know what to look for. I can see that the joint is there. I can no, you see it because until everything's polished up, the solder on the silver have a PSA light color difference. You won't be able to tell the color difference once it's actually being punished up, so I can tell that the joint is just when my nails. But I certainly can't feel it. Andi, I can't see it otherwise, other than a very slight difference in the color such fine. I'm going to move on from that one. Andi again, There's actually a site like and it's like I was my my finger now. So you're going to do? He's just sweep across, join like that. That's enough, But you still the inside. There's nothing on the inside, but it's going to give it a rub with the Emery paper. And that removes and marks left from file Going a little bit for Mark, sir. No excess soldering inside. Just he was pretty rough there. Just gonna continue working my way down chain, but, uh, these once I'm going past to actually find there's something on that This one, though, needs a little bit of attention as thus that one. I can actually see a little bit of excess soldier on the outside. There on the inside. It's fights. I surrounded on the inside, just following around its shape of the link. And that looks and feels a lot better because it's only a very small joined. I could get away just using to 40 grit that one's find, well, half hoping that's going to be one that needs tidying up on the insights I can show you how to do that can be more nuts, but they can see doesn't take very much to clean up each join because they all say smoke because hammering has started to do. Did your force a nice little good? But so there isn't one that needs tidying up on the inside, but I'm going to show you what I would do anyway. So they find join on this one stare. If there was one that needed a little bit tiding up on the inside, we do. Have you made a bangle there? No, you introduce is treated as if it's a very small bangle. Eso made a bangle or a ring that you've had to tidy up on the inside the joint. It's very much like that. It's going to use the farm a go forward, but sweep it around a little bit. So as I'm going forward, that's going to turn it a little bit. So some sweeping across the join in tight around did your side and then use the every paper just to go on. That insight joins well, so the chain is now soldered Hammett, all the links and nice and neat. I no need to make a clasp to finish it off into a bracelet. 13. Hammered Chain Bracelet - making the clasp: the last things I need to do before publishing the chain is to make a class. Pour it. So I've got a short piece off 1.2 millimeter wire. Um, which is the same. Why remember that I used to make the links. Um, I say, Sure, this is about 89 centimeters long. It's far longer than I need. Usually, I would work from the whole coil of wire on, then form the clasp and then trim it off. But it's going to be a lot less fiddly to work with on camera. If I work with a shorter piece like this, I'm probably going to end up using about 45 centimeters of this wife of the clasp. Okay, So first since I'm going to do is use a flat needle file again just to file one end so that it's it's flush. You can't see much the wire at the moment because I'm holding most of it in my hand. Support it. If I was holding it down here and trying to file it, you can see it. We just bend So holding it between finger and thumb like so to support it, finding that that flush. I know I'm going to do is turn a loop, but they send with three round nose pliers. This is actually the start. Often I loop, um that I do so also start for ear wise or for turning a loop above a bead on the hedge pain to attach it to the bottom of a pair of earrings. I've attached a pdf off step by step instructions with photos to the class so that you can have a look at that that as well have been a bit more close up. I'm going to to is hold the wire so that it's about search for half of the way down the notes suppliers. I want to form a loop that's big enough to go around the end link. Social going to do is twist the pliers, a way for me pulling the Y around, putting the wire round into, uh into a loop. Until that end, meats the long tail that's here. Hey, so that is the starch of your link. And then actually you're going to need is something rounded that we're going to bend the the wire around to form a U shape. I'm going to use the step to Mandel that if you're watching my other videos, you'll recognize, but you could use the barrel of a sharp peaches is easily on going to doom. Go use the middle step and just place the UAE there. I'm benj the wide back until I formed a U shape. Don't worry if you're loop like mine is sitting on it a bit funny angle. It's only wire. You can bend it back with flash senses of it, Um, but when the time comes going to trim that, why off, like so si si her notices there so trimmed it off. Almost level with that loop, and I'm going to use a pair of flat nose pliers. And again, you have seen me do this for making ear Wiese's similarities. Being making this kind of hook class, I'm making a wa just going to pull that section now. If that was made of no 0.8 millimeter, why, that would be great ear y. But with changing up to 1.2 millimeter wire, the same basic shape makes a really strong class for embrace it. No, What I'm going to do is actually push them, and so they're touching Andi. Then use the flat, No supplies as well to bend that loop around a little bit. So So everything is lying flat, and then not is the basic class couple things I'm going to do before I sold it on to the end off the brace such I went to, um, file the end here because that's quite sharp. So to get access to it, I don't want to pull the class from heart like so cause I'm gonna lose that nice shape of this form. I'm going to twist it like so she talked on. I just twisted, pushed really from way on the end of the wire pulled it towards me. And that means I can get access to that end of wire with the file without damaging the Luke . It's making sure that's nice around it. Remember to use your fingers as much as your eyes to make sure that is that is nice to smooth. I know I'm just going to spend about John again, and then the last thing I'm going to do is give it a hammer texture to match the links. Now, both ends of the chain ended up with a texture from the ball. Peen hammer, remember, is doing alternative bore peeing, cross, being bored, being cross playing across the links. So to keep that pattern, I'm going to hammer this with the cross peen hammer. You can see more that's keeping the hammer in the same position. Just going to the wire now for this spirit is gonna be difficult to go around there so would wear cross ongoing Turn it over saying You can see the wire lifting up a little bit because it comes under the force, the hammer that's going to be easy to bend back down again. I'm not trying to hold onto this race for bit of wire, and then still, you just see it. So it was a little bit of a carved into it. But it's such that Sony wire that could be bent back into shape yourself. Nash Isett sprung open a little bit, Aziz well, but that could very easily we pushed back. So the very last thing is the solder that's loop around the one end of the chain. That's what we're going to do next 14. Hammered Chain Bracelet - soldering the clasp: There's one last soldering job to do Onda, that is, to secure the class to the rest of the chain bracelet. So first thing I'm going to do is use a pair off flat nose pliers just to lift up that loop . There, the fat lady supplies a good to use because they're going to hold everything securely. But round nose pliers would hold everything and hold the wire in a much smaller area and could actually leave a mark the flat. No supplies of a societally remark. So what's your open the re pop hook on the chain bracelet and close the loop down on what you're doing? So don't just twist it back down again. If I can get that little bit of that, checking out the way, try on and move the Lupin. So it's as close as it can possibly be, because chances are that as you've been hammering and putting a texture into the class, that loop has sprung open a little bit. Remember, it won't have kept its shape for securely because it wasn't sorted closed, so I can shape. So until they everything down on the soldering block so that the joint on that class. The sections and soldered closed isn't touching any of the rest of silver, and I'm going to apply a bit of flux. Rushed the excess flux off brush. The brush is still damp. It isn't soaking, which Andi putsch a piece off piece of soldier just there. So it's across the joint, so that's just one piece off. Easy, soldier. As I start to heat the silver up, I'm going to heat down in this area, first of all, at the end of the class for away from the soldier and the flux. Because if I go in there too quickly, that flux could bubble up as it dries up and then popped off the piece of soldier up for to stay where it is heating up. Here, you start to see hope you some discoloration, the organizations forming. It's also showing me that things were getting nice and hot, and they go across the joy. There we go. A soldier has melted. I flow nicely across that join there, so close that join off and even better, everything still loose. I haven't managed to soldier the clasp, actually to the link just around it, so that needs to be quenched, to cool down and popped in a pickle one last time to clean it up, and then it will need polishing. 15. Hammered Chain Bracelet - polishing: the changes now clean of all the oxides that formed on it to us. I soldering it up. Andi. The class is now safely attached, so it's time to polish it. But I wanted to talk to you a little bit about polishing Shane's before I actually put it in the tumbler that I'm going to use. Apology it. A tumble polisher has got shot sustainer still shocked inside it, a little bit of soapy water on a proper chain in. And then we'll sit on this motor, which will make it tumble around around around on the action off little pieces, the shot hitting the chain gently again and again and again. We'll get it nice and polished as you'll have seen from some of the other jury videos where I showed this piece of kit before. You can also use a bit of elbow grease, Onda jewelry, polishing cloth. You can get these from any jewelry suppliers or even high street jewelers as well on just giving them. Having links, Rupp with the polishing cloth starts surprised him. Oppa's well, this one's got two parts to it, so I used the thicker, darkest I first, and then the parts that waas was originally white to give it a final shine. Um, some parts, some closet. Just come with the one part even when they start to look grubby is this one. Please don't wash them because you're wash out the freeing solution that the crosses impregnated with actually the dirty they become the best of the hour polishing, I found. However, one thing that you must not use to polish chains is something like a Dremel or a pendant real of flexi shaft or a bigger polishing machine that has got mops or so or polishing attachments that was round around around. Because if you use something like that, then it is very likely to catch on the chain, get it tangled up, maybe rip it out for your hands and hurting you, and fling it across the room at the worst case scenario. So using something like a Dremel with a parting attachment on on it is not a safe way of polishing chains, even chains with links as large as this one. So I'm going to pop it in December on that your sits across the motor like that, I'm going to put this song I've got the next step up from the basic tumbling machine that you can buy. I wasn't expressed, Tumbler. So my will probably take about 10 maybe 15 minutes. If you've got a start arranged, tumbler that you might need to leave it in there. Factor an hour. Is that tumbles? Been going around for just over 10 minutes now. So I put it up and see what the change like, by the way, I always open and closed the the barrel inside an old plastic bowl, just in case these little bits go everywhere and also cause quite a bit. I put my hand in some of the soap in water comes my couch looks nice and shiny but dry. And then we have one nice, shiny chain bracelet. Amazing to think that that started off as just a long length of sterling silver wire. 16. Hammered Chain Bracelet - final thoughts: So there we have a beautiful, shiny having chain. Brace it fresh from the publisher. I really enjoy teaching this class of my studio because although everyone starts ouch with same choice of materials, embraces ends up different with different combinations off the size of links on different textures that people choose. If you have any questions, please do let me know. And it would be great if you could leave a review to help our students. Thank you. For what? Shin Andi. I look forward to seeing what you make.