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The Design Process
To make a jewelry piece, lots of time and money is poured into the process to yield the best results. Below, you can see how I make my jewelry pieces from start to finish.
Wax-Carving
The first step in making a piece of jewelry is carving a model of the jewelry piece out of wax. This is a very time-consuming process, sometimes taking many tries to get it right.
Sand Casting
The next step in the design process is to make a sand mold of the piece. To do this, a special oil-based sand is compressed around the wax carving. The cohesive nature of the sand holds its shape as the original is removed, leaving behind a cavern in the sand with the same shape.
Casting
After the mold has been made, the silver / gold that is being used is melted down in an electric furnace. As the furnace approaches 2000°F, the metal begins to melt and collect in the bottom of the graphite crucible. A small amount of powdered borax is added to the molten metal before casting to prevent oxidization and lead to a cleaner cast. Next, the metal is poured into the sand mold.
Filing & Shaving
After the metal within the sand mold cools to a safe temperature, the solidified metal within it is removed, and the excess metal is cut off. Next, numerous hours are spent carefully filing away at the piece, removing small shavings until the shape is how it is meant to look.
Polishing
After the rough shape has been filed to completion, it is sanded with increasing-grit sandpaper. Then, a polishing attachment is put on my rotary tool to give the piece a final polishing.
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Ultrasonic Cleaning
The final step in the design project is to put the piece into an ultrasonic cleaner. This small machine dislodges small unwanted particles from the piece by vibrating the water that surrounds it very rapidly. After this, the piece is completed and ready to be worn.