The Process of Making My Jewelry

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The Process of Making My Jewelry

• by
• Sheila McKee
• Silversmith, Jewelry Designer

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First, I choose a stone from my vast collection.
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Then hours are spent forming the original design
in wax to encase the stone.
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Many hours are spent in designing the piece.
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A steel flask is placed over the wax design and
sealed.
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A liquid compound, called investment, is poured
into the flask with the wax design inside.
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The investment is pressurized to get all the
bubbles out.
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After the investment hardens, the flask is placed
in an oven and fired for 7 hours to melt the wax
away, leaving an impression where the melted
silver will flow.
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The sterling silver is then placed in a crucible
and melted into a liquid form.
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A torch is used to melt the silver in the
crucible.
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A centrifugal force machine is used to force the
melted silver up into the mold.
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The hot flask, with silver inside, is placed in
cold water and the investment is melted away
leaving the silver piece.
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This is how the piece looks right after firing.
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The piece is placed in a hot pickling solution to
bring out the sterling silver.
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It is then placed in a tumbler with stainless
steel beads and tumbled over night.
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The piece begins to look shiny after tumbling.
Now hours are spent polishing the piece.
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Finally, the chosen stone is secured in the art
piece. The Finished Piece