Creating Wooden Jewelry. Sarah King

Creating Wooden Jewelry - Sarah King


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using a belt sander and when working with exotic hardwoods. Wear goggles whenever you are using machinery.

Illustration

      See page for the index of difficulty for later projects like the spoon necklace, turned and gilded bangles, and ebony and pearl ring shown here.

      This first project helps you to practice basic techniques such as marking out, drilling, and working with a piercing saw. Using a spontaneous drawing technique with lots of cutouts gives the design lightness and liveliness. Keep it simple and bold.

       TOOLS AND MATERIALS

      • Pencil and cardstock

      • Dividers

      • Scalpel and cutting mat

      • Walnut sheet 3/16 in (5 mm) from a modelmaking store; cut to 5½ x 4 in (140 x 100 mm)

      • Standard piercing saw

      • Fine wood saw blades

      • Handheld drill or drill press, 1/16 in (1.5 mm)

      • Dust mask and goggles

      • 6¼-in (16-cm) half-round rough file

      • 6¼-in (16-cm) half-round fine file

      • Silver tube, ⅛-in (3-mm) outside diameter

      • Cyanoacrylate gue and small piece of wire (to apply glue)

      • Drill, ⅛ in (3 mm) in size, or ⅛-in (3-mm) ball burr

      • Fine metal saw blades

      • Sheet of 240-grit wet-and-dry paper

      • Wax polish and paper towel (to apply it)

      • Scissors

      • Leather cord, 6½ ft long x 1/32 in thick (2 m long x 1mm thick)

Illustration

      A doodle is translated into a dramatic wood shape suspended from a leather cord for this statement necklace.

Illustration

      1 Using a pencil and a piece of cardstock, draw some open squiggle shapes until you have one that you think will work well as a pendant. Make sure that the shapes that will be sawn out from the wood and discarded are not too small. You will need room to file the cut edges and small spaces are harder to file.

      2 Set the dividers ¼ in (7 mm) apart and mark a parallel line to your squiggle on the cardstock. Use the divider point to mark dots, and then with a pencil, join them up and define the line.

      3 Working on a cutting mat to protect your surface, use the scalpel to cut out your cardstock template.

      4 With the pencil, draw around your template onto the wood.

      5 Fit the piercing saw with a fine wood saw blade then cut along the outline of your pendant. You may find it easier to work in sections, sawing vertically down to the edge at intervals to make it easier to remove, rather than working around the outline in one pass.

      6 Using the handheld drill and wearing a dust mask and goggles, drill several 1/16-in(1.5-mm) holes at intervals in the negative areas (the spaces that will be left empty) and thread your piercing saw though one of the holes (see step 5, page). Making sure that your blade is taut, cut out the negative spaces.

      7 Use a rough file, followed by a fine file, to smooth the edges.

      8 Soften the sharp corners with a fine file, using sweeping strokes to polish the edge and make it look more finished.

      9 Mark where you want to drill a ⅛-in (3-mm) hole for the silver tubing that will hold the leather cord. (In this design, two holes are drilled, one placed on each side of the squiggle’s length.) Make sure that the holes aren’t too close to the edge or the wood might be too fragile.

      10 It is easier to make a straight hole with a small drill press, but it is also possible with a handheld drill. Holding your drill like a pencil, make a small 1/16-in (1.5-mm) hole where you have marked the cross, then use a ⅛-in (3-mm) burr to enlarge it.

      11 Push the tube through the hole and out the other side. Put a small amount of cyanoacrylate glue on the end of a wire, dab it on the tube, then pull the tube back through the hole so that it is flush on one side. With this method the tube is less likely to stick than if you put the glue on first. Allow the glue to set.

      12 With a piercing saw fitted with a fine metal blade, saw off the excess tube on the other side so that both sides of the tube are flush with the wood.

      13 Repeat steps 9–11 on the second hole.

      14 Using the fine file, file back the cut tubes flush with the wood surface.

      15 Put the wet-and-dry paper flat on the bench and finish sanding the metal flush to the surface.

      16 With a piece of paper towel, apply wax to the wood. Rub on and clean off any excess wax.

      17 Using a ball burr, slightly round the inside edge of the tubes in order to make a nice highlight.

      18 Thread your leather cord through the holes in the pendant.

      19 Knot the cord above the tubes. Cut the remaining cord to your required length. Make a simple knot tie to close the necklace. Alternatively, affix cord end caps and a clasp to the ends of the cord.

Illustration

Illustration

      tips for using a piercing saw

      • Tighten the blade at one end and bend the frame together slightly by leaning your body on the frame against your bench. While the frame is bent together, tighten the other end and then release your pressure on the frame.

      • Always make sure that the blade is taut: it must make a pinging sound when it is plucked.

      • Never push the saw forward; keep the blade loose and concentrate on the vertical cut.

      • Use long, sweeping strokes so that you are using the whole of the blade and not just the middle section.

      • Make sure that you are holding the piece that you are sawing firmly in your other hand, as letting it tilt is the most common way to break the saw blade.

Illustration

      These earrings use a piece of wood that is deep enough to allow for some three-dimensional shaping. I have chosen basswood (also known as limewood) because it is quite soft, making it easier to work. However, that also means it can be easy to damage, so take care not to dent the wood in the later stages of making the earrings. As well as three-dimensional shaping, you will also learn how to make and attach silver findings (ear wires here), and how doing things in a counterintuitive order can make this task easier.

       TOOLS AND MATERIALS


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