CovertOperation

beginner/intermediate

metal clay

Concealed connections put

layered panels in motion.

THREE-TIERED METAL CLAY EARRINGS

The earrings are designed to sway a bit so that light reflects off the panels’ textured surfaces. 23 ⁄8 x 7⁄16 in. (60 x 11 mm).

by Jean Wilson

Sometimes jewelry makers want to showcase how they put a

piece together. Other times attaching the components calls

for a little sleight of hand. The tiered panels of these earrings

are cleverly linked with a concealed series of jump rings. The result

is a clean, sleek look with pieces that move, reflecting light off the

panels’ textured surfaces. In this project, you’ll make a photocopy of

a favorite linear texture sheet and use it to make a template for the

earring components. After firing and then dapping the components

to give them a subtle curve, you’ll solder sterling silver posts to the

back of square accent components. Or, instead of attaching posts,

you can use purchased or handmade ear wires. In the final steps,

you’ll connect the components with sterling silver jump rings.

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©2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

7⁄8 in.(22 mm)

1⁄2 in.(13 mm)

7⁄8 in.(22 mm)

1⁄2 in.(13 mm)A

A

A

A

A B

B

B

Axis 1

Axis 2

Axis 2

Axis 1

materials ■ Metal clay: 16 g ■ Sterling silver ear posts:

1 ⁄16-in. (1.5 mm)-diameter pads, ear nuts

■ Sterling silver jump rings, 18-gauge (1.0 mm):

■ 6 mm OD, 4 ■ 5 mm OD, 4–6 ■ 10 mm OD, 2–4 (soldered)

■ Sterling silver ear wires, 2 (optional)

tools & supplies ■ Texture sheet: linear pattern

■ Lightbox (optional) ■ Olive oil or natural hand balm

■ Flexible Teflon sheet ■ Acrylic roller ■ Playing cards ■ Tissue blade ■ Sponge: flat ■ Plexiglas: 2 x 3 in. (51 x 76 mm)

■ Paintbrush: fine tip ■ Craft knife ■ Sandpaper: 400 grit; or fine-grit emery board

■ Needle tool ■ Rotary engraver (optional)

■ Drill bits: 1 mm, 1.5 mm ■ Kiln, kiln shelf ■ Brass brush ■ Flex shaft ■ Wooden dapping block, dapping punch

■ Rawhide mallet ■ Burnisher: steel or agate ■ Tumbler, steel shot, burnishing compound (optional)

■ Soldering station: torch, hard solder, fire-resistant surface (soldering pad, firebrick, or charcoal block), pickle pot with pickle, copper tongs, flux (self-pickling, optional) cross-locking tweezers

■ Chainnose pliers, 2

Template(actual size)

States of dryness for metal clay

Wet Clay contains a lot of moisture and is very pliable

Semi-dry Clay contains some moisture, but is firm and holds its shape

Mostly dry

Clay is nearly devoid of all moisture and is rigid

Completely dry

Clay contains absolutely no moisture and can be fired

TemplateFor this section, refer to the color-cod-ed Template.

Photocopy a texture sheet. Select a texture sheet with a linear pattern, and photocopy it.

Establish axis 1 and axis 2. To mark a photocopy of a square texture plate, use a ruler to draw a straight line from the upper right corner of the square to the lower left corner. Extend the line to the edges of the paper. Label this line “axis 1.” Draw another straight line from the square’s upper left corner to the lower right corner. Extend the line to the edges of the paper and label this line “axis 2.”

To mark a photocopy of a rectan-gular texture plate, hold the copy up to a light or place it on a lightbox. Fold the upper left corner of the pattern toward you, lining up its edge with the pattern’s bottom edge. Crease the paper, unfold it, draw a straight line along the crease, and label the crease “axis 1.” Line up the upper right corner of the pattern with the pattern’s bottom edge, and crease the paper. Unfold the paper, draw a line along the crease, and label it “axis 2” (see black lines).

Draw parallel guidelines. Draw a parallel line 7⁄8 in. (22 mm) to the left of axis 1. Draw a parallel line ½ in. (13 mm) to the right of axis 1 (see blue lines).

Draw and label the component-A rectangles. To mark guidelines for the six component-A rectangles, draw three parallel lines to the right of axis 2 so that the lines are ½ in. (13 mm) apart from each other and extend from axis 1 upward to the edge of the page. Repeat to make three parallel lines to the left of axis 2 (see green lines). Label each rectangle with an A.

Draw and label the component-B rectangles. To mark guidelines for the four component-B rectangles, draw two parallel lines to the right of axis 2 so that the lines are 7⁄8 in. (22 mm) apart from each other and

extend from axis 1 downward to the edge of the page. Repeat to make two parallel lines to the left of axis 2 (see red lines). Label each of these rectangles with a B.

Earring componentsRoll and texturize the clay. Lightly oil your hands, an acrylic roller, a flexible Teflon sheet, and the texture sheet that you photocopied. Roll 8 g of metal clay to 2 playing cards thick [1]. Use the flexible Teflon sheet to transfer the rolled clay to the texture sheet. Roll the clay again to 2 playing cards thick [2].

Position the clay on the template.Turn the rolled clay so that its textured side is facing up, keeping the flexible Teflon sheet beneath the clay. Then place the flexible Teflon sheet with the rolled clay on the template, aligning the clay’s textured pattern with the photocopied image of the texture plate.

Cut out the clay components. Use a tissue blade to cut the textured clay along the template guidelines [3]. Remove the excess clay, reroll and texturize it, and position it on the template as you did before. Use the tissue blade to cut more rectangles. Repeat until you have a total of three A rectangles and three B rectangles. (I made more guides than necessary to accommodate the irregular shape of the rolled-out clay.)

Cut two ½ x ½-in. (13 x 13 mm) textured square components. (I use the 1⁄2-in. [13 mm] width of the B components as a guide). You’ll attach earring posts to the squares in a later step. Set all the components on a flat sponge until they are mostly dry [4].

Add metal clay accents. Lightly oil a 2 x 3-in. (51 x 76 mm) piece of Plexiglas, and use it to roll a snake of metal clay approximately 1⁄16 in. (1.5 mm) in diameter and 1 in. (25.5 mm) long [5]. Position the snake on one rectangle so that the snake runs from one corner of the rectangle to the rectangle’s edge, following the direction of the texture [6]. Use a fine-tip paintbrush to apply

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2

3

4

water along the side of the snake to secure it to the rectangle. Use a craft knife to cut off the length of snake that extends beyond the rectangle. Repeat to add snake accents to the remaining five rectangles. Set them all aside until they’re completely dry.

Refine the components. Use 400-grit sandpaper or a fine-grit emery board to slightly round the corners of all the components and to smooth any rough edges. I used a sharp needle tool to sign the back of each rectangle. (Alternatively, I use a rotary engraver to add my signature after firing the components).

Drill holes in the rectangles. The short end of each rectangle that is closest to the snake accent is the bottom of the rectangle. Place one rectangle texture-side down on your work surface. Use a pencil to make a centered mark 2 mm from the top edge of the rectangle. Hold a 1 mm drill bit in your hand, and without exerting pressure, twist it to make a hole at the mark [7]. Repeat to mark

and drill a hole through the top of the remaining five rectangles.

Drill holes in the squares. Position the squares texture-side up on your work surface, making sure that the texture is oriented in the same direction on each square. Turn the squares over, again keeping the texture oriented the same on each square. Make a mark on the back of one square, 2 mm from the edge of one corner. Use the drill bit to make a 1 mm-diameter hole through the mark. Repeat to mark and drill a hole in the corresponding corner of the second square. Fire the components and enlarge the holes. Fire the components according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the components are cool, use a brass brush and soapy water to polish them. Because the components will have shrunk during firing, use a flex shaft with a 1.5 mm drill bit to enlarge the holes to fit 18-gauge (1.0 mm) jump rings.

Shape the components. Place a component texture-side down into a 2-in. (51 mm) recess of a wooden dapping block. Use a wooden dapping punch and a rawhide mallet to give the component a very slight curve [8]. Repeat to curve all the remaining components.

Burnish the squares. (To make earrings without soldered posts, see “No-Solder Option”) Use a burnisher to rub the back of the squares to compact the metal, making it less porous and better for soldering. Burnish in many directions. Or, tumble the squares in a tumbler with steel shot and burnishing compound for 6–8 hours (see Basics).

Flux the squares, posts, and solder pallions. Dip the squares and two sterling silver posts that have 1⁄16-in. (1.5 mm)-diameter pads into flux. (I like to use self-pickling flux). Place the squares texture-side down on a soldering surface. Coat pallions of hard solder with flux, and place

The rectangles are just as eye-catching if they dangle from a pair of ear wires. These earrings are a two-tiered version of the featured project.

Open a 5 mm-outside-diameter (OD) jump ring. Slide it through the loop of an ear wire, an A rectangle, and a 10 mm OD soldered jump ring. Close the 5 mm jump ring.

Open a second 5 mm jump ring, and slide it through the 10 mm jump ring and a B rectangle. Close the 5 mm jump ring.

Assemble the second earring in the same way, but reverse the sequence of the rectangles so that the texture pattern mirrors that of the first earring.

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no-solder

option

To make earrings with a lighter look, substitute ear wires for the posts and use fewer panels.

them on each square on the corner opposite the hole.

Metal clay absorbs solder more readily than sterling silver sheet or wire, so use three times the number of pallions you’d use if you were soldering sterling silver.

Solder posts to the squares. Grasp one of the posts in cross-locking tweezers, and practice lowering the post’s pad onto the back of a square. Holding the post in the tweezers above the pallions, use a torch to heat the square and the post. Just as the solder begins to flow, lower the post onto the square and remove the heat. Repeat to solder the other post to the remaining square. Quench, pickle, and rinse the earring-post assemblies.

As an alternative soldering method, you can sweat hard solder onto a post pad, place it on a square, and then heat the assembly until the solder flows.

AssemblyConnect jump rings to an earring-post assembly. Use chainnose pliers to open a 6 mm-outside-diameter (OD) jump ring, and attach it to the hole in an earring-post assembly. Attach a second 6 mm jump ring to the first, and close both jump rings. Attach the rectangles. The subse-quent jump rings and rectangles are attached so that the jump rings are concealed and lie against the back of the earring.

Open a 5 mm OD jump ring. Slide it through the second 6 mm jump ring, an A rectangle, and a 10 mm OD soldered jump ring. Close the 5 mm jump ring.

Open a second 5 mm jump ring, and slide it through the 10 mm jump ring, a B rectangle, and a second 10 mm soldered jump ring. Close the second 5 mm jump ring.

Open a third 5 mm jump ring, and slide it through the second 10 mm jump ring and an A rectangle. Close the 5 mm jump ring.

Assemble the second earring. The texture patterns on the rectangles of the second earring should mirror the texture patterns of the first earring. When you assemble the second earring, add the rectangles in a BAB sequence.

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A back view of the earrings shows that the panels overlap slightly.

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I fail to see the

connection This side view of one of the earrings shows how the jump rings and panels are assembled. When the earrings are viewed from the front, the connecting jump rings are hidden by the panels.