For today’s tip I wanted to share some techniques for working with patterned bezels! This post is sponsored by
@jeffkleinjewelry who makes 38 varieties of sterling, copper and brass bezels. For my little demo I worked with his Castellated Silver Bezel Wire and it is absolutely gorgeous. My top tips when working with patterned wire are 1️⃣ Always anneal before you start to form decorative bezel wires. 2️⃣ Remember if they are too tall for your stone you can trim them with snips or raise the stone up using a piece of sheet underneath 3️⃣ If the bezel is too tight you can slightly stretch around a mandrel with a soft rawhide mallet. 4️⃣ Use a conservative amount of solder when soldering the bezel closed or to a backplate. Any excess solder can run into the design which is very challenging if not impossible to fix. 5️⃣ Prevent fire scale by giving your piece a quick bath in denatured alcohol and boric acid prior to fluxing, pieces with decorative bezels cannot handle the excessive polishing required to remove firescale. 6️⃣ Be mindful of what you use to set your bezel, to avoid marring the metal. For example you can use a brass pusher to push down your bezel or a wooden clothes pin! 7️⃣ Think outside the box! Patterned bezels can be used as trim, backgrounds and bits can be used as design elements. Be sure to follow Jeff as he shares a lot of interesting ways to incorporate the wires into your work, not just as bezels. Jeff is offering our community 10% off your order with code FIREBEZEL10 when you purchase through his Etsy shop: JeffKleinSilver (link in my profile) if you are in the UK his bezels are carried by Etsy shop: MetalClays4You Hope this helpful and thank you to Jeff for supporting the page!
#sponsored #bezelwires #hewelrymakingsupplies #jeffkleinsilver #sterlingsilverbezel #decorativebezels
