1

FIXINGS
Nothing sets off a well designed and executed piece of jewellery as hand made fastenings. Once you have learnt the basic principles it is simply a matter of giving your imagination free rein. Considerations: Strength of metal Strength of solder Suitability Ease of use (e.g. opening) Does it add to or detract from the overall design

JUMP RINGS I would try to use 1mm wire upwards (either round or square). 0.8mm is a bit too fragile, so only use it if the design really indicates, or if you are making very small jump rings. The larger the jump ring, the thicker the wire to use. If you are making a few try jamming your wire and an old nail or drill bit into a vice and wind it around the nail as many times as required. Not only does this mean all your jump rings will be the same size, but you can use the nail as a brace as you saw through the jump rings.

If you want the jumps to lie perfectly you should really wind half of the rings one way around the nail and after you have cut them, wind the wire the other way around the nail. Solder using Hard Solder. N.B. Always open and close jump rings sideways, not by pulling them apart, or pushing them together.

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

EARRINGS Post Style Always use 0.8mm round wire to go through the ear (unless you are making for someone who has worn heavy earrings in the past and stretched the hole through the ear. If this is the case, a larger gauge wire can disguise this.) Cut your wire to achieve a finished length of 11mm. Round off the end to go through the ear. Then, a short way down from this, use a backward cut with your piercing saw to make a small groove right around the circumference of the wire (this will allow the butterfly back to click into place.) At the other end (where you are going to solder it to your earring) take a small file to spread out the metal (you can put it in a vice and try to hammer it slightly, but this is difficult.) When you come to solder it on, you need to put a small amount of solder and flux on the earring, but only flux onto the earring peg. Heat the earring whilst holding the earring post in a pair of insulated reverse action tweezers. As you reach melting point, hold the earring post in place and the solder will jump onto it. N.B. Use the highest grade solder you can, bearing mind which solders you have already used on the front of the earring.

The butterfly back to accompany the above is constructed thus:

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

Anneal, and then use round nose pliers to bend thus:

Shepherd Crook style earring fixings Again use 0.8mm round wire. There is no solder joint here as with dangly earrings it is considered safest to leave at least one joint that can come apart in case of them getting snagged. Simply use round nose pliers as the metal is so thin it is unlikely that you will need to anneal. This is the basic shape to aim for:

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

4 In this example a small section of the round wire has been forged with a hammer before twisting.

In this final example a small length of very fine sterling silver wire (0.4mm or 0.5mm) has been wrapped around the front part of the fixing.

FASTENINGS TO BRACELETS & NECKLACES I favour the Serpentine style of fixing. It can be made or round or square wire (I have made some using square wire that I have pre-twisted.) Again, I would not use anything less than 1mm thick and you can make them much more chunky if it would sit better with the design of the main piece of jewellery. They can be made as large or small as you desire. This is the basic shape to aim for:

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

For the example above, I have run a ball up either end of the wire using some flux and a gentle blow torch flame. This should be done prior to bending the metal. In the following example I have shown both ends of the wire forged out prior to bending into shape and soldering.

In this final example a bezel (with base) has been soldered on to join the Serpentine in place of a simple solder joint:

A jump ring (or rings) should then be soldered onto the closed loop of the Serpentine and attached onto the necklace or bracelet. For the other side of the necklace or bracelet you will need to have one or more jump rings.

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

Toggle Style Fixings One side is made from a piece of wire where a ball has been run up as described before. The other end of the wire is bent into a circle using round pliers and hard soldered. The other piece is made from a larger circle of metal (hard soldered) that has been bent into shape so that the ball can slip through the centre part, but be held tight as the edges. Again you will attach this to the piece of jewellery using jump rings.

Conventional Toggle

Try to use hard solder as much as possible. The next picture is of the most basic type of toggle bar to fit through the toggle ring. Make sure you cut the toggle bar long enough so that it will not slip through the ring by accident when being worn. It should just be able to slip through at an angle when held at the centre point. The toggle below is held by one circle of hard soldered metal that has been twisted so that it is tight enough to grip the bar securely before you solder it together.

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

The example below is constructed in exactly the same way as above, but a decorative wire edge has been soldered around the circumference of each end.

In the final example a bezel (without base) has been soldered at each end of the toggle bar. If you are going to do this it looks best on a round wire bar (as opposed to square).

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

8 CUFFLINKS Swivel bar cufflinks are complex to construct as they require a spring mechanism. Most men seem to prefer good old fashioned bar and chain fastenings, shown below, as they are easier to do up. It is possible to buy special cufflink chain that is stronger than average chain of its weight. If you just want to use up left over bits of chain you already have, and then make sure that it is strong and that the links are sound. Make a bar out of round or square wire that is a minimum of 2mm thick. It may seem obvious, but make sure the shape you use for the decorative side will not slip through the shirt hole and that the bar will pass through the hole, but be robust enough not to slip out. It is possible to use any style mentioned in the previous section in place of a basic bar. To attach the chain to the bar and the decorative top, use a fairly low heat solder to avoid melting your chain, but obviously the higher grade the better. Grip the D or U joining metal in your reverse action insulated tweezers thus. Try to drape the rest of the chain over the back of the tweezers to avoid them falling forward onto the solder joint. It is often helpful to use the cooling gel on the chain, but if you get any on the Joint the solder will not flow.

Instead of using a U shape piece of wire, try using a jump ring; flatten with snipe pliers into a D shape. This gives a larger surface for a stronger joint.

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007

BROOCH FIXINGS It is particularly important to work out how the brooch is to be worn at the start of the design process. If the fixing is not correctly positioned the brooch may lie badly when worn. It is important to assess the weight of the brooch to decide what type of Back to put on. Here are some basic ideas. I use 1mm wire for making this one. It is just a variation on the traditional nappy pin Please note that the circular twist on the left hand side is raised up from where the solder will run to allow for spring (reverse pressure when the brooch is closed will hold it in place in the keep.

This is a variation on the above. Use it if you have piercing work on the brooch so that the pin does not show through.

I have shown a reverse U curve on the base of both pieces. This will give you a larger area for the solder to catch. The following is a basic stick pin with a reverse curve to allow for ease of use and spring.

Imogen Waitt

January, 2007