Padlock

This is one of the projects from Stage 5 of the Silver program at Jewellery Training Solutions. I knew the project was going to be challenging on many levels, and as I watched the video lesson, that was confirmed. I’m happy with the outcome, although there are several things I would like to improve.

There’s been a long break in my blog posts, and I apologize. I could make 50 excuses, but I have to be honest… Dealing with Covid and trying to stay quarantined and safe, having the family all home, the unrest and discord all around us… it is all really wearing me down. I’ve kept up with all of my orders, but I just haven’t had anything left to create something new or learn. I’m really trying to get on top of these feelings and move myself forward. It was nice to take a step forward with a challenging project like this one, where I feel pretty good about the outcome.

In the works are blog posts about sizing for rings and bracelets, cleaning jewelry and the proper way to put on a cuff bracelet. If you have a topic you are interested in that you would like me to cover, please send me an email and I’d be happy to try to include that in one of my upcoming posts. I’ve also recently done a couple of guest teaching spots on the Facebook Group called Friday Freebies, one on loop in loop chains and a couple on chasing and repousse and making tools. If you are interested in seeing those, please feel free to join that group.

What were the challenges?

Simply understanding how this is constructed was the first challenge! I also challenged myself for this project to roll the sheet and pull the wire, so it was good practice. Getting the catch to work right was a challenge as well, but it has a beautiful, audible “click.”

Where could I improve?

I ended up with a lot of fire stain that took a lot of sanding to remove. I think a lot of that came from when I poured the ingot. I don’t like the solder seam where I soldered the top plate on to the frame. It looked better before I cleaned everything up, and then it would have been disastrous if I had gone back to try to fix it.

What did I learn?

The biggest thing I learned while making this project is that I really need to stop and take the time to clean everything up at each step. This project was also great practice at torch control.