Silversmithing
exploring design and creation with precious metals
Stanford University, ME298: Silversmithing and Design, 10 week class
Challenge
Design and create four small-scale pieces using precious metals
My Role
Designer, maker
Skills
Lost wax/investment casting
Sheet metal piercing
Brazing, soldering
Reductive wax carving
Metal sanding and finishing
Metal Piercing
The first piece I made was a piercing project. Metal piercing is a process of drilling holes into sheet metal, threading a thin saw blade through the hole, and cutting out a pattern.
I started with design sketching, ideating pieces that I could make from brass. From there, I drilled out holes and roughly cut out the pieces. After an initial sanding and cleanup, I soldered on two brass rings to use to attach to earring hooks. From there, I sanded and polished the metal to create the final piece - a set of brass mushroom earrings.
initial design sketches (bottom row) and iterations (top row)
using a jewelers saw to cut out the pattern
after threading on the brass rings and brazing them closed, I began sanding
the pieces directly after cutting and drilling, before any sanding
after sanding and polishing, the pieces are done!
Investment Casting
The remaining three pieces were investment casting projects. We used the lost wax method, where a piece is first carved out of wax and then covered in plaster to create a mold. This is heated to melt the wax away, leaving a cavity in the shape of the wax piece in its place. Molten metal is then poured in, allowed to harden, then quenched to dissolve the plaster.
As with the first piece, I started with design sketches, then carved the wax, cast the metal, and sanded and finished.
design sketches - the challenge for this particular assignment was to create a piece with large volume but small mass
the wax carving took much longer than I expected. I took care to make it well since the better the mold is, the less finishing work I have to do on the final piece
The finished wax pieces are attached together to make a tree of parts. the shape and angles of each part are taken into account to maximize metal flow
the piece before any sanding or finishing
After casting, each part is then cut off of the tree, and any leftover metal from the sprues and tree base can be reused in future casting projects
many hours of sanding and finishing later
The Final Pieces
Mushrooms, pierced bronze sheet metal and gold earring hooks
The Wave, cast silver (theme: reform)
Delicate Balance, cast silver (theme: rhythm)
Chasm, cast silver with black patina (theme: duality)