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Parent Category: Technical Articles from Journal Back Copies

Category: Technical Articles 2002

CUTTING OUT DISCS

For small beads under 18mm in diameter I use 0.4mm silver sheet. I cut out 2 identical circles for each bead, using either my piercing saw or my circle stamp. The latter will punch out circles up to 15mm in diameter. If I'm using my piercing saw I change to a very fine blade for the 0.4mm sheet - size 5/0 or 6/0. They're very delicate but much easier to use on such thin sheet. I don't worry if the circles are a bit out of true, but I will file away any burred edges on the discs.

ANNEALING

To soften the silver and make it easier to dome I anneal it with my blow torch until it glows red.

DOMING

To dome, I place a circle inside the bowl of a large depression in the doming block. I select an equally large punch which I rest on the circle. I then strike this punch with a heavy blow of a hammer. This will force the disc to take the shape of the dome. I then repeat this using smaller depressions and matching punches until I achieve the shape I want.

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