Getting Started With Making Sterling Silver Jewelry At Home

Are you wondering how you can start making your own sterling silver jewelry at home? Wonder no more, because whether you are doing it just for fun, to become a silver jewelry seller, or you are planning to join the business, in this article I have some tips for you to kick start your project. To make the process much easier, it is advised that beginners try to learn silver smithing from a professional metalworker.

Make sure you have tools like round nose pliers, cutting pliers and a small ball-peen hammer. Also prepare pickling compound. Get all the supplies that you will need and make sure your workspace is large enough and has enough light, as you may have to work with small particles. Do not forget some protective gear like eye glasses and an apron.

1. To start, you should have a pattern or design that you want to create. Use your cutter to cut a piece of the silver sheet into the desired size for the project.

2. Use your hammer and nose pliers to shape the silver into what you want. If there are other pieces that you want to join to the main piece, shape them to the desired shape too.

3. After that you can now heat solder and apply some to each silver piece that you may want to attach. Attach them one at a time.

4. After attaching them, you can place the jewelry in warm pickling compound using tongs, to remove the waste materials on it.

5. You can now use plain water to rinse your sterling silver jewelry clean.
Make sure you wipe your sterling silver jewelry with a soft jewelry cloth and if you cannot, then use 100% cotton cloth so as not to cause scratches on it. Moisture tarnishes silver, so in order to avoid this you must wipe the sterling silver jewelry dry and store in a cool dry place. Avoid storing the already made jewelry pieces together, as they may rub each other and scratch.

It is really exciting, though sometimes challenging, to start making sterling silver jewelry at home - especially if you are a beginner and you have no one to tell you exactly what to do; but if you are always focused on learning something and you put some time aside for it, believe me, it will take less time than you thought to become a professional sterling silver jewelry maker.