Riveting Project

Copper Cat Keychain

For the Riveting Project I made a Copper cat with a soldered on tail and Nickel heart with a R on it. The keychain part was made of Nickel. The first challenge I encountered was that when I was sanding it was very hard for me to not bend the cats thin tail. The second challenge I encountered was that it was hard to saw out the small tail piece. I really enjoyed soldering on the heart and tail. I also really enjoyed stamping the R into the heart. What I learned was how to put in Rivets so that they look good. The first step yo making my cat was sawing out the cats tail, body, and heart. Then I filed and sanded all those pieces. After I soldered the tail and heart to the cat. Then I sanded some more and patinaed the cat. Lastly I polished and put in the cats rivet eyes. I really liked making the cat and it is one of my favorite projects so far.

Soldering Project

Copper Beaver Ring

For my second project I decided to do a copper beaver ring with etched designs on the beaver. The ring was two layers, the first layer being just a plain circle and the second two being the beaver and strawberry. The strawberry had stamped designs on it. The first problem I encountered was that it was extremely hard to cut out and sand the tiny strawberry. The second problem I encountered was that it was really hard to Solder all the different pieces together, especially the band to the ring because it was hard to keep the band in one spot. On the other hand I somewhat liked soldering because it was fun to work with the torch. What I learned is it is very important to take your time Soldering because if you don't it will really mess up your piece. I also learned to etch which is way easier then doing texture. The first step of me making my piece was I first had to etch out my design, then I had to cut out my beaver and strawberry. After that I soldered my beaver and strawberry to my circle. Then I created my band and soldered that to my ring. Then I sanded my piece and put it the the Patina, lastly I polished my ring. I have found again that doing all this work really pays off to see the finished product.

Etching Project

Etched Earrings:

For this project I made a pair of nickle earrings, they have etched flower designs on the main layer and a bigger flower on the second layer. They are connected to their hooks by one jump ring. The first problem I encountered was that it was hard for me to do the etching on the second layer. The second problem I encountered was that it was hard to solder the two pieces together. Even though etching was hard I somewhat liked it, I also liked sawing the pieces out. What I learned is you have to be very careful when you are etching because it is very easy to mess up and if you do it is very hard to fix it. The first step of making these earrings was the etching, then I sawed out both the layers. After that I drilled the hole for the jump ring and made the jump ring. Next I filed and sanding both of the layers. Then I soldered the two layers together and put it in the pickle. Then lastly I attached the earring to the hook and Patinaed and Polished it. This is one of my favorite projects I have done so far and I really liked the outcome of all my hard work.