We have been making round fused glass cabochons for some time now, but never tried to use them for much else other than stud earrings. With a little thought it seemed that they could be used to make a range of designs for more interesting earrings and pendants.
A few tests later I found that there were a couple of factors that influenced the final result.
Continue reading Using Fused Glass Dots to Make Jewellery
The subject of which glue to use for aanraku ‘Glue-on’ bails for jewellery is a common one and one that is hard to find definitive answers. The result of my research was confusion, mainly because there were many conflicting reports.
The most common glue used seems to be E6000, but while the majority of users seem to like the glue, there were also many that did not have great experiences.
To check my options I made note of other glues used and did find references to several. However, here in Australia I found it almost impossible to get these. No use finding a great glue I couldn’t purchase.
A check of our local outlets and some discussion led me to Araldite Ultra Clear as a possible alternative and it was readily available. I did call the company and ask which of their glues would be most suitable for my need and they did confirm that the Ultra Clear was the best solution.
So here are the results of my tests comparing E6000 and Araldite Ultra Clear.
Continue reading Testing Glues for Aanraku Bails for Jewellery
Where to buy your silversmithing tools????? This is a good question, I have found that you can get silversmithing tools at reasonable prices from a couple of websites that are not jeweller suppliers . The only thing is that you do need to pay attention to the description of the tools you are buying and check out if there is any difference between the jeweller suppliers same product.
Continue reading Purchasing Tools For Silversmithing