Everything you need to know about making and adding hinges and catches to your jewelry. Learn about the myriad varieties of these functional bits.
This year Johnson Matthey Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of platinum group metals, in cooperation with the Society of North American Goldsmiths inaugurated the annual “SNAG Platinum Jewelry Design Competition” Open to members of the society, the competition professed the…
Hidden hinges are sometimes used on bracelets and jewelry pieces. I saw one on a Vietnamese bracelet once and have seen several on Diamonds International pieces. The place they pop up most frequently is in kitchen cabinets and doors on smooth surfaces like one sees on jet planes and sometimes on the sides of ships-hatches of various kinds. Look at these models because they are usually built to last and to be very sturdy. Kitchen cabinet hinges are a particularly fruitful resource.
Luis Moreno demonstrates how to fabricate a Ball Hinge…,http://www.google.com/profiles/Luis.F.Moreno.Silversmith
It is important to pick tubing with an appropriate wall thickness and material strength for the requirements of the piece. Sterling will need thicker material than 14k gold. Nickel white gold is the hardest material goldsmiths generally work with. The hole for the hinge pin must also be appropriate for the material used for the hinge pin.
First one chooses an appropriate metal for the various parts, that is a metal with appropriate structural for it’s thickness and stress in use. In this catch there is little stress in use and therefore one can use even as soft metal as sterling for the components. In 14k gold one could.
One of the most important types of closures used in jewelry is the box clasp. This clasp and its many variations are usually built into jewelry such as bracelets, necklaces, and chains. However, as an exercise, this project demonstrates the fabrication of a sample clasp as an independent unit..
Luis Moreno demonstrates how to fabricate a brooch clasp
Cast hinges are a very important part of much production jewelry work, partly because hinge assembly on such pieces is reduced to inserting the hinge pin and so provides a very fast linkage system ideal for cast objects. We are primarily speaking here of lost wax investment casting. If you look at any trade magazines you will find many examples of cast hinges in the advertisements.
The first requirement of all catches is that they secure neckpieces and bracelets in such a way that they will not fall off the wearer. Once this is accomplished, there are other concerns that should be addressed. Making catches requires a high level of skill, but the rewards, in both technical and aesthetic satisfaction, make the effort worthwhile. The following examples should only serve for inspiration, and may need to be altered for your particular use. It is part of the creative process when designing and drawing the piece to create the most suitable catch and to incorporate it into the entire design of the work..
Box catches lend themselves to a wide range of shapes and are frequently used on chains, bracelets and cuff bracelets. They combine security with ease of use and the ability to be adapted to the needs of each design. After mastering the basics, it becomes an appealing challenge to a goldsmith to design a box catch uniquely suited to each new piece. The basic ingredients – tongue, box, snag and trigger – will be introduced through the basic box shown here, and they will reappear in each permutation.
Luis Moreno demonstrates how to fabricate a clasp…,http://www.youtube.com/user/luis67813?feature=mhw5
Luis Moreno demonstrates how to fabricate a clasp
Luis Moreno demonstrates how to fabricate a clasp
Luis Moreno demonstrates how to fabricate a clasp…,http://www.youtube.com/user/luis67813?feature=mhw5
Luis Moreno demonstrate how to fabricate yet another clasp…,http://www.google.com/profiles/Luis.F.Moreno.Silversmith
Cold connections are great alternatives to soldering, especially if you want to use fragile or flammable materials in your jewelry designs. Cold connections have many variations, and this project will give you a closer look at hinged tabs and two styles of rivets. In this bracelet, they become more than just a heat-free option — they are the focus of the design. Half of the bracelets brass panels are riveted flush to the copper links, while alternate brass panels are raised with spaced rivets. For added design interest, the brass panels are embossed using roll-printing. The hinged tab s connect the bracelet links and visually blend with the clasp for a seamless look.
Cuff-links can work well as a plain three-part hinge. There are some basics to the construction of cuff-links. The cuff-link consists of three parts: the front decorative part you see in use.
Hali Baykov offers here some diagrams and notes, with the basic steps in making specialized findings, including double pins and the use of a gallery to ensure there is good support and alignment with the brooches.
While this one may seem a little odd at first glance the idea has merit. Linda Chow suggests that a wire inserted through a hole is a type of hinge which by implication makes an normal jump ring inserted into a hole a kind of hinge. There are several instances of wires placed through tubes as a mobile component in goldsmithing. One example is the use of a ‘figure 8’ safety catch which is often used on box catches. The wire ‘8’ has a small knob ball on the end and snaps over a balled up wire to make the safety device function. It is normally used on the side of a box catch.
This project is a slight variation on the standard box clasp, the clasp outlined here uses two tongues rather than one. This means that the clasp is much more secure, so theres no need for the figure of 8 safety mechanism which can sometimes spoil the clean lines of a piece. I learnt to make this clasp whilst at North Bennet Street School in Boston. The project shown here uses round tube with an inside diameter of 5mm to house the clasp mechanism. Of course the shape of the clasps housing can be changed to suit the bracelet or necklace design. However using tubing with an inside diameter anything smaller than 5mm would prove to be tricky, since there may not be room for a double tongue..
It is, however, usually best to bevel the openings of a tube slightly to give the rivet a better purchase in use. A beveled tube end produces a good flush rivet.
A bearing is essentially tube sections which are attached to the metal being hinged into which the hinge itself is installed. The use of bearings offers us a couple of things. First of all, it offers us a way of increasing the structural strength of our hinge unit.
Yes you can make your own earring posts. It is generally more cost effective to buy them, but making them is not a problem and there are times that it is useful to know how.
Before photography, lockets were decorated with miniature, handpainted portraits — a luxury few could afford. The advent of affordable photographic miniatures propelled the locket to the forefront of jewelry fashion during the sentimental Victorian era. Between 1890 and 1920, ornately crafted lockets were suspended from bracelets, necklaces, brooches, belts, and chatelaines. Ladies of fashion were not seen without one, and men wore them on their watch chains. During World War I, many soldiers wore lockets into battle as a reminder of loved ones at home. Lockets have since fallen out of fashion, and distinctive lockets are hard to find. With this project, you no longer have to rely on a fashion trend to have a high-quality locket — you can create your own. You will learn how to make the traditional hinged locket and an easier slide locket.
Installing or repairing hinge rivets can be difficult with a torch. Flooding a hinge with solder and permanently joining a link to adjacent links are among the risks when using a torch and solder. Use of the following pulse-arc welding techniques to weld the hinge rivets will eliminate potential problems and speed up the overall procedure..
Hadar’s
It is customary to place the joint at the right of the back of the pin and the catch on the left for right handed users who…
Nice Chain maille bracelet. Making the clasp – finishing…
It is not uncommon for moving parts to wear out. This is to be expected because of increased friction as parts rub against one another. A common example can be found in connecting rings such as the jump rings that attach a charm to a bracelet or a pendant to a chain. If a section of the ring is worn thin it is usually best to discard.
Getting a superior fit on your next custom ring order could be just a few mouse clicks away. Superfit Inc., the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based manufacturer known for its tailor-fit shanks, recently launched Digital Installations, a program that enables jewelers and custom designers to download a design template online that allows the trademarked Superfit technology to be incorporated into any rings unique construction-regardless of dimensions or contours.
Luis Moreno demonstrates how to create wire hinges…,http://www.google.com/profiles/Luis.F.Moreno.Silversmith
Sometimes working with jewelry hinges can be too taxing. And not knowing how will make your work even harder. Here’s a how-to on working with jewelry hinges.
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