For those, ( like me ) that don't have such a steady hand, find a small bird feather, sharpen with scissors to a sharp point dip the point of the feather into flux, touch the solder with the point of the fluxed feather until the solder attaches to the feather, transfer the solder to the place you want to solder. Place the feather in a safe place away from the flame. A tiny paint brush also works well.
Thank you for sharing! I especially liked the way you talked through your process and decisionmaking as you were soldering. Definitely inspired me to try a solder pick.
Thank you! I was also baffled at how some creators appeared so uneconomic with their sheet metal. I'm returning to goldsmithing after 20 years, and I can learn a lot from you. I use alum in water for "pickling", a healthier alternative if you have no ventilation.
thanks for sharing your technique for placing and soldering pieces. This is something I’m still learning and have many failures. I’m working to reducing these, and appreciate your lessons in helping me in that direction. Fantastic effort for a first video.
This was my favorite video I have watched in your series. Your framework technique is so simple, yet ingenious! Once you learn the basics of soldering, the truly hard part is figuring out how to hold together complex designs. You made it look so easy. I look forward to trying this technique out! It would be wonderful to see other ways to hold things together...
Wow, I love your problem solving skills! This is one of the aspects of silversmithing that I love. I've been learning since 2016 and you are inspirational and very kind to share your talent with us all. I really enjoy watching the master's at work. Your botanicals are very lovely and a treat to see. Thank you oh so much!!
Hi, thank you!! So glad you watched my videos. I'm anxious to do more in the next few months and appreciate all of your feedback. Good luck on your journey in metalsmithing- it's thrilling!
🥰BRAVO! Omg, I was completely glued to the screen, you have incredible skill and lots of patience. I was absolutely blown away by that image at the end where show your pieces next to the penny, at just how small and detailed these pieces are. I have been learning to solder thru lockdown(s) here in the UK by watching YT videos just like yours, thank you so much for sharing your valuable time and teachings with us. I for one am very grateful. Many hugs and happy holdidays. Diane x😍❤🧡💛💜💙💚
Unbelievable. They are so tiny and beautiful. For your first video, you did a great job. Thanks for showing your trick with the support circle of copper.
This is amazing. Thank you so much for showing us. The outer framework is an excellent idea! You are extremely talented and knowledgable, you truly sculpt in silver.
really enjoy this video. i am so happy to learn how-to's and you are a natural! you and craig make an great team, thank you both for such a great tutorial!
My goodness!!!, you are so amazingly talented. You make this craft look like you are having a lot of fun!!!, I certainly had fun watching you. Thank you so much for sharing your incredible talent and you do the tutorial so well.🙏🏼💗🍀
Beautiful and very very creative. Love watching you work. Nice to have your assistant there. I don't like the look of that saw. I know people speak highly of them, but it seems to really get in the way.
This was fascinating to watch. I will learn how to solder for the first time next month and I am so excited to make my first piece! Videos like these are so inspirational. Thank you for sharing! :)
This was an amazing 1st video; much better than see after years. Kudos to Craig as well. I'd love to see more videos, even online me paid videos. Your instructions are great, very much thoughtful and explained as to make a someone comfortable to try the project. Please consider doing more, maybe other of your flower series.
Thank you Sherri! I'm so glad to hear that you liked it. I hope to create more in the series when I can get back to the bench. Did you find the others I've posted?
I have a pair of sterling silver calla Lilly set of screw on earrings and a a matching broach I received it from a friend and she said it was her mother’s and I don’t know 🤷♀️ how old it is but your work reminds me of the set . Very beautiful work I’m a gardener and I don’t see it now days and I will be checking your s out. Just beautiful!
This is an incredible tutorial on fabricating a miniature sterling silver flower! The presenter's attention to detail and skilled craftsmanship were truly impressive. I loved watching the process of transforming raw silver into a beautiful and intricate flower.
Great videos! Could you maybe do a video on what basic tools that you would want to start with? Also could one start practicing these techniques with something cheaper like copper?
It was disappointing not to see more of the finished flower,. First video I have seen and will be watching more for pure enjoyment to watch someone create.
HERMOSO. He quedado fascinada con la técnicas que usas. No entiendo el ingles. Por favor si pudieran colocar subtítulos es español, seria fantástico. Gracias. FELICITACIONES
Great work, great video, great explanation and great magic trick. Just a question. Why not make the copper circle from silver, so you can melt all the soldered wires including the circle afterwards all together?
Melanie, this is such an inspiring video. I’m making a gift for a dear friend and I intend to steal this technique lock stock & barrel. I have one small suggestion to make - when I make head pins I dip them in flux before I ball the end. I like the result of fluxed balled ends vs. non-fluxed. But that’s just a suggestion b/c you clearly know what you’re doing!!
@@melaniekline4895 Melanie….I had to figure out how to do this using my phone and some pics I made. I promise I make better jewelry than videos, but I’ll figure those out. In the meantime, I can’t thank you enough for teaching me this wonderful technique!! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XvSfP-K8eb0.html The stone is a granite cameo that I bought from Rio. The recipient of the gift is a bit of a nutter when it comes to butterflies, so the theme of my handmade gift was a no-brainer. I made an oval frame using patterned wire; made several flowers, a setting, & Bob’s your Uncle. If this wasn’t my first try at making these miniature flowers I’d have liked to carve some flowers native to my S Florida home. Having seen what you do I know it can be done. If you happen to be searching for an idea for a new video, can I suggest “Carve Flowers By Species Because Not All Flowers Look Alike, Stupid”. Or something like that. Actually that’s probably a harsher title than you’d like. Maybe replace “flowers” with “floral”? 😂
I have been doing this professionally for 7+ years I am still trying to figure out how some of us jewelers can do this job for years and years with as much craning their necks I see other jewelers do. The military put a bunch a wearing I my neck I have titanium plate in my neck to repair c6 c7, I have a bunch of equipment to make sure I don't crane as much as possible, and I still have problems at times with pain.
Is it necessary to ware a shirt with holes in it to make these teeny tiny flowers ? Do you cut your own holes in your shirt or is there somewhere to buy them like that ?
5 years ago i decided making jewelry would be my supplemental income so i invested in the tools started making belt buckles with copper then copper n silver then bracelets on and on now 1200 pieces later im making pave eternity bands a 15k London blue with 4 mil halo and wire under gallery with helping hands clay want a pulse welder i think that would be great for your flowers ive always liked handy flux and yes it is sticky i tried the ceramic and cone dont like at all why dont you like handy flux for silver? I use all the time and i to use hard as many times as possible im starting to make smaller n smaller pieces then found you video i really want a pulse welder seems to me it would make life easy to tack pieces then solder do you agree?
Krause burrs are among my faves to use. I’ve never seen a “size” on them; they’re just Krause burrs. Abigail, if you go to Rio & search on “Kraus” (sp?) you’ll see the options that come up.
Hi Maria! I know what you did last night..... watched my RU-vid channel! Thank you for watching and for all your comments!! So, you can endlessly water down handy flux with tap water. If it's really dried out, you can even stick it in the microwave with some water on it to soften and thin it. Bastard files are sold everywhere, hardware stores, home depot, Lowe's, harbor freight etc.
I’m going to make a cosmos flower for a friends wife. Would I also cut the lines from the center or can I hammer a few lines to show the wrinkles in the petals?
Hi, got your great question and will reply extensively in an upcoming video. Quick answer is that it usually doesn't matter that the hard solder reruns.
Beautiful work! just wish your zooming in wasn't so blurry, perhaps try using a 4K camera with macro zoom capabilities so that it doesn't get blurry when zooming in on small objects? Just a suggestion, I'm assuming that you are using silver solder, for all of this I would suggest using silver wire as a framework so that you don't waste silver solder on copper and not be able to get it all off when trying to save the silver wire, left over on the frame. if you use silver wire, then you can throw the whole thing into a crucible and not have to worry about anything, just remelt it for another project. Just a suggestion, I may be missing something but all you're using the wire for is support, then you can have even less waste by residual silver solder on copper wire that cannot be removed. then you can take it to the rolling mill as normal. I really enjoy the fine detail of small pieces like this, your finished work is just beautiful and look very authentic to the original flowers! Fantastic work!!!
Thanks for your comment. There are lots of things I'd improve in this video! If you just take a good look at the title page, you can get a pretty good look. You could friend me on Facebook and see more there if you are interested. Hope you feel you learned something from watching!
