Jewelry-Making Resources

To install a blade in the jewelers saw frame: Loosen the wing nuts on the saw. Slip one end of the blade into the fixture. Make sure the blade's teeth are pointing out and down. (Sort of like a Christmas tree.) ...

Leather is more flexible than the metal that these rivets are designed for, so it's important to add a final bead (any color) on the backside of the bracelet, so the tiny finished/set rivet does not pull through the leather.

Created by: Rita Hutchinson 1. The extra jump rings used when hanging the cluster of charms on this necklace help keep the spiral charm facing forward. 2. For instructions on making beaded head pin loops, and the best way to open and close jump rings, see Basic Jewelry-Making Technique Sheet (PDF)

Start with plenty of 26-gauge wire, and anchor wire to one side of arc connector. Add 4mm beads and extra lashes between each bead. Finish off the end with additional anchor lashing. Tighten anchor lashes with pliers.

Created by: Mollie Valente 1. Use a steel burnisher to carefully smooth (burnish) the prongs down onto the rivoli stone in the bezel setting. 2. For step-by-step instructions on setting a crystal stone in a bezel, see below.

Created by: Michelle Horning 1. For step-by-step instructions on creating macramé jewelry, see How to Macramé a Hemp Bracelet. 2. A choker will usually fit as a double wrap bracelet on most people. Double the amount of working and anchor cord in the original (blog) tutorial for this project.

Learn a simple and sparkling way to make bangle bracelets with hex wire. No soldering or wire wrapping required! Created by: Rita Hutchinson 1. Unroll and straighten enough wire for all bracelets you plan to make. Add an extra few inches of wire, as the ends won’t be twisted, and the total length will shrink a tiny bit.

Created by: Mollie Valente 1. The Complete Metalsmith provides a useful chart for selecting saw blades. 2. Use rubber cement to adhere a paper Scottie dog pattern to the brass. Saw the design out. File the metal to shape. 3.Repeat process with patterned brass heart.

Learn more about elements, alloys, base metals, platings, allergies, and precious metals: Metals can be elements or alloys. Examples of elements: Oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and niobium (Nb). Alloys are mixtures of various elements. Alloys can be a "base" (less costly) metal, like brass, or a "precious" (more costly) metal, like sterling silver or karat gold. Jewelers and engineers create alloys to change the color, melting temperature, and/or strength of elements. For example, solid gold is too soft for most applications. To make it stronger, it is alloyed (mixed) with other elements.

Learn a great trick for soldering links with delicate beads on them -- this even works for pearls!! (But you'll need to hand clean the links, because pearls don't like pickle or tumbling.) 1.Unspool approximately 26" of copper wire. Pull it smooth with flat nylon-jaw pliers. 2.Trim the end neatly (flush) with flush cutters. 3.Use ring-bending pliers to make as many equal sized coils as you can easily fit on the pliers.

Created by: Polly Nobbs-LaRue 1.Unspool approximately 20" of copper wire. Pull it smooth with flat nylon-jaw pliers. 2.Trim the end neatly (flush) with flush cutters. 3.Coil the wire around a 14-20mm round mandrel, looping pliers, or bail-making pliers.

Created by: Cindy Morris 1. String necklace and finish ends following directions in Beading Cable How-to Sheet below. Use Wire Guardians for a professional finish at the ends of your beading cable. When using soft solder, you can use either a soldering iron or a gentle touch with a butane micro torch.

Created by: Rita Hutchinson 1. Clean both parts with alcohol and allow to dry. Apply flux to key points on the back of the scarab, and then apply small dots of solder to these points using soldering iron. 2. Add flux to the flat side of the money clip. Set money clip in pumice, arranging so that the top of the clip is level. Set the scarab on top of the clip in desired location.

Amethyst is the most highly prized variety of quartz and if not for its widespread availability, would be very expensive. With its luscious color, it is the official birthstone for February and one of our best-selling gemstones. Amethyst is formed in silica-rich liquids deposited in gas cavities (geodes) in lava. It occurs in crystalline masses, but the crystals are generally not well developed, so they are generally found as clusters of crystal points. Though geodes are the best place to find amethysts, ...

Showroom Directions: Our new Showroom & Warehouse are at 2nd & Arthur (in Spokane, WA), first parking lot on your right. If you're on 3rd (coming from downtown): take a left at Arthur (just before Office Depot), go North on Arthur 1 block, go into the 1st parking lot on your right. We are at the end of the parking lot. If you're on 2nd (heading west): take a right at Arthur, go into the 1st parking lot on your right. We are at the end of the parking lot.

This project uses durable, springy memory wire as the base, and 26-gauge dark blue Artistic Wire as an accent. Created by: Amy Mickelson 1. Use heavy-duty cutters to cut memory wire. 2. Lashing the beads onto the memory from the center outward allows you to keep half of the wire needed on the spool, making the wire wrapping easier to manage.