As a creator of mosaics, I am drawn to the patterns and
colors of china and pottery. In my studio, there are stacks of plates, bowls,
and teacups, that are waiting to be incorporated into a mosaic. There are also
several bins full of leftover shards from the pieces of dishes that didn’t make
it into a mosaic.
Recently, I have been experimenting with utilizing leftover
shards to make shard pendants, with a soldered edging.
To learn the process, I purchased a book called Simple
Soldered Jewelry & Accessories, written by Lisa Bluhm. This book gives instructions on tools and
supplies that are needed, and provides easy to follow visual instructions on
the process of soldering.
I bought the most essential supplies first, to give myself
time to decide if this is a project that I wanted to pursue. I purchased a soldering kit from Michaels,
which included a soldering iron, a roll of copper foil, and a container of
solder.
My most used tool, a tile nipper is what I used to cut a
particular design out of a dish, or to even out the sharp edges of an existing china
shard.
Copper foil, which has one sticky side, is wrapped around
the edges of the shard, pressed down, and smoothed. Then using the soldering
iron, solder is melted over the foil, and pulled around the front, side and
back edges, with the tip of the soldering iron; sort of like painting with the
solder. The copper foil should be
covered completely with solder. A jump
ring is soldered in place.
There is so much more to learn about different metals, melting
temperatures, and materials that can be
used. Now, I am ready to purchase more
supplies and tools, and with more practice, I may be able to refine, and
perfect my technique.
Jenny - Reclaimed Designs
