As with so many things for me, it began with the stones.

I had learned how to cut and polish cabochons and had become reasonably good at it. I knew some wire wrapping techniques and found a book that taught me how to turn a cabochon into a pendant by caging it with wire.

Hook and eye clasp that I made from 14K gold filled wire.

Chain made from sterling silver wire and faceted quartz rondelles with quartz dangles.

Some folks really go to town with the wire work. And the wire, in and of itself, can be quite beautiful and amazing. But for me, it’s all about the stones. So I’ve always used the minimum of wire needed to hold the cabochon securely.

Bernd made the cabochon and set the bone face and amethyst. I did the rest.

But I began to be bored with caging the stones. Everything started to look the same to me. So I asked my boss, George, owner of Arizona Gems and Minerals, what was the minimum I need to get started soldering silver. He asked me how big I wanted to go. I said I’d start small and he showed me what I needed.

I started with the barest minimum:  a butane torch like you use for crème brulee, a soldering block, heatless tweezers, titanium  solder pick, flux, and easy wire solder (melts at the lowest temperature). I got some tips from George, made myself some jump rings to solder closed and thought I was good to go.

Butane torch, soldering block, pick, tweezers, flux and tin of solder chips.

But when it came time to light the torch, I couldn’t do it. It scared me. So I got Bernd to help me. He hadn’t really had any experience with torches either, but he’d done some soldering in his dad’s fine jewelry store; mostly with gold and using a different system (electrical).

Just having him there game me the courage I needed. I set up my rings on the block. I fluxed them and put a small bit of solder at the join. I lit the torch.

George had told me to move the flame around the entire jump ring. The whole thing had to get hot. He said to watch for the color change and the moment when the solder flows.

I did all that and just about jumped for joy when I had soldered shut my first jump ring. I looked at Bernd and could see he was happy for me.

But there were a lot of things George didn’t tell me. Probably for a good reason. Like the molten solder will follow the flame. So you have to be careful about how you remove the flame. Also, the air moves in front of the flame and can blow the solder out of position (the titanium pick comes in handy here because you use it to reposition the solder, which does not stick to titanium). And if you leave the flame on it too long, the whole thing will form up into a ball.

Turned out success with that first jump ring was a fluke. Beginner’s luck. I proceeded to screw up every way possible. But I learned a lot in a very short time. George probably knew that would be the case. I’ve always learned the most from my mistakes. Usually followed by “Well, I’m certainly not doing that again.”

It wasn’t long and I was buying sheet silver and bezel wire and I was bezel setting cabochons. Very small cabochons, because a small butane torch gets only so hot. You have to consider your total heat sink which not only includes the size of the metal you are trying to heat, but all the air in your shop as well.

That’s my very first bezel set cabochon pendant on the left. It’s a really nice chrysoprase. On the right, is some of my later work; Montana agate and peach moonstone.

So next thing I knew, I was buying a tank of acetylene, a proper torch, a bench sheer (for ease in cutting sheet silver), polishing motor, and polishing mops and compounds. There was more. It just sort of snowballed. Bernd made good use of all the equipment too. He still uses the butane torch occasionally. He tends to work smaller than I do. Sometimes the bigger flame from the acetylene torch is too much for what he is doing.

Acetylene tank and torch with striker next to it.

Lighting the acetylene torch with the striker for the first time did give me pause. The loud “whump” as the gas ignited startled me. But before long, I began to anticipate and enjoy the sound because it meant I was about to do something amazing.

Please visit our Etsy shop to see more of our wonderful creations. Also, we’ve added a Clearance section with some great bargains in it. You can find it at jewelrybysyzygy.etsy.com