A riveted and sandblasted paisley brooch.

Hello friends,

Well I finally finished the brooch I was working on. It's not totally what I initially had in mind... but I am happy enough with it.

It was an exercise in using a jewellery saw, drilling holes and making rivets from go to whoa. The rivets are holding the brooch pin in place.

 Ha! Sorry about the background prop! ( my glasses case... I don't have Prada glasses, it's just the case!)

If you are interested in how to make rivets these are the steps ..

. cut 1cm of 1.5mm ( 15gauge) soft sterling round wire, file gently to have a good flat surface

. put it in a vice with only a small amount poking up.. say 2mm (have it tight but not so tight it will dig in to the metal... think about some tape on the vice edges to protect the soft metal))

. using the round end of a  ball pein hammer,  hammer around the edge of the wire in a circular pattern.. or you could hammer  in the pattern, 12, 6, 9, 3.

. the wire will start to make a little mushroom shape which is what you want. You may need to adjust the vice and wire if it slips down/and if you want to hammer more. If the 'mushroom' shape bends to the side, you may have the wire protruding too high above the vice. Keep on going until you are happy with the result.

. thread the finished rivet through the back of your piece, through your pre-drilled hole. ( use a 1.5mm drill bit) 

. mark and cut the wire at 1mm in length, file smooth.

. tape your work (painters tape) piece for protection and hammer the 2nd end of the rivet in the same way as the first. Try and make them the same size. ( Hmmm.. you can see mine are not equal) 

. you can then flatten the rivets with the flat end of the hammer if desired which is what I have done on my brooch. These are called 'proud' rivets as they sit above the piece. You can have them shaped in a much higher, domed look too... either look is just a matter of taste and design.

It's a slow process, but undoubtedly one does get faster with lots of practice... which I am yet to do! 

To finish my brooch, I gave it a sandblasted finish which results in a matt appearance.

So thats it for today...I hope you enjoy yours.