Sea Treasures Hammered Earrings, Bracelet, and Necklace Chapter 9
3.Using a jeweler’s saw or tin snips, cut the
fish shapes from the H” × 2 H” hammered
sterling sheet silver. If you are using tin snips
and not a jeweler’s saw, cut outside the mark-
er line you drew around the fish shapes to
allow you room to refine the edges with the
file after the fish shapes are cut out. If you
used tin snips, the pieces will not be flat after
you cut them, so you will need to place the
fish shapes on a hard, flat surface and use a
rawhide mallet to flatten them. If you do not
have a rawhide mallet, place the fish shapes
on a hard, flat surface, cover the pieces with
a thick piece of scrap leather, and gently tap
the leather covered fish shapes with a flat
hammer to flatten them.1.Place the H” × 2 H” piece of sterling sheet
silver onto a hard, flat surface. (For this
project, I used a regular ball peen hammer
purchased at a home improvement store.
There are many great jeweler’s hammers
available, but if you are just starting out
making jewelry, you may want to start with
this inexpensive version.) Use the round end
of the ball peen hammer to strike the surface
of the sheet silver multiple times, making a
uniform hammered texture. If you will also
make the earring and bracelet projects, you
may want to texture all of the sterling sheet
silver pieces at the same time.
2.Decide on the shapes of the fish that you
want to use and draw the shapes with mark-
er onto the H” × 2 H” piece of 18-gauge
sterling sheet silver. You can free-hand draw
the fish shapes, or you can use a design from
a wide selection of available clip art. You can
make the fish shapes identical or make them
different from each other for added interest.
You may find that using a simple shape will
be easier the first time you do this project.