free site on the Internet and cut out the
outline I made of the back plate and
glued it to the silver.
NOTE: Notice how I drew a line just
inside the outline to serve as the bound-
ary for the piece. I wanted the edge to
be the thickness of both metals, so I
didn’t want any open hearts.
Photo 6 Saw out the outline of the
pendant and start sawing out all of
the heart shapes on the design. After
you have sawn all of them out, fi le any
hearts that need a little touchup.
Photo 7 Sweat solder (tin) the back of
the hearts with medium solder. Join the
sweat soldered hearts piece to another
sheet of silver.
Photo 8 Saw out the outline, and fi le the
edges and sand the piece smooth.Fuse the Filings
Photo 9 Using a technique that Navajo
Artist Richard Tsosie popularized in the
1970s, we’re going to fuse silver fi lings
in the heart cutouts to add texture.
First, paint anti-fl ux in the largest heart
and allow it to dry. Paint a thin coat offl ux in the heart-shaped depressions,
being careful not to get it on the fl at
surface. Sprinkle silver fi lings into the
hearts. (Now you know why you’ve
been saving them all these years.)
Dump off any excess and carefully
wipe off the fl at areas, leaving only the
hearts with silver fi lings in them.
Photo 10 To fuse the fi lings to the silver,
heat the piece until the fi lings glow red.
They are now fused.Q One Hour Bracelets
(video)
Q Mastering Inlay
Methods (on-
demand web
seminar)Available
now at http://www.
interweavestore.com.LEARN MORE
FROM JEFF
FULKERSON67
89
10
28
lapidary journal )( Jewelry artist