Extender, as the stake gets hot during this
process; a ring clamp will also work as a
holding device. Dipping the stake in water
will keep it cool enough so it won’t lose its
temper.
Photo 10 If the shape needs to be modi-
fi ed, a few strokes with a fi le can correct
the form. The fi nal hand lapping is done
with 220 emery cloth followed by 320
emery cloth.
Photo 11 Polish the stake on a 4 inch buff ,
which should be very fi rm or hard. The
Grey Star polishing compound works
well on stainless steel. Redoing the stake
should take about 20-30 minutes.
NOTE:The good news is an M-114A (5mm
width) and a M-114B (3mm width) are
now being manufactured for thin bangles.
New stakes are designed around a need.
Photo 12 Planishing the bangle on thenew thinner stake both raises it in and
leaves a hammer texture. The round side
of the planishing hammer (HMR-1) is
used. Start at the top of the dome and
go around the bangle. Then planish the
sides by moving the hammer down the
side of the bangle. Reverse the bangle
to get to the other side and true up
on a round bracelet mandrel. File the
inner edges of convex bangles with a
#2 crossing fi le, then smooth with 320
emery cloth.
Polish the edges fi rst with bobbing
compound on a felt wheel held by the
fl exible shaft’s hand piece. Follow this
with white diamond compound on a
small soft cotton buff.
For the outside use white diamond on
a three inch soft cotton buff mounted on
a polishing motor. It is important not to
overbuff the planishing marks.Sinking the Concave Bangle
Photo 13 Making a bangle concave is
quite diff erent. The M-107 stake I used
has a series of concave areas and is
actually three stakes in one. The entire
process can be done on this stake.
Use a nylon hammer (HMR-7) with the
sharpest cross peen end to form the fl at
metal into the widest concave groove.
Strike the middle of the band to keep
it even. Then repeat the process with
overlapping blows using the middle
groove of the stake.see
more
work
Their Turn
PAGE 810 11
13
The interesting thing about working pure silver is you do not have to
anneal between steps or courses as the metal is being formed.
38
lapidary journal )( Jewelry artist