Today’s tips for creating a decorative wire border around a bezel are sponsored by @turquoise_moose they have generously offered our community 15% off using code MSS through the end of August.
Here are some tips for working with decorative wire:
1️⃣ ALWAYS anneal. Anneal before you even begin to bend the wire and if you haven’t quite got the wire tight around your bezel it doesn’t hurt to anneal once more! Decorative wires and gallery wires can be a bit brittle and can crack and break when they are not annealed.
2️⃣ Solder your decorative wire closed like you would a bezel, and then check that the wire fits tightly around the bezel. A tight, flush fit will solder more easily and give you the best looking solder seam.
3️⃣ When you are satisfied you have a nice fit, sand the bottom of the bezel and decorative wire together. This will ensure they sit nice and flat on the baseplate.
4️⃣ Placing your solder inside the bezel and heating from below will help pull the solder through the bezel and wire. It will allow you to focus the heat on the larger piece of metal (the baseplate) and avoid melting the thinner metals (decorative wire and bezel.) Also important that if you place solder next to the decorative wire you are likely to have it run into the pattern which is very hard to clean.
5️⃣ Add a patina! Patina will help the details of your decorative wire pop and also good at hiding imperfections 😉
I would LOVE to hear from you! If you have your own tips on how to get your decorative wire looking perfect around a bezel please share with our community! Email me with pictures and/or video at tips@metalsmithsociety.com thank you again to @turquoise_moose for your support of our community! #bezelmaking #bezelsetting #jewelrymakingtutorials
