If you want to make a piece of jewelry of your own, but have never known where to start, this article might be helpful for you. That’s because in the follow-up, we’ll give you some tips that newbies should learn.
1. What kind of jewelry do you want to make?
When you start making jewelry, you first need to know what type of jewelry you want to make. This is because each type of jewelry requires different tools and equipment as well as the expertise and skills needed. Moreover, there are some jewelry that have a high difficulty factor that are not suitable for newbies to start with because the skill level that they need to have is still high. So, if you are a beginner, here are a few of the easier types of jewelry to get started with. You can use them as a starting point for you to begin your jewelry journey.
First up is beading. Beading, as the name suggests, is the process of stringing beads on a thread or a string of beads. Of course, there are many types of beads, such as metal beads, plastic beads, and glass beads. If you master the art of beading, I’m sure it will help you with other more complex jewelry crafts.
The second one is metal stamping. The so-called metal stamping is to prepare a template in advance that you are satisfied with, you can also understand it as something like a stamp. Then the stamp is pressed onto the metal with an external force, eventually leaving a mark on the metal. The content of this stamp is also something that is not limited to just a few patterns; if you want, you can design some word phrases on it that have a specific meaning to you. Metal stamping can be more technical than hand beading though. It may take a lot of time to practice.
Last but not least is silver clay. In case you’re wondering what silver clay is, silver clay consists of 99.9% silver powder mixed with a small amount of organic binders and a small amount of water. The texture of silver clay is not really very different from clay, but after the silver clay is dried, its texture becomes like that of silver metal. This is because all the components other than silver are consumed. In the end, only silver metal with a purity of 99.9% will remain. Since at first you only need to pinch the shape of the jewelry you want like playdough, it’s still relatively easy to do.
The above is just a brief overview of three of the more common ways to make jewelry for newbies. If you have been exposed to jewelry making before, then you can absolutely choose another type of jewelry to aim for based on your current existing skill level.
2. Prepare the required materials and tools
Since you want to learn how to make jewelry, it is unlikely that you will be able to make those fine jewels like with just one hand. That’s why you need to buy some tools to serve as your working partners. However, if you don’t know what kind of tools to choose at first, here are some of the most basic tools that you can recommend. These tools should fulfill your most basic needs. If you subsequently feel that these tools do not meet your needs, you can also search for more functional and complete tools on your own.
- Flat Nose Pliers: Flat Nose Pliers are a tool used by many jewelers. Its purpose includes opening as well as closing jump rings, and also performing some basic wire wrapping operations.
- Round Nose Pliers: Round Nose Pliers are useful for a variety of purposes and can be used to make small metal parts such as coils, elbows, and jump rings. Basically, they can be used to make anything with a curve.
- Wire Cutting Pliers: The purpose of wire cutting pliers is to cut some wire made of metal.
- Jewelry Saw:The purpose of a jewelry saw is to cut a variety of tiny metal parts, such as jump rings.
- Sandpaper: polishing is also important a very important process when making jewelry. You can choose to use abrasive paper. You can also choose to polish with a professional sander if you have the means to do so.
Also, if you want to engrave some book text or patterns on your jewelry, a pneumatic engraver is a good choice and you can do it effortlessly on your jewelry.
3. Choosing the right workspace
The matter of making jewelry is not as specialized as you might think, and you don’t need to go to a special jewelry making studio specifically for the purpose of making jewelry. You can do jewelry making at home as well. You can start this work on a table in your room or on a dining room table. You just need to make sure that your work platform is big enough to accommodate your tools and materials when making jewelry and that’s all you need to do.
4. Learn some essential basics
Some basic professional knowledge is necessary in the process of making jewelry. You can go to the internet and search for some of the more common terms used in jewelry making. Then try to memorize what these terms mean. This will make it easier for you to communicate with other professionals in the future. In addition, you can also go online to search for some related videos about jewelry making. After all, videos are definitely more detailed. Finally, if you are going to be making jewelry very frequently. Then you can consider buying some professional books, just like the jewelry engraving guide.