Making a Twisted Wire Two-Toned Band (Part 2)

by Doug Napier
August 27, 2014

Yesterday I twisted up some copper wire and rolled it into a rope-like shape that turned out pretty neat. Now I am scratching my head thinking “what in the world am I going to do with this”? Well I decided to turn it into a two-toned band with a little silver to offset the copper color.

The first thing I do is anneal the copper, because after I rolled it flat, it was “work-hardened” and needs to be softened to be rounded. I do this with a Mini Torch and a fairly bushy flame. If you want to learn more about annealing, click on this link (Annealing) Then I round the copper, trim it at a size 10, file it flush, and solder it closed. I do the same with 2 pieces of silver shank 2.5mm wide and 1mm thick.

After soldering all the pieces into round, size 10 rings, I file the edges of the copper ring and the silver ring flat and solder the pieces together using Medium Silver Solder. I start by tacking, or soldering, just one point of the rings together. Then I place on a Ring Mandrel to align the inside, then I tack a few more points along the inside of the rings. After the first silver ring is tacked, I repeat this on the other side to the other silver ring.

Once tacked, I solder the rest of the way, always adding solder to the inside of the shank, and the heat to the outside, so I draw the solder through the solder joint. After the 3 pieces are soldered together, I brush the pieces with a Brass Brush to brighten them up a bit. Next, I will add a little something to the band to liven it up.

Thanks for stopping by and joining me once again on this jewelry making journey called the JewelryMonk Experience. Hang around the site, check out some of the older posts, and as always, feel free to comment and share.

Now, go take on your day!

Doug

7 thoughts on “Making a Twisted Wire Two-Toned Band (Part 2)”

LindaS August 27, 2014 at 7:00 am

Another good one! Since you use silver solder, how do you prevent the silver solder from flowing onto the copper braid? I have soldered copper rings with silver solder at just the seams and then copper plate the silver seam.
1. JewelryMonk August 27, 2014 at 7:02 am
  
  I use very little solder and solder from the back or inside. You are correct though, you don’t want silver solder in the braid.
  Doug
2. 1. LindaS August 27, 2014 at 10:55 am
    
    Thank you – I do try to use very minimal solder bits and usually have very little solder cleanup.
LindaBoBinda August 27, 2014 at 1:31 pm

Oh this entry has some awesomeness to it! I’m tickled pink to learn so much. I’ve always wondered how to make the bands that look like this and it helps that you refer back to annealing!

And I really love that bit by bit I’m learning about tools from the links of the names that take me straight to Amazon to buy it …which makes MY life a lot easier.

Great job, I really appreciate it!!

Best
LindaBoBinda
1. JewelryMonk August 28, 2014 at 6:15 am
  
  Linda, thank you for your comments and for visiting and following along. It is craftspeople like you and your enthusiasm that keeps me going!
  Thanks!
  Doug
Rowan McIntyre August 28, 2014 at 9:54 am

Hey Doug. Nice piece. Any reason you used medium solder as opposed to hard?
1. JewelryMonk August 28, 2014 at 1:06 pm
  
  Rowan, if i don’t have a lot of soldering to do on a piece, I will use medium all the time. It takes less heat, therefore less firescale. If I have a lot of soldering to do, I will start with hard and finish with medium. I seldom use easy because of the soldering line it sometimes leaves.

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