Lesson 7: Other findings
Pin backs:
• In addition to ear wires, pin backs are also very easy to make and add a lot of value to your piece.
• Use nickel silver instead of sterling- it is stronger and harder.
• You can also use steel. If using steel, remember no pickling!
• Common types of pin backs are the stem and catch (and their endless variations) and the stud variety.
• The stud pin backs are great for heavier brooches/pins that may flop forward if supported by a single stem. You can get these commercially.
• The one drawback of the stud type is that it is harder to affix.
• After soldering your pin backs or stud post, tumble if possible.
• If not tumbling, twist the stud post back and forth with a pair of pliers to harden and hammer the band of the pin stem. If using steel, no hardening is necessary.
Cufflinks:
• Cufflink findings come in several forms: T-Bar, Solid, and Riveted.
• The style preferred by most men is a riveted T-Bar, or T-Bar that is connected with jump rings. This style is easiest to put on and the range of motion keeps the cufflink on better, and puts less stress on the joint between cufflink back and cufflink.
• These can be either hand-made or purchased commercially. If you are planning to use the T-Bar, they are easier to purchase.
Tie Tacks and Tie Clips:
• Tie Tacks are very similar to the Stud style pin back. Some tie tack studs have a small upturned point of metal which helps to keep the tie pin oriented correctly.
• Tie clips slide onto a tie. They are better suited for larger pieces than a tie tack, since the clip finding is larger.
• Both of these are available commercially.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Lesson: Commercial Stone Settings
Lesson 5: Commercial Stone Settings
In production jewelry, commercial stone settings can be a valuable time saver. You should use commercial settings for smaller stones (1.5-6 or 7 mm) that have standard cuts- round, oval, baguette. For smaller stones, the time saved by purchasing the settings offsets the costs. As stones get larger, commercial settings are harder to find in a variety of styles.
You should not use commercial settings for any unusual cuts, irregular cuts, or for large stones. For these types of stones, you can make the setting easier, and the stone is a larger part of the overall design, so customization and integration of the setting becomes more important.
Commercial finding are usually made one of 2 ways- die-struck or cast. Die-struck settings tend to be cleaner and more exact regarding size. Cast settings usually require more cleanup of the setting to remove mold marks and usually have thicker walls, but are softer.
Bezel settings:
Commercial bezel settings usually come in 2 different types: bezel cups and open back or tapered tube bezels. If you have a faceted stone, get the open backed settings. If you have a cabochon, you can get either setting.
Remember to drill a small hole in the bottom of the bezel cup so that you can pop your stone out prior to setting if needed.
Prong settings:
Some prong settings also have an option of coming pre-notched. Unless you are certain that the gemstones you are setting are calibrated, I recommend against this. Cutting the notches doesn’t take very long, and that way you are assured of a perfect fit every time. The pre-notched settings are aimed for jewelers who are setting tens or hundreds of the exact same stone.
Prong settings also come in different heights. In deciding what height to buy, consider how high you want your stone to sit up from the piece. If you are setting a stone in a concave shape, you may want a higher setting, than if you were setting it on the top of a ring.
Using commercial settings:
• Make sure that the setting is cleaned up, any blemishes or mold marks removed.
• Check to see that the setting fits into your piece. Adjust if necessary.
• Make sure that your stone fits into the setting. If the stone doesn’t fit, see how close it is to fitting. If it is very close, make the minor adjustments to the setting, then retry the stone.
• If the stone is not close to fitting, order a new setting.
• To enlarge the setting slightly, place on mandrel and tap gently with a mallet. This should open the setting up slightly.
• If it is a bezel, or a prong setting with thick prongs, use a setting bur to remove material from inside the setting.
• For bezels, remove any excess thickness on the bezel wall from the outside.
• Solder the setting into place.
• For prong settings, notch the prongs.
• Once the rest of your piece is completed, set the stones.
In production jewelry, commercial stone settings can be a valuable time saver. You should use commercial settings for smaller stones (1.5-6 or 7 mm) that have standard cuts- round, oval, baguette. For smaller stones, the time saved by purchasing the settings offsets the costs. As stones get larger, commercial settings are harder to find in a variety of styles.
You should not use commercial settings for any unusual cuts, irregular cuts, or for large stones. For these types of stones, you can make the setting easier, and the stone is a larger part of the overall design, so customization and integration of the setting becomes more important.
Commercial finding are usually made one of 2 ways- die-struck or cast. Die-struck settings tend to be cleaner and more exact regarding size. Cast settings usually require more cleanup of the setting to remove mold marks and usually have thicker walls, but are softer.
Bezel settings:
Commercial bezel settings usually come in 2 different types: bezel cups and open back or tapered tube bezels. If you have a faceted stone, get the open backed settings. If you have a cabochon, you can get either setting.
Remember to drill a small hole in the bottom of the bezel cup so that you can pop your stone out prior to setting if needed.
Prong settings:
Some prong settings also have an option of coming pre-notched. Unless you are certain that the gemstones you are setting are calibrated, I recommend against this. Cutting the notches doesn’t take very long, and that way you are assured of a perfect fit every time. The pre-notched settings are aimed for jewelers who are setting tens or hundreds of the exact same stone.
Prong settings also come in different heights. In deciding what height to buy, consider how high you want your stone to sit up from the piece. If you are setting a stone in a concave shape, you may want a higher setting, than if you were setting it on the top of a ring.
Using commercial settings:
• Make sure that the setting is cleaned up, any blemishes or mold marks removed.
• Check to see that the setting fits into your piece. Adjust if necessary.
• Make sure that your stone fits into the setting. If the stone doesn’t fit, see how close it is to fitting. If it is very close, make the minor adjustments to the setting, then retry the stone.
• If the stone is not close to fitting, order a new setting.
• To enlarge the setting slightly, place on mandrel and tap gently with a mallet. This should open the setting up slightly.
• If it is a bezel, or a prong setting with thick prongs, use a setting bur to remove material from inside the setting.
• For bezels, remove any excess thickness on the bezel wall from the outside.
• Solder the setting into place.
• For prong settings, notch the prongs.
• Once the rest of your piece is completed, set the stones.
Business: Logo and Image
Business 4: Logo and Image
It’s important to set yourself apart. We’ve discussed how to make your work unique, now it’s time to think about branding your business. You want to create a business image that conveys to customers what to expect. Creating your logo is the first step.
You want your logo to be easily identifiable. Things to consider including in your logo: name or initials, your signature, a shape that repeats in your jewelry.
Besides use on business cards and other company materials, jewelers often sign their work with their logo. It is important to sign your work as it increases the value of the work to buyers and collectors. In addition to a signature or logo, you should also mark the jewelry with what metal(s) it is made from.
Many suppliers carry metal marking stamps with the common alloys. Stamps usually come in 2 types- a straight shank stamp, which is good for marking most items; and a curved shank stamp, which is good for marking hard to reach areas and the inside of rings.
Some pieces are not easily stamped. In this event, you can also sign your piece and denote the metal by hand. Use a very small bur in the flexshaft to engrave the information onto your piece.
Common abbreviations for metals:
STER, .925, SS: sterling silver
.999, FS: fine silver
18K, .750: 18 karat golds
14K, .580: 14 karat golds
10K: 10 karat golds
PLAT, 900PLAT, 950PLAT: Platinum
Also think about your overall “look” and image. This includes your logo, any fonts you use for typed documents, your display when selling jewelry, your website. Think of how you want to be portrayed- Simple and Elegant? Quirky? Colorful? An excellent example of branding is Tiffany & Co. Those blue boxes and bags are iconic.
It’s important to set yourself apart. We’ve discussed how to make your work unique, now it’s time to think about branding your business. You want to create a business image that conveys to customers what to expect. Creating your logo is the first step.
You want your logo to be easily identifiable. Things to consider including in your logo: name or initials, your signature, a shape that repeats in your jewelry.
Besides use on business cards and other company materials, jewelers often sign their work with their logo. It is important to sign your work as it increases the value of the work to buyers and collectors. In addition to a signature or logo, you should also mark the jewelry with what metal(s) it is made from.
Many suppliers carry metal marking stamps with the common alloys. Stamps usually come in 2 types- a straight shank stamp, which is good for marking most items; and a curved shank stamp, which is good for marking hard to reach areas and the inside of rings.
Some pieces are not easily stamped. In this event, you can also sign your piece and denote the metal by hand. Use a very small bur in the flexshaft to engrave the information onto your piece.
Common abbreviations for metals:
STER, .925, SS: sterling silver
.999, FS: fine silver
18K, .750: 18 karat golds
14K, .580: 14 karat golds
10K: 10 karat golds
PLAT, 900PLAT, 950PLAT: Platinum
Also think about your overall “look” and image. This includes your logo, any fonts you use for typed documents, your display when selling jewelry, your website. Think of how you want to be portrayed- Simple and Elegant? Quirky? Colorful? An excellent example of branding is Tiffany & Co. Those blue boxes and bags are iconic.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Lesson: Working with Castings
Lesson 4: Working with Castings
The Tools
When working on the flexshaft: Always wear eye protection!! Don’t over tighten bits in the flexshaft. Make sure to return chuck key to drawer! Leave flexshaft handpiece hanging, not on the desk or in the drawer.
Types of flexshaft bits:
Heatless Grinding (mizzy) wheels: White
Highly aggressive removal of material. Used for grinding down a lot of excess metal, or sprues from castings. Use mask and grinding box.
Hard Abrasive points: Usually green or brown.
These are shaped bits used to aggressively remove material. Can get places a file can’t. They usually leave a rough texture.
Rubberized Abrasive wheels: Various colors for different grits.
For the ones we use… White= coarse Black= medium Blue= fine (pre-polish)
Knife-edge wheels are good for joints, textures, crevices. Regular wheels are better for flat surfaces. Start with white, and then move to black, then blue. For the best results, keep wheels moving and use light pressure. Use mask and grinding box.
Steel burs-
We have a variety of different sizes and shapes. Use all of these with bur-life. All aggressively remove metal.
Ball Bur: all purpose for concave areas. Cup Bur: good for rounding ends of prongs,
ear wires or shaping balled ends of wires
Bud Bur: good for crevices and tight spaces Hart Bur: good for setting, cutting grooves
Setting Bur: good for settings
Sandpaper rolls: Great for inside ring bands and bracelets, concave curves. Use mask.
Sandpaper discs: Great for flat or convex surfaces. Can sand in areas files don’t reach. Removes metal much quicker than regular sandpapering because of the rotation. Go from coarse to fine. Use mask.
3M Bristle Discs: yellow= 80grit red=220grit blue=400grit
Good for finishing tight areas and Matte finishing. Gets into everywhere. They do wear out quickly. You must use 2+ discs at a time. Use mask.
Polishing wheels: We have hard felt in both point and wheel shape as well as soft muslin in wheel
shape. Felt is good for flat surfaces or if you want to polish high points of texture. Points are good for inside rings, or concave shapes. Muslin is better for getting a bumpy or uneven surface. You must use polishing compound with these. Use mask and grinding box.
Bristle wheels: We have natural bristle wheels that can be used with polishing compound to polish in small hard to reach areas. Gets into filigree and fine details better than muslin buffs do.
Also have brass and steel bristle wheels that burnish the surface of the metal. Not as even as a polished surface, but a high shine.
Bits: general term for flexshaft thingies.
Buffs: specific to polishing bits, especially wheels (they buff a piece)
Burs: any steel bits
Soldering, Cleaning, Finishing
Working with castings is much the same as working with any other metal piece. There are some important differences to remember.
• Castings are solid, and tend to be heavier than fabrications. Make sure that when soldering you concentrate your flame on heating the casting. Most findings are small and light to begin with. Use a third hand to hold the findings and act as a heat sink when possible.
• Castings have a tendency to be a bit “soft” when you get them back. When sheet and wire are made, they are put under pressure to form them into sheet or wire. Castings are poured metal, and haven’t been under any pressure. Before soldering, it helps to either burnish or file the areas you are gong to be soldering to remove some of that “softness”. You can also tumble the pieces prior to soldering. This makes the soldering go much more smoothly.
To clean your castings (this is where that flexshaft comes in…):
• Saw off the sprue with a large size saw blade (1– not 1/0, 3, or 4)
• Cut as close to the piece as you can with out cutting the piece!
• Use the bur life on your saw blade and be patient
• Use the mizzy wheels to grind down the remainder of the sprue stump to the surface of the piece. Grind down any big lumps or bumps in the piece.
• If possible, use your files now to even out the ground areas.
• GO to the sandpaper discs or the rubber abrasive wheels and begin to finish any areas.
• You can use the tumbler to achieve either a matte, satin or polished look for your pieces.
o Green ceramic media: matte finish
o White ceramic media: satin finish
o Steel shot: polished finish
• Remember that the shot doesn’t remove metal so it will not take away any scratches in your piece, it will just polish the scratches.
• For the green and white media, you can stop finishing with the flexshaft about halfway- black wheels or red bristle discs, or 400 grit sandpaper
• For the shot, you need to go up to pre-polish- blue wheels, pink bristle discs, or 1000 grit sandpaper.
To tumble:
• Put appropriate shot into tumbler, enough to cover your piece(s).
• Put your piece in.
• Fill with water to cover both media and piece.
• Add about ½ capful of soap solution.
• Screw on top.
• Put tumbler on base with top facing out.
• Turn on.
• Check for any leakage.
• Let tumble: 45min-1hr for matter or satin finish; 2-4 hours for hardening.
• After done, take sieve and place in sink.
• Open tumbler and pour contents into sieve. This will retain your pieces and the media while getting rid of the dirty water.
• Pluck your pieces out and dry.
• Rinse the shot and air dry.
• For a gunmetal finish, you can tumble with steel shot after using liver of sulfur. If you do this, make sure that you wash out the inside of the tumbler with soap and water, and wash the shot thoroughly before air drying.
The Tools
When working on the flexshaft: Always wear eye protection!! Don’t over tighten bits in the flexshaft. Make sure to return chuck key to drawer! Leave flexshaft handpiece hanging, not on the desk or in the drawer.
Types of flexshaft bits:
Heatless Grinding (mizzy) wheels: White
Highly aggressive removal of material. Used for grinding down a lot of excess metal, or sprues from castings. Use mask and grinding box.
Hard Abrasive points: Usually green or brown.
These are shaped bits used to aggressively remove material. Can get places a file can’t. They usually leave a rough texture.
Rubberized Abrasive wheels: Various colors for different grits.
For the ones we use… White= coarse Black= medium Blue= fine (pre-polish)
Knife-edge wheels are good for joints, textures, crevices. Regular wheels are better for flat surfaces. Start with white, and then move to black, then blue. For the best results, keep wheels moving and use light pressure. Use mask and grinding box.
Steel burs-
We have a variety of different sizes and shapes. Use all of these with bur-life. All aggressively remove metal.
Ball Bur: all purpose for concave areas. Cup Bur: good for rounding ends of prongs,
ear wires or shaping balled ends of wires
Bud Bur: good for crevices and tight spaces Hart Bur: good for setting, cutting grooves
Setting Bur: good for settings
Sandpaper rolls: Great for inside ring bands and bracelets, concave curves. Use mask.
Sandpaper discs: Great for flat or convex surfaces. Can sand in areas files don’t reach. Removes metal much quicker than regular sandpapering because of the rotation. Go from coarse to fine. Use mask.
3M Bristle Discs: yellow= 80grit red=220grit blue=400grit
Good for finishing tight areas and Matte finishing. Gets into everywhere. They do wear out quickly. You must use 2+ discs at a time. Use mask.
Polishing wheels: We have hard felt in both point and wheel shape as well as soft muslin in wheel
shape. Felt is good for flat surfaces or if you want to polish high points of texture. Points are good for inside rings, or concave shapes. Muslin is better for getting a bumpy or uneven surface. You must use polishing compound with these. Use mask and grinding box.
Bristle wheels: We have natural bristle wheels that can be used with polishing compound to polish in small hard to reach areas. Gets into filigree and fine details better than muslin buffs do.
Also have brass and steel bristle wheels that burnish the surface of the metal. Not as even as a polished surface, but a high shine.
Bits: general term for flexshaft thingies.
Buffs: specific to polishing bits, especially wheels (they buff a piece)
Burs: any steel bits
Soldering, Cleaning, Finishing
Working with castings is much the same as working with any other metal piece. There are some important differences to remember.
• Castings are solid, and tend to be heavier than fabrications. Make sure that when soldering you concentrate your flame on heating the casting. Most findings are small and light to begin with. Use a third hand to hold the findings and act as a heat sink when possible.
• Castings have a tendency to be a bit “soft” when you get them back. When sheet and wire are made, they are put under pressure to form them into sheet or wire. Castings are poured metal, and haven’t been under any pressure. Before soldering, it helps to either burnish or file the areas you are gong to be soldering to remove some of that “softness”. You can also tumble the pieces prior to soldering. This makes the soldering go much more smoothly.
To clean your castings (this is where that flexshaft comes in…):
• Saw off the sprue with a large size saw blade (1– not 1/0, 3, or 4)
• Cut as close to the piece as you can with out cutting the piece!
• Use the bur life on your saw blade and be patient
• Use the mizzy wheels to grind down the remainder of the sprue stump to the surface of the piece. Grind down any big lumps or bumps in the piece.
• If possible, use your files now to even out the ground areas.
• GO to the sandpaper discs or the rubber abrasive wheels and begin to finish any areas.
• You can use the tumbler to achieve either a matte, satin or polished look for your pieces.
o Green ceramic media: matte finish
o White ceramic media: satin finish
o Steel shot: polished finish
• Remember that the shot doesn’t remove metal so it will not take away any scratches in your piece, it will just polish the scratches.
• For the green and white media, you can stop finishing with the flexshaft about halfway- black wheels or red bristle discs, or 400 grit sandpaper
• For the shot, you need to go up to pre-polish- blue wheels, pink bristle discs, or 1000 grit sandpaper.
To tumble:
• Put appropriate shot into tumbler, enough to cover your piece(s).
• Put your piece in.
• Fill with water to cover both media and piece.
• Add about ½ capful of soap solution.
• Screw on top.
• Put tumbler on base with top facing out.
• Turn on.
• Check for any leakage.
• Let tumble: 45min-1hr for matter or satin finish; 2-4 hours for hardening.
• After done, take sieve and place in sink.
• Open tumbler and pour contents into sieve. This will retain your pieces and the media while getting rid of the dirty water.
• Pluck your pieces out and dry.
• Rinse the shot and air dry.
• For a gunmetal finish, you can tumble with steel shot after using liver of sulfur. If you do this, make sure that you wash out the inside of the tumbler with soap and water, and wash the shot thoroughly before air drying.
Lesson: Earring Findings
Lesson 3: Earring Findings
Making ear wires is so easy that I recommend that you make your own.
Creating your own findings adds value to your jewelry by setting it apart. It can distinguish your piece from your competitor’s. Make the shape of your ear wire go with the overall design of your piece- customize!
Ear wires: Usually 20ga. wire. Some people prefer 22ga.
• Cut 2 lengths of wire.
• Some common ways to attach ear wires are:
o Soldered directly to the earring
o End balled, attached through a jump ring
o End forming a ring, attached through a hole or jump ring
o End balled or T, wire run through hole in piece for ball/socket joint
• Use the bezel mandrel or round/flat pliers to for shape.
• To test balance and to make sure the earrings hang at the same level, hang them over the handle of your needle files, or a pencil. If the earring tips forward you need a longer wire in the back. The earring tipping forward means that the wire is not counterbalancing the weight of the earring, and makes it likely that it will work its way out of the ear.
• Using the round/flat pliers, give the end of the wire a slight bend, which also helps make it harder to slip out of the ear.
• Make sure the wires are the same length.
• Use your cup/concave bur on the ends so that they are not sharp.
• If tumbling, tumble the earrings to harden the wires.
• If you aren’t tumbling, use the flat side of the goldsmith’s hammer on the curve of the wire to give tension.
• Consider soldering a piece of wire on to create a hook for the wire to latch into. Added security!
Ear posts: Ear posts and their backs are one finding I recommend that you buy. There are several different types of ear posts available. Most posts have notches cut into them, so that they snap into the backs at that point. Ear posts are available in different thicknesses (.028-.036”) - .030” is a good standard thickness.
Posts are also available as a straight post or with pads or cups on the ends.
Posts with pads are very useful. They are available in a variety of different size pads, and the pad helps you to position the ear post perpendicular to the earring.
If you are going to be soldering posts onto a very narrow area, you will be better off with a straight post.
Ear posts with cups are good for curved surfaces. Some of the posts with cups have a small post in the center of the cup. These are for gluing a pearl onto to create the classic pearl ear stud.
Posts are also sometimes available with a ball on the end and a small jump ring soldered to the ball. These are best suited for beadwork.
There are also threaded ear posts available where the ear nut is screwed onto the post as opposed to being held on by tension. These are great for expensive earrings and good as a special order option.
Ear nuts: Most ear nuts are tension based. The two most common designs are the bullet style and the friction style.
The bullet back has rubber inside of it, which puts pressure on the entire length of the post. These are often more comfortable that the friction style for people with thinner ears, and they cover more of the post. The bullet backs are not available in a wide a variety of sizes.
The friction style is the most common. It is available in many sizes and weights. The light-weight backs are pretty flimsy- I would suggest medium or heavy weight. It is better to get a larger size than to increase the weight of the metal. The largest size of friction backs is popular with older women who have one hole that has stretched as it holds most styles of studs upright and centered on the hole.
Omega Backs: Omega backs are a versatile earring back since they can be used either as a clip or in combination with a post. Many women like them with a post since this eliminates the need to keep track of an earring back.
Most Omega backs come unassembled. There are 3 parts to the back- the joint, the rivet, and the clip.
To use an Omega Back:
• To determine the placement of the joint, fit the clip into the joint.
• Lay assembly against the back of your earring.
• Mark where the joint should be soldered, and remove the clip from the joint.
• Solder the joint onto your piece after sanding your piece, but before pre-polishing.
• Solder before stone setting, enamelling or epoxy, patination.
• Pickle and finish cleaning and polishing your piece.
• Do any tumbling.
• Fit the clip into the joint. The holes in the clip and the holes in the joint should line up.
• Fit the rivet wire into the hole and pull through until it stops.
• The rivet wire comes with one end flattened, so it will not pull all the way through.
• If you have trouble getting the rivet in, make sure that the holes are the correct size, and open up with a drill if needed.
• Place with flattened end against a steel block and rivet.
• Use the black and blue wheels to clean up the rivet and polish.
• Test the clip.
• You can bend the joint to adjust the distance between clip and earring back.
• If you are using with a post, solder the post on first, then figure out joint placement.
Screw backs: Screw backs are another style of clip earring back. They come preassembled. The front of the finding has a pad on it, which you solder to the back of your piece. A nice feature about the screw back is that it is adjustable for different ear thicknesses. When soldering, coat the screw with yellow ochre to prevent it from seizing.
Lever backs: Lever backs are a style of hook ear wire that has a back part that flips up. The wire goes through your ear, and then a channeled back flips up to cover the end of the wire and protect the earring from falling out. Many people prefer the lever back because of the security it offers. Lever backs usually come preassembled, and the earring is simply soldered onto the finding. Use a third hand (or chill gel) as a heat sink to keep the tension in the back from loosening.
Making ear wires is so easy that I recommend that you make your own.
Creating your own findings adds value to your jewelry by setting it apart. It can distinguish your piece from your competitor’s. Make the shape of your ear wire go with the overall design of your piece- customize!
Ear wires: Usually 20ga. wire. Some people prefer 22ga.
• Cut 2 lengths of wire.
• Some common ways to attach ear wires are:
o Soldered directly to the earring
o End balled, attached through a jump ring
o End forming a ring, attached through a hole or jump ring
o End balled or T, wire run through hole in piece for ball/socket joint
• Use the bezel mandrel or round/flat pliers to for shape.
• To test balance and to make sure the earrings hang at the same level, hang them over the handle of your needle files, or a pencil. If the earring tips forward you need a longer wire in the back. The earring tipping forward means that the wire is not counterbalancing the weight of the earring, and makes it likely that it will work its way out of the ear.
• Using the round/flat pliers, give the end of the wire a slight bend, which also helps make it harder to slip out of the ear.
• Make sure the wires are the same length.
• Use your cup/concave bur on the ends so that they are not sharp.
• If tumbling, tumble the earrings to harden the wires.
• If you aren’t tumbling, use the flat side of the goldsmith’s hammer on the curve of the wire to give tension.
• Consider soldering a piece of wire on to create a hook for the wire to latch into. Added security!
Ear posts: Ear posts and their backs are one finding I recommend that you buy. There are several different types of ear posts available. Most posts have notches cut into them, so that they snap into the backs at that point. Ear posts are available in different thicknesses (.028-.036”) - .030” is a good standard thickness.
Posts are also available as a straight post or with pads or cups on the ends.
Posts with pads are very useful. They are available in a variety of different size pads, and the pad helps you to position the ear post perpendicular to the earring.
If you are going to be soldering posts onto a very narrow area, you will be better off with a straight post.
Ear posts with cups are good for curved surfaces. Some of the posts with cups have a small post in the center of the cup. These are for gluing a pearl onto to create the classic pearl ear stud.
Posts are also sometimes available with a ball on the end and a small jump ring soldered to the ball. These are best suited for beadwork.
There are also threaded ear posts available where the ear nut is screwed onto the post as opposed to being held on by tension. These are great for expensive earrings and good as a special order option.
Ear nuts: Most ear nuts are tension based. The two most common designs are the bullet style and the friction style.
The bullet back has rubber inside of it, which puts pressure on the entire length of the post. These are often more comfortable that the friction style for people with thinner ears, and they cover more of the post. The bullet backs are not available in a wide a variety of sizes.
The friction style is the most common. It is available in many sizes and weights. The light-weight backs are pretty flimsy- I would suggest medium or heavy weight. It is better to get a larger size than to increase the weight of the metal. The largest size of friction backs is popular with older women who have one hole that has stretched as it holds most styles of studs upright and centered on the hole.
Omega Backs: Omega backs are a versatile earring back since they can be used either as a clip or in combination with a post. Many women like them with a post since this eliminates the need to keep track of an earring back.
Most Omega backs come unassembled. There are 3 parts to the back- the joint, the rivet, and the clip.
To use an Omega Back:
• To determine the placement of the joint, fit the clip into the joint.
• Lay assembly against the back of your earring.
• Mark where the joint should be soldered, and remove the clip from the joint.
• Solder the joint onto your piece after sanding your piece, but before pre-polishing.
• Solder before stone setting, enamelling or epoxy, patination.
• Pickle and finish cleaning and polishing your piece.
• Do any tumbling.
• Fit the clip into the joint. The holes in the clip and the holes in the joint should line up.
• Fit the rivet wire into the hole and pull through until it stops.
• The rivet wire comes with one end flattened, so it will not pull all the way through.
• If you have trouble getting the rivet in, make sure that the holes are the correct size, and open up with a drill if needed.
• Place with flattened end against a steel block and rivet.
• Use the black and blue wheels to clean up the rivet and polish.
• Test the clip.
• You can bend the joint to adjust the distance between clip and earring back.
• If you are using with a post, solder the post on first, then figure out joint placement.
Screw backs: Screw backs are another style of clip earring back. They come preassembled. The front of the finding has a pad on it, which you solder to the back of your piece. A nice feature about the screw back is that it is adjustable for different ear thicknesses. When soldering, coat the screw with yellow ochre to prevent it from seizing.
Lever backs: Lever backs are a style of hook ear wire that has a back part that flips up. The wire goes through your ear, and then a channeled back flips up to cover the end of the wire and protect the earring from falling out. Many people prefer the lever back because of the security it offers. Lever backs usually come preassembled, and the earring is simply soldered onto the finding. Use a third hand (or chill gel) as a heat sink to keep the tension in the back from loosening.
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