Jeremiah Watt

Tonight we will discuss a little used but very effective manner of creating the third dimension in our silver work. This is a saw and solder process that is tedious but with a little practice will render astounding results. Lets get started with some of the items we will need to have at hand.

We will need some sheet silver, which the thicker the better for the end result. I will use some 14ga Sterling for these scroll bodies I build here with you tonight. We will need a selection of jewelers saw blades, for cutting out the silver disc lets use a #4 size blade. But a little later when cutting the scroll form into the heart of the disc, we will use the FINEST saw blade we can get away with, lets say we start with a #4/0 and with time move up even finer will make our scrolls better. A circle template will speed up the process for laying out the circles. Scribe a 1” dia circle and follow along , by cutting it out after layout.

Next we can draw a concentric scroll within the circle, you can choose just how many revolutions the spiral of the scroll shall have. But for a beginning lets try maybe 2.5 or 3 turns and get a feel for our job. Besure to change blades down to the fine cut #4/0 blade so that the KERF of the cut is left at a minimum and thus make our soldering job all the easier later on.

Now that we have the spiral portion of the scroll cut into the 3-D scroll form, we can then cut a small section of round silver wire of fairly heavy guage. I will use some 10ga, Sterling and the length of this wire is important so listen closely. The length of the wire I cut and solder into the center is: metal thickness x number of turns in the spiral divided by .75…………..CLEAR as MUD. If by chance you are lost, simply strike your left thumb sharply with the ball pein, and wait a few minutes for the pain to subside and you will then be able to see thru the tears just what is happening here.

We need to silver solder this short piece of wire in place with hard solder. If by chance you are from Miami N.M, this means NO LEAD SOLDER is used here. The sterling scroll is hard soldered so that later soldering processes will not come loose as we work thru the process. Amongst silver smiths it is considered to be “UNPROFESSIONAL” to fall to the use of lead solder as a core method of attachment. Now that that little Soap Box statement is done we can next go to work with the RAISING portion of this scroll. We can use almost anything to use as a pushing tool, and starting at the very center by pushing the body of the scroll down onto the center wire it will force the very tip of the scroll upwards. Then with a small pushing tool, you can begin to follow along the spiral cut and gently push the body of the scroll upwards just a little. We will be raising approximately ¾ of the thickness of the silver………hence the division of .75 or for those from home school that is also like ¾ of the thickness for each turn of the spiral form.

Our scroll will take a little prayin, proddin and persuading to come to life. But in the end the very tip of the scroll will be quite pronounced and raised up sharply, then the body of the scroll will gently fall evenly towards its circular base

Its time to do a little clean up. By that I mean we can do a little filing around the edges and maybe even use a pair of pliers to help tighten up the layers of the scroll.

This is the time to cut some small blocks of silver from the scrap silver. The blocks are needed, to be soldered into place as a support for the sawing we have done into the body of the scroll. These will be soldered all along the cut line and filed off later after the soldering stage. For this we will use the very same solder as we used on the central piece of sterling wire.

Solder all the blocks into place and then throw that puppy in the pickle pot and get a cup of coffee. Does this project seem to be coming to life on your bench………..what do ya mean NO. Well toss that chunk of silver and get started on another so that we can have something to move on with.

Lets have a look at the item we just soldered and dry it of so we can see what needs to be filed off to bring the back of the scroll into a flat plane. After we have the back flattened off, we can work around the outer edges with a file and get a nice concentric circle. During this stage, we need to have a careful look at the solder seam, making sure we have No seams that have a gap in them. If there are any gaps, then before we go to the file work, we need to re-do the solder stage.

With just a little practice we can build a nicely shaped 3D scroll in about 15 minutes. These are saved up and made in differing sizes, then soldered to the projects as you see fit. Its not my job too tell you where to apply them, that is what we call “Artistic Interpretation” as we call it in the trade/arts. But with a little imagination we can find a plethora ( for folks from Texas: thats another word for a bunch) of places to apply this and other forms of raised from the base metal shapes within our bits /spurs and silver work.

I hope you had some fun with this skill building session. Its been good to have you in for some fun and sharing of knowledge. It was while my family and I were traveling in Europe that I first had a chance to see this method of adding 3D forms. Of course the work was not COWBOY, but the concept was easily adapted to the sort of work that we do on cowboy gear.

You know I need to close but before I do I want to say a few things that seem to go on without mention. We have troops fighting for the very cause that gives all us the liberty and freedoms we so enjoy, they not only face a very difficult enemy but are backed by a Cowardly Congress………….can it get any more difficult than that? So I will suggest here that we Pray for those troops and the leaders of these fine men. So it is, GOOD night and May God Bless this great Nation………even if at times we do not deserve it.
Jeremiah

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Carving, its one of the most fulfilling parts of making the saddles I have ordered. It is one of the areas that the artist within is allowed to reign. At least that’s the way I look at it……….Do I manage to wow the world every time……..Heck no, but I give it an earnest effort.

My customer gave me a little room to be creative, but a limit on the budget I could spend on carving………all he asked for was a little something that wouldn’t turn up at the next branding he went to…..I had a certain amount of coverage to do in a geometric pattern and a certain amount in floral. So take a look below and tell me what you think about the combination and balance of each.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: A nice saddle for a valued customer.

I played with leaves a bit before I started, and I really liked this version of a Maple that I came up with as a result, but in the end I decided not to use this leaf in this item. I wanted a leaf that would fill areas a little differently than the Maple. So I came up with what would best be described as something of a Calla Lilly form and used it as a leaf motif.

The whole process of coming up with the Maple and a way that I wanted to stamp it to create a very tight triangular shape, also had me build a special shader that I will be introducing before to long in our little Company called Horse Shoe Brand Tools. I have since used the NEW SHADER on several other experimental pieces and I really like the look it gives the work. Unique and different should be two qualities that we strive for, right?

Next I had to come up with a flower that is not seen everywhere, followed by a method of stamping it that would aid in creating a different look. I started with a form of the Water Lilly, and worked my way thru a few flowers to find a shape I liked and a method of stamping it that I liked the look of. Just in case some of you have wondered, there is no “Office of Fine Flower Carving” that dictates just how a flower is to be shaded or for that matter how it has to look. We are free to experiment……….ain’t that cool!

I tried a few and decided that I was going in the wrong direction. I moved on to what some would call a Daffodil and others may call a Jonquil…………I am not a horticulturalist so I may screw it up as well. I was working on a view that was a little more direct over the top of the flower, and one of my kids commented on how flat the flower appeared to be from that angle. Kids, ya‘gotta love their honesty

I worked on another view that gave us a view of the trumpet portion of the body of the flower and I liked the results much better this time around. These experimental pieces of carving are meant to give us a chance to try various methods of shading, and new tools for flower centers etc. If we pound our flowers out by the same manner each time………….well they begin to look like pounded out flowers. And we are artists, right?

Once we have the flower and the leaf form that we make main use of, we can work on some new buds and leaflet forms that we use as FILLERS. Again there is no body of “Grand-POObah’s” who decide on what flower, bud nor leaf is right and or proper. Yes, I know I could open an Al Stohlman book and grab a leaf or bud, or maybe a pattern pack from Tandy. I am old school, and firmly believe that if you fall prey to that sort of approach that you will take that route more often than not, and it will show in your work. So it is that I sit and struggle at some times, and then others the floral motifs simply fall of the end of my swivel knife so too speak.

When we do it right, there is symmetry and balance in the curves and sweeps of the pattern. There should be a visual interest that leads the eye on a floral journey over the cowhide canvas, a pattern should avoid being stade and didactic in its form. The carver should attain either perfect symmetry or obvious asymmetry. There is always the danger of a carvers attempt at just a “LITTLE ASYMMETRY” as being seen as a mistake rather than that artistic attempt intended.

There are those areas that by nature do not allow any of us to get too carried away, such as a saddle horn which even on a nice Wade horn has it limitations. But consider it this way, which is, from the riders perspective the top of the horn and his view of the top of the fork and front jockey’s which all becomes one plane on which we can encompass a unique pattern.

It isn’t a matter of pass or fail. It really comes down to YOU seeking the real inside. Reach that, and you will attain a much higher level of self satisfaction and in all likelihood a greater degree of financial satisfaction as a result of the unpaid effort you have made at home at your own bench when nobody was watching. Nice work isn’t an accident, it’s the result of hard work. If its your work and you have done it, then be proud of it by all means. If it happens to be somebody else’s work, then be sure to compliment their efforts.

Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Mongol Bells
Looking thru magazines, more specifically at close-up images of Eurasian horsemen, you may notice the little bell like ornaments hanging from various places of their trappings. In certain places like Mongolia, it may appear to be their favorite form of decoration, these little items look rather like small bells or maybe berries. From the real versions that I have had a chance to view in Museum collections overseas, and the opportunity to then make notes and take pictures I just thought that they would look real cool on the gear that we make over hear. Besides you just never know when that Mongolian fashion statement will sweep the great basin or the sage brush and lave rock deserts of Idaho. Being a fashion trend setter and not a follower I want to be ahead of the curve.

PHOTO BY: Jeremiah and all 3 of his chins

Let’s commence with the basic layout, which is a 5 point affair that looks much like a Ninja-throwing Star. I have built mine within a 1.25 inch diameter circle, and made it a 5 point pattern. The pattern layout can be what ever you dream up as to length of petals and diameter of center circle etc. I built mine out some thin 22 gauage stainless for this pictorial.

PHOTO BY:Jeremiah showing the 5 pointed Star form of cutout in light Stainless

Once the Bell has been cut in the flat, it is time to place it dapping block so that we can commence creating that lovely cup shape. Now at this point I should tell you that if per chance you are doing some stamp work to the surface or maybe engraving a portion of it, then you would be laying the engraved surface facing down for this part of the forming. In that manner we will have the decorated surface on the outside of the Mongol Bell that we are forming here. Find the appropriate fitting dapping punch with a smooth round ball end and pound the Bell down into the corresponding cavity.

PHOTO BY: Jeremiah, as he begins working the Bell down inot a dapping block

We will have a nicely shaped BELL now with a graceful flaring shape.

PHOTO BY: Jeremiah, he shows you a nicely cupped Mongol-Bell

I want to tell you that you can also draw the Bell into a tighter radius by simply going back to the dapping plate and then using smaller radius dapping punch. This smaller diameter ball end will then draw the Mongol Bell into a tighter diameter within the base of the Bell. I think picture E shows us two distinct diameters that I can use in different places and for different applications as we will see in a few minutes.

PHOTO BY JERMIAH: we can see here the first stage of cupping done on two sizes of Mongol-Bells

This next step is often the most difficult, since we now need to apply the tiny Mongol Bell “TO SOMETHING or ON SOMETHING”. This is where that central hole comes into play. It is through here that we will mount it to the ends of our slobber bar as a cover over our clevis cap, or maybe as a floral motif on the center of a slobber bar itself. In my own shop I have done both and liked the look of each application we have tried. I will show you a small tassle that we built for the bottoms of a pair of fancy stirrups as another application. I think the only true limitation is that of personal imagination

PHOT BY JEREMIAH: Showing the BEll has been reversed and set inot the dapping block, now JW is gently tapping on the bottom of the Bell to close of the top of the petals nice and even leaving no marks..

The hardest part is capturing the Mongol Bell in position , usually it will have the stem of a rivet or in some cases the shank of a rivet that holds it all in place theu that central hole located on the bottom-most surface. Now carefully, and using a pair of small pliers to begin this process…………..I carefully coax the ends of each petal to fold over towards it’s own center. If you by chance have a tool designed for hand setting saddlery spots, then this works perfectly since it will capture all of the outer tips of the Mongol Bell in one blow of a hammer. Place the spot setting tool over the tips of the Bell, support the area that you are about to strike on something solid like a bench plate. Strike it cautiously with a hammer, check every few blows for results. Picture F shows me driving it face down inot a dapping plate, so that you can better understand what has to happen to curl the outer edges of the Bell over towards its own common center.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: Giving you a good view of what the Bell looks like now that it has had the top closed over nice and even like.

Here we can see the final result of closeing the Mongol Bell up capturing what ever we have used to bind it in its given place……………but we are not quite done yet. For instance this version shown her is what it looks like if we use it as a cover on our clevis cap on a bridle bit. We like to doll it up a little by taking the center of the pedals down a little more which I think really emphasizes its shape and folded character.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: here is where we need to be careful, we gently tap that place where all the petals meet at the top of the Bell, this dents in the top of the Bell which gives it great character as well.

The image shown here, indicates that by placing a fairly small diameter dapping punch on the top of the culmination of petals we can then support the item and once again strike the punch forcing the center of all the petals down and into its self. This is the form that we have seen the most often and also the version we have made the most use of.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: shows a partially closed Bell, and a fully closed, and as well we have a Bell which has been givena double bend on the petals and is used as a cup to hold a leather tassle

We can see in the above image that we have an initial closing of the Mongol Bell, as well as the fully folded and dapped center…………….but also we have that little tassle with an eye fastened captured so that it can then be screwed into something.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: Just a closer view especially for you
We can see here in a slightly closer view, that the Mongol Bell that we have used for the tassle cover has been given an extra counter or reverse bend to the end of each petal section by using a pair of round jawed pliers. Do this just before you use a pair of needle nose pliers to close up the top of the petals. Take note that the tassle version has also had some stamped designs done on it while it was still in the flat stage. Close it all up tighly around the leather or horse hair tassle and you have a great looking addition for any sage brush buckaroo
Ya’ just never know, Mongol Bells may be a real hit. Made in Sterling and nicely engraved, very dainty in size and shape………….it just may go some place. Just remember that you seen it here first,……………. and heard about it in Ulanbataar.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: shows a nice bit on which we used Mongol Bells as the clevis caps on the slobber bar

Good Night and God Bless

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: a full view of the same bit as above.

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)