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