Argentium Silver Scrap Chain

by Judy Larson

Category: Contemporary
Technique(s): Chain Making, Butane Torch Techniques
Skill Level: Intermediate

Jewelry hobbiests accumulate scrap silver but never really enough to send in to be recycled. Low-Tech Casting with Kim St. Jean is a fabulous way to use that scrap to make pieces to use in jewelry creations. Here is another way to use bits and pieces of metal to make an organic, chunky and beautiful link chain and toggle. Argentium is a lovely white metal that is perfect to use for this project because it fuses and melts beautifully with little to no pitting. If no scrap is available, try this process with short pieces and bits of round, half-round, and/or square Argentium wire.

Materials

Argentium silver sheet scraps

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each

16 Gauge Round Half Hard Argentium .940 Silver Wire

H19-16H

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 inches
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 1FT
Price: $10.96
Gold Club Price: $8.22

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14 Gauge Round Dead Soft Argentium .940 Silver Wire

H19-14D

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 feet
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 1FT
Price: $17.05
Gold Club Price: $12.79

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Tools

Silver Solder Paste Medium SS70 - 1/4 T.O.

SOL-822.15

SOL-822.15
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $18.95
Gold Club Price: $14.21

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Steel Bench Block 4x4 Inch - Pack of 1

G17-10

G17-10
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $21.95
Gold Club Price: $16.46

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Chasing Hammer - Flat Faced with Polished Wooden Handle - Pack of 1

G3-13

G3-13
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $11.97
Gold Club Price: $8.98

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C.H.P Milano Italian Flush Cutter, 5 1/2 Inches

PLR-487.00

PLR-487.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $16.97
Gold Club Price: $12.73

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Multi Angle Cutting Jig

VIS-512.00

VIS-512.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $84.95
Gold Club Price: $63.71

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4.5 Inch Flat Nose Mini Pliers

G2-88

G2-88
Lesson Quantity: 2.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 2.00 each
Price: $4.97
Gold Club Price: $3.73

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Solderite Soldering Board 6 Inch by 6 Inch Soft

SOL-421.10

SOL-421.10
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $14.76
Gold Club Price: $11.07

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Magnesia Soldering Block

SOL-455.00

SOL-455.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $7.95
Gold Club Price: $5.96

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Basic Soldering Kit

G15-4

G15-4
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $58.95
Gold Club Price: $44.21

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Single 3rd Hand with Tweezer and Base

HOL-165.00

HOL-165.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $18.97
Gold Club Price: $14.23

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Digital Calipers With Stone Holder by Euro Tool

GAU-179.00

GAU-179.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $39.97
Gold Club Price: $29.98

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Stainless Steel Shot - 1 lb Bag

G24-4

G24-4
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $43.95
Gold Club Price: $32.96

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Thumlers Tumbler Model A-R12 Rock Tumbler

G34-130

G34-130
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $348.17
Gold Club Price: $261.13

Out of Stock

PROFESSIONAL QUALITY RING MANDREL 1-16

MAN-295.00

MAN-295.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $24.95
Gold Club Price: $18.71

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steel round bezel mandrel

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each

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Instructions

Step 1

Read through the directions before beginning the project.

Argentium scrap, even small and/or skinny pieces, is perfect for this project. Start by flattening pieces and then cutting them no longer than ½" or 13mm and not much wider than 1/8" or 3mm. Smaller "L" shapes and triangles can be used as well.

Judy Larson's Argentium Silver Scrap Chain - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Making Chain, Chain Making , Butane Torch, Soldering, Solder, Argentium silver scrap chain

Step 2

Use a Sharpie to mark around the corner of a ruler onto a solderite board. Flip the ruler over, line up the drawn lines under the half inch lines on the ruler and draw around the corner of the ruler on the solderite board again. This will make a ½" square on the board. Make three more squares on the board as shown. Only make four rings at a time on the 6" x 6" solderite board so the rings are spaced apart. Torch heat then cannot inadvertently melt a scrap ring that is too close to the one being worked on. The lines need to be redrawn after each set of rings are made as the torch burns off the Sharpie lines.

Step 3

Pro Tip: Start by making eight scrap rings. The final number needed can be determined in Step 9. Scrap rings end up being different sizes depending on how much metal is stacked, how thick it is, how many layers are done, as well as staying inside the marked line or going outside slightly. One bracelet in this tutorial was made with scrap rings made inside the ½" box, while the other was made with scrap rings made with metal inside the box on the first layer and the ends of the pieces on the next layers slightly outside the box.

Place ½" long narrow strips on each side of the box, overlapping the corners-first photo. A torch head on a butane canister-second photo-is used throughout this tutorial. Keep the tip of the blue cone inside the torch flame at least an inch or more above the soldering surface. Heat in a circle half inch away from the square until the metal slumps and fuses together-third photo. Do not melt the metal yet.

Step 4

Place strips and pieces of scrap around the square, concentrating on the corners. This will make a more circular center to the ring-first photo. Be careful to keep a large area open in the middle. Keep the tip of the blue cone inside the torch flame at least an inch or more above the soldering surface. Heat in a circle half inch away from the square until the metal slumps and fuses together-second photo. Do not melt the metal yet.

Step 5

Lightly hammer the layered scrap rings to compress the fused pieces a bit. If desired, cut off some of the metal points.

Step 6

Place a third layer of strips and pieces on top of each scrap ring, being mindful to keep the center hole open-first photo. Keep the tip of the blue cone inside the torch flame at least an inch or more above the soldering surface. Heat in a circle half inch away from the scrap ring until the metal slumps and fuses together. After the metal slumps together, move the flame closer to the scrap rings. When the metal starts to get shiny, back away a bit. Move the flame in and out until the scrap rings have melted into a lumpy organic shape-second photo. Be careful. The scrap rings can quickly shrink into a lump if the flame is not controlled. Allow them to cool on the solderite board.

Pro Tip: Argentium can become brittle and break if immediately quenched so wait for the rings to cool. They are cool enough to move to a bench block, which pulls the rest of the heat out of the rings, when they no longer stick to the solderite board. If still stuck, nudge them a bit from the side and they will move without taking chunks of the board with them.

Some jump rings that went haywire during fusing were hiding in the scrap box. Since they fit inside the ½" square, the same process as above was followed to make a more rounded scrap ring.

Step 7

There will be solderite board residue on the backs of the scrap rings. Sandpaper, a hand or rotary steel brush, or a silicone polishing wheel are useful in removing the residue. Make sure there is no residue remaining on the scrap ring backs.

Step 8

The center hole in most of the scrap rings will not be round. Slide a scrap ring onto a bezel mandrel. If the hole is too misshapen, hammer the scrap ring onto the end of the mandrel-first photo. If the scrap ring does not fit on the mandrel, place the ring right side up on a bench block. Put the small flat end of the bezel mandrel in the center of the scrap ring. Hammer the bezel mandrel into the ring-second photo. File the resulting flattened sections of metal away with a small half round file or rotary tool until the scrap ring fits on the mandrel-third photo.

Roll the scrap ring on the mandrel on a bench block while hammering the outer edges of the scrap ring-fourth photo. The inside of the ring will become more or less circular but should not be perfectly round because the scrap rings should have an organic look. The more pointed outer parts of the scrap rings will be blunted. If desired, the outer edges can be sanded slightly to round the points a bit more.

Step 9

Placing a few scrap rings side by side on a gridded surface will help in determining how many more should be made to make the chain length desired. An extra scrap ring will be needed to attach to the toggle ring in Steps 11-13.

Pro Tip: Change the size of the square used to make the "O" rings to suit the design esthetic you are going for. Using a ¾" square will result in a toggle that is less of a focal element but still larger than the scrap rings made-the fifth photo with "O" ring shown in relation to the two sizes of ½" scrap rings made in this tutorial. A ½" ring without a connecting loop added can be used as is for a toggle "O" ring to make a continuous look chain.

Step 10

The toggle "O" ring starts with a 7/8" square drawn on the solderite board. Since two slightly different size scrap rings were made for this tutorial to show the difference between metal strip placement and the resulting size scrap rings, the same thing was done to make the "O" rings for the toggle. Follow the same steps as for making the smaller scrap rings. An extra layer of metal pieces may be desired to make the "O" rings thicker. These larger "O" rings can be shaped on most ring mandrels.

Step 11

Saw the extra scrap ring made in Step 9 in half using at the very least a 1/0 blade. Anything smaller will snap with pressure as the scrap ring is quite thick.

Pro Tip: Fusing/melting a half scrap ring is the easiest way to add a connecting "loop" to the toggle "O" ring.

If adding a connecting loop at the same time the "O" ring is being made, the risk of melting that loop into a blob is high. It can be done, but takes a lot of practice.

The toggle "0" ring in the second and third photo was made with an attached LARGE loop to account for shrinking during melting to connect all the parts. The loop went from large to smaller in less than one fourth of a second. An "O" ring made in this manner can't be fully rounded on a ring mandrel.

Step 12

File the small scrap half ring ends to more or less fit the curve of the large ring. They will be melted together so they do not need to be perfect.

Step 13

Place bits of scrap metal under and on top where the scrap half ring will fuse and melt to the large "O" ring-first and second photos. Fuse them and then melt the parts together as done when making the small scrap rings. The small scrap half ring will reach melting temperature before the larger "O" ring, so concentrate more heat on the "O" ring than the small scrap half ring. Keep a solder pick in your dominant hand in case the scrap half ring needs a bit of a nudge to attach to the "O" ring. Concentrate. The scrap half ring could melt and the hole close up in a flash if you are not paying close attention. Do not worry if a full melt of the small added metal pieces does not happen-third and fourth photos. As long as the small scrap half ring has attached to the "O" ring, those bits can be filed smooth later.

Step 14

Nothing is worse than a T-bar that keeps slipping out of an "O" ring. Making custom toggles eliminates that problem.

Determining the length of a T-bar is not difficult. Since the center of the "O" ring made in Steps 10-13 is not perfectly round, open a caliper inside the "O" ring. Twist it around the find where the greatest diameter of the inner opening is. The distance between these two farthest apart points is A.

Measure the widest metal part of the "O" ring. This will be B.

A little of the T-bar should extend beyond the outer edge of the "O" ring. This will be C. If the metal section of the "O" ring is wide and the inner open circle is small, this portion is not needed. The T-bar just needs to be long enough that it will not accidentally slip out of the "O" ring.

(A+B+C) x 2 = the length of the finished T-bar.

Add a bit of length to the base layer T-bar length to allow for the metal shrinking during construction melting. This really is not too much of a problem because if the T-bar shrinks too much, the face can be texture hammered to lengthen it.

If a large scrap of any gauge is available, cut a strip ¼" wide and the calculated length for the T-bar base. Otherwise, place enough pieces on the solderite board to cover an area ¼" wide and the length needed.

Step 15

Layer the T-bar metal strip with scrap and fuse in the same manner as the scrap rings. Add layers until the desired look is achieved. Move the flame in and out until the T-bar has melted into a lumpy organic look.

Step 16

Clean the solderite board residue off the back of the T-bar as for the scrap rings in Step 7.

Step 17

Hammer texture on the front side of the T-bar if desired. This will help flatten the back as well as lengthen the bar if needed.

Step 18

File or sand the back of the T-bar flat, paying particular attention to the center area where the connector ring will be soldered on.

Step 19

Bend a piece of 16 gauge round wire into a "U" shape. Use flat nose pliers to squish the sides together so the ends will fit the bar width-first photo. A 14 gauge jump ring must fit inside the "U".
Check the fit of the "U" shape wire. If the T-bar is too narrow, the "U" loop should be placed lengthwise instead of cross-wise on the back of the T-bar-second photo.

Mark the "U" so it is ¼" long-third photo. Flush cut the excess wire off. Since the flush cuts probably will not be even, secure it in a miter jig and vice and file the ends flat-fourth photo.

Step 20

Mark the center of the T-bar back.

Step 21

The "U" will be sweat soldered in place.

Place a generous amount of medium paste solder-no larger than the size of a ball on the head of a sewing pin-on the area where the "U" ends will be soldered. Heat the T-bar until the solder flows. Immediately remove the heat.

Use a third hand to position and hold the "U" in place, making sure that the wire ends are flush with the flat back of the T-bar. Heat the bar, not the "U" or the third hand, until the solder flows. Immediately remove the heat or the "U" wire will melt.

Step 22

Pickle, rinse and dry all the pieces.

Step 23

File and refine the scrap rings and toggle pieces to your liking.

Step 24

Tumble the pieces to polish and smooth them slightly.

Step 25

Decide upon jump ring sizes needed to connect the scrap rings. Making your own 14 gauge jump rings will ensure that you will have the exact size you need. The scrap rings can overlap a bit or touch and not easily move in the jump ring because the jump rings will be bent into oval shapes after soldering the ends together. It is advisable to do a test run with the chosen size jump ring and two scrap rings to make sure that the scrap rings can easily move in the jump ring after it has been bent into an oval shape. The smaller of the two different sized scrap rings made in this tutorial were connected with 14 gauge 6mm ID jump rings. The larger of the two scrap rings were connected with 14 gauge 6.5mm ID jump rings.

Placing all the scrap components out in the order they are to be connected is helpful, especially if many scrap rings were made and they ended up different sizes.

Step 26

Soldering Option 1: Dig a shallow impression in the magnesia block. Connect two scrap rings or the "O" ring and a scrap ring with the appropriate size jump ring. Make sure the jump ring is seam side down, seam touching the side of the impression, in the impression on the magnesia block and has a small amount of medium paste solder under the seam. Heat the portion of the jump ring below the scrap rings and the seam below the scrap rings until the solder flows. Immediately remove the heat. Connect the rest of the scrap rings in sets of two in the same manner.

Soldering Option 2: Slide two connected rings onto a closed third hand cross lock tweezers. Position the tweezers so the jump ring seam touches the flat soldering surface. Place a small amount of medium paste solder under the seam. Heat the portion of the jump ring below the scrap rings and the seam below the scrap rings until the solder flows. Immediately remove the heat.

Step 27

Check, clean and refine all the jump ring solder joins.

Use flat nose pliers to bend a jump ring into an oval shape, alternating from one end to the other of the jump ring to make sure it is symmetrical-first photo. When the scrap rings move freely, do not continue to bend the jump ring into a more elongated shape. If extra length is needed when the chain is finished but adding an extra scrap ring would make the chain too long, length can be added to the chain by elongating the jump rings just a bit. Repeat the process with all the soldered jump rings-second photo.

Step 28

Connect the sets of two connected scrap rings in the same manner. Check, clean and refine all the jump ring solder joins. Bend the jump rings into oval shapes as before.

Step 29

Connect the sets of four scrap rings. Check, clean and refine the jump ring solder join. Bend the jump ring into an oval shape.

Step 30

Add a ring to the T-bar and solder it closed. Check, clean and refine the jump ring solder join. Do not bend the jump ring into an oval shape yet.

Step 31

dd one scrap ring at a time to the chain. Solder the jump ring closed. Check, clean and refine the jump ring solder join. Bend the jump ring into an oval shape. Continue to add scrap rings and checking the length after each add.

Step 32

Once the desired length is achieved, add one jump ring to the last scrap ring. Solder the jump ring closed. Check, clean and refine the jump ring solder join. Bend the ring into an oval shape like the others.

Step 33

Use a jump ring to connect the oval jump ring on the last scrap ring to the jump ring added to the T-bar and solder closed. Check the chain fit. A bit more length can be achieved if the last two jump rings are bent into an oval shape. If the length is not needed, leave them round. However, if the "O" ring opening is small, the jump rings may need to be bent into ovals to be able to pull the T-bar through the opening.

Step 34

Pickle, rinse and tumble the chain for several hours to work harden and polish it.

Step 35

All scrap rings and toggles will be different sizes and shapes so chain lengths using the same number of scrap rings shown here will be different. To achieve the length needed, the bracelet on the left required ten scrap rings while the one on the right only needed nine. The size of the toggle will also make a difference in the number of scrap rings needed to complete a chain. These bracelets were made for a small wrist. They measured 7½" long when laid out flat and fit around the 6½" line on a bracelet measuring cone. At least one more scrap ring would need to be added to each of these bracelets to make a bracelet for an average size wrist.

Reviews

Judy Larson

My philosophy has always been "I will never live long enough to learn everything I want to learn, go everywhere I want to go and see everything I want to see!" So, what I make and how I create it is always changing and evolving. I was born shortly after WWII to parents who grew up during the Depression. They always had a "we can do it, we can make it" attitude which rubbed off on my two younger brothers and me. My brothers are amazing and can make and do ANYTHING! When I was a little girl, my mother gave me an old carved cigar box, which I cherish, filled with pop beads, wooden beads and yarn for stringing. That was the beginning of my jewelry making journey.

On a visit to the Grand Canyon when I was a young woman, I was fortunate enough to help a Native American silversmith sand cast my first silver bracelet and bezel set a large turquoise nugget on top. I was in love, hook, line and sinker! While working full time and having a family here in northern Minnesota, my artistic endeavors slowed down but never stopped. I am an artist, scrapbooker, seamstress, woodworker and jewelry artisan. Now that I am retired, I am able to indulge in all my hobbies. However, there just never seems to be enough time in the day to do it all, but I try!

I have been teaching community education beginner and intermediate jewelry making classes since my retirement. Many of my students have been bitten so hard by the jewelry making bug that they say I have turned them into monsters-they just can't get enough. Making jewelry, seeing something take shape from small bits and pieces, is so rewarding that I hope it brings out the "monster" in you, too!