£25 worth of silver

[Seahorse]

Does anybody have an idea of how much silver(im assuming in sheet form) Id get for £25?
Are we looking at A4 size, A5???

[marchena]

Hello - it depends how thick you want the sheet. A piece of sheet 5cm x 10cm at 1mm thick would cost £22 or so inc vat - the price varies daily if you buy direct from a bullion dealer (which is the cheapest way). Have a look at cooksongold.com where you can get an idea of the prices for different sizes.

Marchena.

[Seahorse]

Thats tiny!!!!!!!
I dont know how thick itl be but its around the same price so I will have to assume we will be buying tiny bits.

By those calculations I wanted to make some thing that would take £264!!!
Im going to have to rethink my design.

[marchena]

1mm is quite thick so perhaps a thinner gauge would do...?

How about nickel silver (it's contains no silver at all, but is a cheap replacement) I think that kernowcraft.com sell it

Good luck!

[Fran]

0.4 - 0.6 mm is mostly the thickness's that I use. If your going to use a bullion company like Cookson Gold then be aware that the price listed may not be the price that you pay by the time you get the silver in your hand. Cookson's will also always use special delivery, so bear that in mind too when costing your project.

I'll try and get a some photos up on my website today and let you see what I've done with these thickness's it might make your choice a little easier.

[Seahorse]

Thanks for the info.
I went ot the course last night and we started to make a ring.
Seems like we dont buy £25 worth of silver but we make things, weigh it then pay for the amount/weight that we used.

Makes good sense.

Coincidently the teacher recomended and had a cooksonsgold catalogue.

[Fran]

That makes perfect sense, you don't end up with the waste.

How did it go last night. I envy you, I'm self taught and it's been a rocky and expensive road.

[Seahorse]

Talk about expensive.Me and my friend were amazed at the amount of different tools needed to do the work, looks like a fortune would need to be spent to start up a business!


I was amazed at how easy enamelling was.We were shown but havent had the chance to do it yet.We just started to make a ring.Did a bit of disasterous sawing, not a straight edge in site, then we annealed it with a big scary torch,pickled it then started to hammer it into shape.

It didnt really seem like a lesson, as in we all gather round and listen while the teacher explains things.
I got the impression most of the people there were in the middle of projects and we were the only new people.But I learnt more yesterday that ive learnt since leaving school.

[Fran]

Enamelling is not something I've tried yet, got all the books and a kiln but not the time or nerve to try.

Baby steps, baby steps and enjoy!

Your learning more than when you were at school simply because it interests you. I love watching the silver lose the firescale.

I've just listed a couple of neclaces that might be of some interest to you. http://www.designedbyfrances.co.uk/necklaces.htm they are at the bottom of the page.

[Seahorse]

Youve got so much patients to cut out those bits.
Loved the swirly metal/heart necklace, do you have a wire designer?

Enamelling was so easy,if youve got the bits you should do it!
How much was a kiln?

[Fran]

No wire designer other than me, everything is freehand.

"how much was a kiln" SHHHHHHHH it was a xmas pressie to myself, it's a Paragon SC2

[Seahorse]

In that case you deserve a double wow with a cherry on top!!!
I can never get 2 pieces to look the same.

I made a swirly thing which I thought would look good as an angel wing so I tried to make another one but do you think i could get it exactly symetrical?! Could I toffee.

[Fran]

I might not always get it right first time, but here's the trick on how not to waste wire. If you mess up (I do a lot!) You can either anneal the wire (st.s) and soften up enough to run the wire through your fingers to straighten it out again and start again! or you can get a pair of pliers (yes! more pliers/tools) that have nylon jaws and pull the wire through them to straighten.

Another trick is, when you make your first swirl scan it, print it off as an exact size and use that as a template for the others. If you don't have a scanner then trace around it.

[Seahorse]

Do you have that scary gas powered fire torch thing too to anneal things?

[Fran]

I use the butane gas torches that you can buy from Homebase etc. If you use torches remember to tie your hair back and wear saftey glasses at all times.