1000 orders!

Today was a very special day. Today I reached 1,000 orders. Through custom orders and online sales with Etsy, Amazon Europe, Amazon Handmade (US), Folksy, Dwander and ASOS marketplace. I'm sure it wasn't that long ago that I was telling everyone I'd reached 500 orders! I'm not sure this is something I had ever thought imaginable when I first started out and all in the first 18 months of trading as well. A very big thank you to all of my customers, friends and family who continue to be super supportive in helping me to grow my business. On wards and upwards! Time to crack the champagne out...

Diamond champagne anyone? 

I Finally Made a Bowl

Back when I first started silversmithing a year ago, I had my sights set on making a bowl. I think it's one of those things you have to make. It's big, uses lots of material, makes loads of noise and requires a lot of physical effort (this is the main reason I put it off for so long!)

There are two ways to make a bowl, to raise it (hammer the shape over something and raise the sides up) and to sink it (hammer it into something and dip downwards) both terrible explanations sorry. I chose to sink as I had heard this was an easier one to start with, I'll be able to explain it a bit better with pictures!

To to begin I started with a scrap piece of copper, the reason I chose copper is because it's cheap (I got this piece for free - thanks Adam!). A piece of silver this size would cost about £100 and if it went wrong that's a very expensive mistake!   

This piece was covered in scratches and dents so it wouldn't actually be that great for making a bowl, but we're going for the rustic look so it's perfect (that's just my excuse for when it turns out all wrong...)

Before I did anything I annealed the copper, this consists of heating the copper evenly using a blow torch or in this instance the scary fire machine. The idea being to soften the copper so it's easier to work with, you know it has reached temperature when a black shadow effect appears. 

I drew a random sized circle, the size I wanted my bowl to be (after making a mistake the first time). Under the masking tape is a piece of copper held in place for the pin of the compass type device (it has a pin at both ends I'm pretty sure its not called a compass, engineers - if you know comment below) this stops the bowl being damaged with a dent in the middle - handy tip.

I attempted to cut it out with the saw, it took ages and the corners meant I the saw wouldn't go any further so I resorted to the curved tin snips (basically metal scissors). Which was actually equally difficult as the metal was very thick, I'll definitely end up with blisters tomorrow. 

Once I had finally cut it out, please note how neatly and round I managed to cut it out, I filed smooth the edges and finished off with some sand paper.

Then the fun part... Bash, bash, bash. I think I managed to annoy every single person in the workshop, its very, very loud doing this, the kind that leaves a ringing in your ears. I tried to hammer to a beat, I think they appreciated it. 

You have to work a little bit at a time with the hammer. In the picture above I would hold the disc in this position (hands obviously well away from the hammer) and the idea is you hammer with space/air underneath so that the metal dips a little bit each time. Starting from the outside and working your way inwards.

After continual bashing it starts to work harden so you need to re-anneal the metal to make it soft again and also give your arm a bit of a break - hammering is a full on work out.  

Once I was happy will the overall bowliness I switched to a metal planishing hammer (polished on the end) and a stake - domed chunk of metal held in the vice, to start smoothing out the bumpy parts and give it that neater bowly look.

*Drum roll* and here is the finished result, I'm really pleased with it, there is something very fulfilling about seeing something being made from nothing. I'll admit I got a bit lazy and didn't finish off the surface and polish it, but I will do this at some point when I have a bit more time. For now though it's going to be a rustic looking bowl with some decorative potpourri in it.