Fast Silver Bezel [18+]

Jay Whaley, a goldsmith and university instructor from San Diego, demonstrates the process of making a silver bezel from rough-poured ingot through smooth-finished bezel.

As the clock in the upper left corner of the screen reaches 5:00 pm, Jay lights his propane/oxygen torch and begins to heat up 13 grams of pure silver in a ceramic melting dish. When the metal turns liquid, he pours the molten metal into a steel ingot mold, creating an elongated rod of silver. He then releases the silver ingot from the mold, quenches it in water, dries it with a cloth, and quickly files off the sharp fins formed from the pour with a hand file.

The smooth ingot now undergoes reforming in the rolling mill, reshaping the metal into a long square rod, all while reducing its outer dimensions. After repeated rolling, tightening the mill with each successive pass through the rollers, the ingot becomes narrower and longer, hardened by the repeated rolling.

Jay returns to the workbench with the square stock, anneals it with the torch again to a dull red color. This softens the metal for further shaping by the rolling mill. It is then quenched in water and dried again.

The ingot is now ready to be flattened to its final thickness (about 22 gauge) with the rolling mill. By guiding the ingot through the flat rollers, tightening them with each pass through the mill, a perfectly straight, smooth-edge bezel is created.

The clock shows 5:02 pm after the last pass through the mill. Total elapsed time to create this silver bezel: 2 minutes, 35 seconds.

Whaley Studios: www.WhaleyWorkshops.com

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1. By: chas8491
2. Categories How To
3. Views 461
4. Added :03-Dec-07
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