I’m glad that you’re enjoying our channel. You can find the complete OJA playlist on our website at: www.onlinejewelryacademy.com. Thanks for watching! 😀
I've never tried to make metal spheres on a fire brick. It will probably work. I tend not to use fire bricks because they are a little messy and stick to the projects sometimes. I recommend that you stick with using a charcoal block. Thanks for your support! : )
The metalsmithsociety posted something interesting on Instagram today. They showed using a fire brick for making metal spheres. They positioned the block so that the spheres would roll off of the brick into a pan of water. Thought you might like to know about the post.
OnlineJewelryAcademy thanks for letting me know! What a great tip! I did succeed in making granules on a flatly positioned fire brick but was a bit sticky to remove and resulted in some brick bits needing to me sanded off. Will check out metal smith society on Instagram. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer, Thanks for your compliment. You can ball both sterling and fine silver. Just be sure to make a round bottomed dimple on the surface of your charcoal block to melt into so that the bottom of the ball stays round. Thanks for your support! : )
Hi professor John Ahr, I tried doing this and my charcoal brick started to crack. It's not the soft kind you are using in the video. It's the regular chsrcoal one used for soldering. Anyway, mine was cracking so I put some wire all around the sides. I saw wire around a charcoal block in some instructional video, so I decided to copy that so I can keep my charcoal block from getting ruined. So, here comes another question. My charcoal is turning white at the top is this normal? Also, my fine silver wire didn't melt at all because I noticed the charcoal was cracking. Anyway, I will try doing this again now that my charcoal block has wire all around it and it won't cracked on me
Hi Ingrid, The fact that your charcoal block was making a cracking noise tells me that it is a soft charcoal block. The white ash on the top confirms my assumption I believe. You were smart to wire it together. A compressed hardened charcoal block won't give you quite as much trouble. Thanks for your support! : )
Well, even the great and wise Professor Ahr sometimes forgets to put on his eye protection. ; P Granulation is primarily done with high karat gold. But, you can fuse silver and achieve a similar result. Unfortunately, you cannot use copper or its alloys for granulation. You could always make a wax granulation project and cast it in brass. Just an idea. Thanks for your support Barbara! : )
What kind of flux do you use? Is it pure silver? Do you know something about chrysacolla soldering? How did you soldered the spheres? Thank you for your instructional videos...
I generally use white paste flux with my silver projects. I have no idea of what chrysocolla soldering might be. The spheres are not soldered in place. They are fused in place. You can find videos on fusing and soldering on the OJA's website at: www.onlinejewelryacademy.com The videos are conveniently organized by category on the website. Good luck with your projects. Thanks for your support! : )
Hi, so you know how some bezels have a granulation ball border around it? I heard that the granulation balls all fused together can be bought as a wire if I don't want to solder each and every ball individually myself. Do you know what this product is called? I can't find it on google . Thank you
Hi, my teacher told me I need to use argentium silver because if I don't, the balls won't fuse together well if I were to make a border around a bezel with all the balls. Is this true? Will my border look sloppier if I don't use argentium?
I don't want to get between you and your instructor. You should follow their instruction and let them assist you in your process. But, sterling silver will fuse. And, we have a few videos on it. I vote that you work with your teacher and experiment on your own. I'm sure you'll have fun while you learn. And, when you feel confident, try your hand at working in gold. Thanks for your support! : )
John, questions..is that sterling or fine silver or does it matter and where do you get the soft charcoal andddddd have you ever used this method with copper ?? Thank you soooooo much.
Hi Deby, I used sterling silver in the video. You could also use fine silver. I've listed links to the recommended tools and supplies in the description of each of the OJA's videos. No, it won't work with copper. Copper does not behave the same as silver. Remember, this is a technique that is typically performed in high karat gold. Thanks for your support! : )
Hi Deby, I know it's been a while since you commented and this video is very good but here's a another video of someone making copper balls. It can be done but there's a slightly different technique because copper and silver behave differently. Cheers! ua-cam.com/video/3dwwt6y2meI/v-deo.html
hello john, great video! as usual. Thank you! I have a question: is it possible to make a band of these silver balls to substitute the shank of a ring? I've seen some rings like this. Thanks!
Hi Soledad, You can purchase " bead wire" to make a ring shank that looks like it's made from small individual spheres. Most jewelry supply companies sell it. In my experience, the bigger bead wire works well but, the smaller gauges seem to break under stress. Thanks for your support! : )
I recommend that you look online for jewelry supply companies. Amazon is not a jewelry supply company. You might also find the bead wire on E-bay or Etsy. Shop around for the best price. Good luck.
The ash is flying up because you are burning up your soft charcoal block. Be sure to keep a fire extinguisher handy and work under ventilation. Thanks for your support! : )
I found my mistake. Since I wanted to use 24 gauge fine silver I thought I didn't need flux, so what happened was is that it tool longer to melt. Flux speeds up the melting point. I just found that out because it's in the label of my borax jar
I was able to find 2 inches of 20 gauge ss wire and and it turned into a nice ball. Do you think it's possible to drill a 1mm wide hole up to half of the ball so I can make a bead and stick it into a ring without a bezel to make it like a silver pearl? I may need to create a peg and then solder it with a chip or two of solder?
You've been busy Ingrid. Don't potentially drill through your fingers. Just solder the ball onto your piece. There's no need for a peg. Thanks for your support! : )
Hi Christine, I believe that I used a 20 gauge round wire in the video. But, you can use any size of wire that you have on hand. Just experiment to determine how long you need to cut your wire segments to make the right size of silver spheres for your project. Good luck and have fun. Thanks for your support! : )
+Zorgoban Glad you enjoyed the video (except for the intro). Maybe it's time for me to mix things up. Thanks for the feedback. And, thanks for supporting the OJA! : )
So glad to have found your channel. I am one year into my silversmith journey - and i love it! Great informative content
I’m glad that you’re enjoying our channel. You can find the complete OJA playlist on our website at: www.onlinejewelryacademy.com. Thanks for watching! 😀
I learn a lot with the videos. it's not much but every $ counts. thank you for your videos.
+Terry Sanders
Thank you for your support Terry. We will use the $ to produce more videos. Glad you find the information helpful.
Thanks again! : )
You are SUCH an excellent teacher.
+Gabby Flying Chef
Awe Gabby, Thank you so much for the sweet compliment.
I can't not say it, it's soooo true. Few and far between.
Professor, I can't thank you enough for your wonderful instructional videos. I have learned a ton! Keep 'em coming!
Hi Maura, I'm so glad that you like the OJA's videos.
Thanks for your support! : )
Wow, that is amazing! So cool.
Thanks so much. Loved it. And all of your videos
+Margie Shubin
Hi Margie, Glad you're enjoying our videos.
Thanks for your support! : )
Great video! I learned so much from you.
+Fashion Chaffey
I'm so glad that you enjoyed the video.
Thanks for your support! : )
very good! thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching. 😀
Thanks
Thanks for watching! 😀
Thank you,so much!!!
+Kremena Venkova
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Thanks for your support! : )
Hi! Will this only work well with a charcoal block? Any alternatives? Can you divet into a fire brick?
I've never tried to make metal spheres on a fire brick. It will probably work. I tend not to use fire bricks because they are a little messy and stick to the projects sometimes. I recommend that you stick with using a charcoal block.
Thanks for your support! : )
The metalsmithsociety posted something interesting on Instagram today. They showed using a fire brick for making metal spheres. They positioned the block so that the spheres would roll off of the brick into a pan of water. Thought you might like to know about the post.
OnlineJewelryAcademy thanks for letting me know! What a great tip! I did succeed in making granules on a flatly positioned fire brick but was a bit sticky to remove and resulted in some brick bits needing to me sanded off. Will check out metal smith society on Instagram. Thanks!
The wire that your working with, is it fine silver or sterling silver?
In this example it is fine silver. 😀
Can this be done with sterling or only fine silver? Thank you! You make it look so easy what a great teacher.
Hi Jennifer, Thanks for your compliment. You can ball both sterling and fine silver. Just be sure to make a round bottomed dimple on the surface of your charcoal block to melt into so that the bottom of the ball stays round.
Thanks for your support! : )
Hi professor John Ahr, I tried doing this and my charcoal brick started to crack. It's not the soft kind you are using in the video. It's the regular chsrcoal one used for soldering. Anyway, mine was cracking so I put some wire all around the sides. I saw wire around a charcoal block in some instructional video, so I decided to copy that so I can keep my charcoal block from getting ruined. So, here comes another question. My charcoal is turning white at the top is this normal? Also, my fine silver wire didn't melt at all because I noticed the charcoal was cracking. Anyway, I will try doing this again now that my charcoal block has wire all around it and it won't cracked on me
Hi Ingrid, The fact that your charcoal block was making a cracking noise tells me that it is a soft charcoal block. The white ash on the top confirms my assumption I believe. You were smart to wire it together. A compressed hardened charcoal block won't give you quite as much trouble.
Thanks for your support! : )
I love the video, but I am shocked. You didn’t wear your eye protection! 😱
Question: Can granulation work with brass and copper?
Well, even the great and wise Professor Ahr sometimes forgets to put on his eye protection. ; P
Granulation is primarily done with high karat gold. But, you can fuse silver and achieve a similar result. Unfortunately, you cannot use copper or its alloys for granulation. You could always make a wax granulation project and cast it in brass. Just an idea.
Thanks for your support Barbara! : )
What kind of flux do you use? Is it pure silver? Do you know something about chrysacolla soldering? How did you soldered the spheres? Thank you for your instructional videos...
I generally use white paste flux with my silver projects. I have no idea of what chrysocolla soldering might be. The spheres are not soldered in place. They are fused in place. You can find videos on fusing and soldering on the OJA's website at: www.onlinejewelryacademy.com The videos are conveniently organized by category on the website. Good luck with your projects.
Thanks for your support! : )
Why did you flux them to prevent firescale, could you substitute Boric Acid
+pijnto
In this case it was easier to just use the flux. Plus, the flux is more effective than the Boric Acid solution.
Thanks for your support! : )
Hi, so you know how some bezels have a granulation ball border around it? I heard that the granulation balls all fused together can be bought as a wire if I don't want to solder each and every ball individually myself. Do you know what this product is called? I can't find it on google . Thank you
Never mind I found it. Full-bead wire!
Hi, my teacher told me I need to use argentium silver because if I don't, the balls won't fuse together well if I were to make a border around a bezel with all the balls. Is this true? Will my border look sloppier if I don't use argentium?
I don't want to get between you and your instructor. You should follow their instruction and let them assist you in your process. But, sterling silver will fuse. And, we have a few videos on it. I vote that you work with your teacher and experiment on your own. I'm sure you'll have fun while you learn. And, when you feel confident, try your hand at working in gold.
Thanks for your support! : )
John, questions..is that sterling or fine silver or does it matter and where do you get the soft charcoal andddddd have you ever used this method with copper ?? Thank you soooooo much.
Hi Deby, I used sterling silver in the video. You could also use fine silver. I've listed links to the recommended tools and supplies in the description of each of the OJA's videos. No, it won't work with copper. Copper does not behave the same as silver. Remember, this is a technique that is typically performed in high karat gold.
Thanks for your support! : )
@@OnlineJewelryAcademy Yes...sorry...I saw that afterwards.. You are amazing John. Thank you for everything.
Hi Deby, I know it's been a while since you commented and this video is very good but here's a another video of someone making copper balls. It can be done but there's a slightly different technique because copper and silver behave differently. Cheers!
ua-cam.com/video/3dwwt6y2meI/v-deo.html
hello john, great video! as usual. Thank you! I have a question: is it possible to make a band of these silver balls to substitute the shank of a ring? I've seen some rings like this. Thanks!
Hi Soledad, You can purchase " bead wire" to make a ring shank that looks like it's made from small individual spheres. Most jewelry supply companies sell it. In my experience, the bigger bead wire works well but, the smaller gauges seem to break under stress.
Thanks for your support! : )
OnlineJewelryAcademy thanks john!!!
OnlineJewelryAcademy Could you recommend a company that sends to the whole world? because look in amazon and only the small one appears... thanks!
I recommend that you look online for jewelry supply companies. Amazon is not a jewelry supply company. You might also find the bead wire on E-bay or Etsy. Shop around for the best price. Good luck.
OnlineJewelryAcademy thanks a lot john!
Can you do this with copper wire ?
No, this won't work with copper. It really only works well with gold and fine silver.
Thanks for your support! : )
can I use any tourch؟؟؟
You can use any torch that gets hot enough to melt the lengths of silver wire into spheres. : )
Hi professor John Arh, I got the silver to become a ball, but I got ash rising and flying about a foot upwards . Is this normal?
The ash is flying up because you are burning up your soft charcoal block. Be sure to keep a fire extinguisher handy and work under ventilation.
Thanks for your support! : )
Yes, I have a fire extinguisher. Am I doing something wrong that the charcoal starts to crack and it's releasing some ash? Or is this common?
I found my mistake. Since I wanted to use 24 gauge fine silver I thought I didn't need flux, so what happened was is that it tool longer to melt. Flux speeds up the melting point. I just found that out because it's in the label of my borax jar
I was able to find 2 inches of 20 gauge ss wire and and it turned into a nice ball. Do you think it's possible to drill a 1mm wide hole up to half of the ball so I can make a bead and stick it into a ring without a bezel to make it like a silver pearl? I may need to create a peg and then solder it with a chip or two of solder?
You've been busy Ingrid. Don't potentially drill through your fingers. Just solder the ball onto your piece. There's no need for a peg.
Thanks for your support! : )
Hi, what guage of fine silver wire did you use? Thank you in advance!
Hi Christine, I believe that I used a 20 gauge round wire in the video. But, you can use any size of wire that you have on hand. Just experiment to determine how long you need to cut your wire segments to make the right size of silver spheres for your project. Good luck and have fun.
Thanks for your support! : )
OnlineJewelryAcademy I forgot to ask, did you use half hard, or soft? Does it matter?
It doesn't matter if you're just cutting segments and melting them. : )
OnlineJewelryAcademy Thank you :)
As soon as I saw the torch on the table I felt so dumb...
I hope that the video showed you how easy it is to create small metal spheres. Thanks for watching! 😀
n ice clases
Glad you're enjoying the videos Sofia.
Thanks for your support! : )
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+Zinaida Molcanova
OK. LOL
Thanks for watching! : )
Great video as always! I think your intro is quite old-school. It starts to annoy me.
+Zorgoban Glad you enjoyed the video (except for the intro). Maybe it's time for me to mix things up. Thanks for the feedback.
And, thanks for supporting the OJA! : )