Blue Van Gogh Inspired Lapis Pendant

About a year ago, I was on a mission trip with my church in New Mexico, and we stopped in a little jewelry store in Albuquerque. Ironically, I don't wear much jewelry, but I found some really fun denim lapis cabs. Over a year later, the colors of the rainbow contest has come around again, and I figured it was as good a time as any to bring to life the project I've been working on in my head for a while.

This project was inspired by the famous Van Gough painting "Starry Night," and as such, is a very swirly, abstract design, which allows the piece to turn out nicely without too much precision. However, this is not intended to be a "how to solder 101" instructable. It involves soldering with wire, multiple solder joins on the same piece, and a basic stone setting. However, if you have done a few first solder pieces and gotten comfortable with using the equipment, this is a good project to start broadening your skills. That said, I will not go over the basics of how to solder, what flux is, etc, but I will go over tips on how to solder multiple pieces together, and some of the basics of securing stones.

Hopefully, you enjoy this project as much as I did! Let's get started!

For this project, I am using three denim lapis cabs: two smaller(same size, for earrings) and one larger(for pendant). I got them, as stated before, at a little store in Albuquerque, but you can get a lot of sizes of a lot of different cabs on pretty much any jewelry supply site. Just make sure you also get a mandrel in the same shape as the stone if possible.

You will need both copper and fine or sterling silver wire. I used 20ga silver, and 20, 18, and 16ga copper.

I get all my wires on monsterslayer.com. It's a really suspicious-looking site, but I've always gotten good products from them, and usually much cheaper than I could on Rio Grande or Fire Mountain Gems. I used fine silver for this project because it was a mostly decorational element in the piece, and it doesn't tarnish. However, if you want to make structurally important pieces out of silver, your best bet is to go for sterling, because it will hold up to the wear and tear a little better (ok a lot better).

You will need all your basic soldering supplies: Torch, flux, tweezers, solder picks, solder, if you have done any soldering (jewelry soldering) before, the soldering supplies you usually use should be fine with one thing I would specify. For this project, I personally would suggest using either a honeycomb board or a charcoal board, as that will allow you to push the prong wires directly into the board. Otherwise, you will need a third hand, and it will likely take a few more rounds of soldering. If you're really smart, you could get investment plaster and set it up so you can do it all at once.

Other than that, you will need your regular jewelry pliers, a rawhide hammer, a mandrel of the same shape as your cabs (you can make do with a round mandrel for an oval cab, it's just more work. AKA that's what I did. Very smart of me /s) cleaning solution or penny brite, and patina of your choice(I use liver of sulfur, but I can't really smell it, and I've been told it stinks, so you may want to consider alternatives)

For this project, the frame of the setting will be an oval of copper wire of about the same size as the cab. I am using 16ga for this. 18ga could work, but I wouldn't go smaller than that.

If you are good enough at estimating that you can just wrap the wire around the cab and get it pretty close, that should work for this project. It only needs to be close enough that the cab won't fall through. A little showing around the edges or a little bit smaller than the cab isn't too big a deal for this project. If not, measure the length and width of the cab and calculate the circumference to find out the length of wire you need. This online calculator should work:

https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/ellipse-circumference#:~:text=Find%20the%20values%20of%20the,%2D%203h)))%5D%20.

If you can solder the wire you cut in the shape of an oval, that's great. If not, just bend the wire so the ends are flush, and solder them together. Try not to use too much solder, what you see in the images is overkill, but it makes it easier to see. It's not too important here, but especially later, when we get to prongs, the more solder you have, the more there is to move around, and that gets messy.

Repeat for each cab you are using. In my case, three times.

To shape the frames, you will want a mandrel in the same shape as your cab(or round will work if you used oval cabs, it's just more work.) And a rawhide hammer/mallet. If you've never used your rawhide hammer before, make sure to condition it before use. This is a good video on how to do that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSDJhdcNAew&t=260s

If you have a mandrel in the right shape, the process is easy. Put the soldered frame on the mandrel and hammer it until it fits nicely on the mandrel. For the two smaller ones, that is what I did. Try to get the solder seam away from the top of the frame if possible.

However, my oval mandrel isn't big enough to shape the frame for the large cab, so I ended up using my round mandrel and then gently flattening the sides. BE CAREFUL! It is very easy to collapse the frame, and having to shape it repeatedly can weaken it (source, me. Learning these things by trial and error and breaking several of these on a similar project). If necessary, you could use pliers, but I would be very hesitant to suggest it. Your best shot is likely to press it between your thumb and a leather-covered surface (see pictures). Flip it onto the other side regularly to maintain a symmetrical shape, and GO SLOWLY!

Or just get the right mandrel. I know I should, but I very rarely use stones that big.

To have a way to attach things to the frame later (earring hooks, a chain) we need to have jump rings soldered to the top of the frame. The simplest way to get jump rings is just to buy them, but be careful about which ones you buy. A lot of them are just plated, and the plating will come off in the heat of soldering, so I usually just make my own if I'm going to solder them to something.

To make jump rings, I like to use stepped bail-making pliers so that the size of the jump rings is consistent. For this, I used 18ga copper wire and wrapped it 4-5 times around the step I wanted on the pliers. Sliding the coil off the pliers can be interesting, especially if you rubber coat them (which I suggest) but once again, just be patient. Most things in jewelry-making go better if you take your time. Then you just need to cut through the links. You can either use a pair of wire cutters (straight cutters are better) or a jewelry saw. I don't have much of a preference personally.

Once you have your jump rings, you will want to clean up the edge that is going to be soldered to the frame. Pretty much always, when you are soldering a jump ring to anything, the cut in the ring should be the edge that is soldered.

After you have cleaned up the jump ring, line it up with what you want to be the top of your frame on your soldering board, using pins to hold it in place if necessary. The more surface area you have touching between the two, the stronger your join will be, and this join will probably take more stress than any of the others in this project. Once it is set up on your board, you can go ahead and solder the ring to your frame.

Repeat for each frame.

In this project, the setting we are using is not a traditional prong setting, but "prong setting" is the closest thing I can find to a technically accurate term, so, I will continue calling the securing pieces of metal "prongs."

For the prongs, I used 20 ga wire. I used two copper and one silver for the earring frames; I used two copper and two silver for the pendant frame. The prongs' length is not exact, but a good guideline would be about twice as long as the frame. Err on the side of too long, rather than too short.

If you are using honeycomb board or charcoal (which I very much recommend!) the soldering joins are very simple. Using the prongs instead of pins, pin the frame in place on the board in such a way that the prongs are touching the frames. Put them about 30-40 degrees off of the top and bottom of the frame, on opposite corners(see pictures) For the earrings, I am putting the silver wire just a little under the top copper wire. For the pendant, I put the silver wires just to the inside of the copper on each side. This does play a role in how the final product will look, but it is also for strength. The way I set the wires up, the copper will bear most of the load securing the stone. If I wanted to put silver on the outside, I would have to use sterling, not fine silver.

You will need to be a bit more careful with these joins than the first two. These wires are more likely to melt, the positioning is a little harder, and frankly, it's just more annoying to start over later in the process. There are a few ways to make it easier. If you're worried about melting the wires, you can do only one or two of them at a time so you don't need to heat the piece as much and use a smaller flame. If you're worried about keeping the wires in contact with the frame, you can use pins or investment plaster. If you are having problems with your previous joins melting, try using easy solder for the prongs, instead of hard, which is standard.

If you don't have a soldering board that you can stick pins into, you can always use a third hand. I think it it a little harder, especially for a project like this that requires very little precision, but it is still a good thing to get used to doing. You will definitely need to be able to do so for more complex or more precise projects. However, just keep in mind that the third hand will draw much more heat away from the piece than pins in a board will, and if you're not used to using one, it may be a little weird having it heat differently. I never thought it would be such a big deal, but it really threw me the first few times I needed to use a third hand.

Before you get onto the setting, you will want to clean up the piece. Start by cutting off the part of the wire that was stuck into the soldering block(if you did that). Then, whether you use a pickle solution or pennybrite or some sort of steel wool or something, you will want to clean off as much of the fire scale and tarnish as possible. I did not polish this piece, but I am using a patina, so you want it to be pretty clean for the patina to stick.

After you have cleaned it of fire scale/tarnish, you will want to smooth out the edges with a file. Pay specific attention to the stubs on the back of the frames. They will be the closest thing to a person's skin in many cases, so they need to not be sharp and pokey. If any of the solder seams are rough, you will want to do the same thing there.

Patina is usually pretty simple, and a very good idea anytime you are working with copper. I am using liver of sulfur, but as I said earlier, you may want to look into your other options, because I've been told it REALLY stinks. I can't smell it, but I would trust their sense of smell over mine. Either way, the process should be about the same, coat the piece in the patina somehow, wait until you see a color you like, and then rinse it off. Usually, you will take some sort of abrasive to the raised surface to give it a bit of contrast, so going for a slightly darker color is usually ok.

I will mostly focus on the process for the pendant, because it is easiest to see, but the process is just about the same for the earrings, only with one silver wire rather than two.

Most of the work of actually holding the stones in place is done by the copper wires. They are the sturdier of the wires, and they are positioned on the outside, where they will take the brunt of the force. To begin the setting, you will want to take the copper wires and fold/bend them diagonally across the lapis. You will then want to make the curls at the end of the wire. Most likely, you have more wire than you need. If you are good at estimating or not two particular, you can cut the end of the wire before you twist it, and just use round pliers to make some pretty simple curls. If they are not lying flat against the cab, adjust them until they do. If you are not confident in your estimating skills, leave the tail of the wire on and use it as a lever to curl the wire, and then cut the tail off close to the cab. You are more likely to need to do more filing or adjusting of the curl afterward, but it can sometimes give better results.

Once the copper wires are securing the stone in place, pretty much just repeat the process for the silver wires, but curl the wires towards the inside of the cab, rather than the outside. As stated before, the earrings only have one silver wire instead of two, but that doesn't change the process much.

Once the wires are in place, gently take some fine steel wool (#0000 or something like that) to the raised areas of the pieces.

I don't usually keep too many copper findings on hand, because they're really easy to make, but whether you like to make your own findings or use premade ones, you will need a chain(no I don't make that myself), earring wires, a clasp, a bail, and a few more jump rings. If you make your own findings, you will want to patina them. Otherwise, you just need to put them together and call it a day.

As I said at the beginning of this project, it's a pretty simple one if you already understand basic soldering, but it's a good way to get practice on something with multiple joins. This isn't something you would find in a jewelry store at the mall, but there are a lot of places where something like this would sell and a lot of people like the more organic type of jewelry. I hope you learned something from this instructable, and if you make it, definitely post pictures so I can see!