Category: How To & Tutorials

The Differences between Mouth Blown and Lathe Blown Glass

Many people think traditional mouth blowing glass is synonymous with glassblowing but that’s only a type of it. A more precise method to create glass apparatuses known as lathe blown glass has also gained the attention of many bead enthusiasts. 

And this is why here’s a complete guide by us on mouth-blown and lathe blown glass and differences between them. But before venturing into the main topic, let’s gain some knowledge about glassblowing. So here we go!

What Is Glassblowing?

  • It is a glass-forming technique where molten glass is shaped by blowing air into it through a long metal tube. More precisely, in this technique, the molten glass is inflated into a bubble with the aid of a blowpipe.
  • This method of glassblowing has been there since its development in the Middle East around 200-300 BC. Even in the 21st century, glass-blown products have retained their spot of being an essential part of everyday life. It does so by taking part in the production of numerous innovations and art forms.
  • It is said that the first glass-blown products were glass tubes, glass rods, and tiny blown bottles. These products were found dumped at a ritual bath in Jerusalem. 
  • The art of tube blowing is much more than just an experiment done by glassworkers, it is a revolutionary step that induced a change in conception and a thorough understanding of glass. A person who performs the work of blowing glass is called a glassblower.

The art of glassblowing is basically of two types. The first type is called Mouth blowing which is used globally for creating decorative and utility-based pieces. The other type is called Lathe blown and is not very common as it is mainly used for laboratory and scientific glass production.

Having proper knowledge about these methods can make you understand the process of glass-production better. So, let’s learn about these types in more detail.

What Is the Mouth Blowing Method?

  • This is the most basic and oldest method of glass design. It is also considered the original method which helps in working with the glass. 
  • In this technique, the artist places a heated and molten glass at the end of the blowpipe. This end of the blowpipe is known by many professionals as “gather”. This blowpipe is then carefully rotated and inflated. It is done while maintaining the proper temperature of the gather and incorporating air into the glass. This allows the glass to get the intended shape.
  • Now, the glass needs to be removed. An iron rod is used to free the vessel from the blowpipe. Once the process is done, the vessel is heated again and further clarifications are made to the shape and form.

Each piece of mouth-blown glass is unique due to the beautiful irregularities made by rapid heating and cooling. The mouth-blown beads are extremely alluring and are meant to give an elegant touch to its wearer.

If you need one such bead to enhance your beauty, we recommend you Venetian Bead Shop’s Blown Murano Glass Round Gold Foil as they are authentic Murano blown beads, completely hollow inside with the signature Ca’d’oro appearance. These are designed for focal beads and are also often used in Christmas ornaments or decorations.

If you want to buy something luxurious, you should go for Red Filigrana Orchid with an Orange Long Stem. These are formed by combining the flowers made of Murano Glass Red Filigrana and clear Stems of Boro. Group a couple for a beautiful display of flowers that require no watering and don’t wilt on a hot day.

What Is Lathe Blowing Glass Method?

  • This is a complex technique to make some of the most reliable, durable, and accurate pieces of scientific apparatus. The lathe glassware is found almost in every laboratory. The most important work of Lathe is to grab and rotate glass tube or rod during the glass fabrication process.
  • To create a super-efficient lathe blown glass, a glass blower commences with a molten globule of glass from a furnace and shapes it into containers and artistic objects. To make scientific apparatus, the glass blower begins with an existing piece of specialist glass equipment and modifies it into the required shape.

Differences Between Mouth Blown And Lathe Blown Glass

Application :

The decorative mouth-blown glass pieces in someone’s bedroom or living room come from a technique that requires one to take a piece of molten glass and use a glass mold or blow tube. These are used for ornamental or decorative purposes. 

While lathe blowing is a newer more precise method that is used to create sturdy lab and science glass products.

Material Used:

Compared to the normal globe of glass used in mouth blowing, lathe blowing uses a special kind of glass known as borosilicate glass.

Technique:

In case of mouth blowing glass, the artist molds the glass by blowing into the tube while rotating the glass to shape it. Depending on what the artist is creating, he may need to gather more molten glass to add to his creation. Once shaped and molded, the artist then trims the glass and removes it from the blow tube.

Now unlike mouth blowing, lathe blowing uses a machine to create and either a handheld or machine guided flame to mold the glass.

Parting Notes

Get yourself beautiful blown glassware and add a level of sophistication to your room or lab. If you wish to buy more blown Murano beads, you can browse for the same at our store. At Venetian Bead Shop, you will get a variety of options of beads that are mouth-blown using transparent Murano glass.

<p id="For more information, kindly visit our website or contact our supportive staff. We’ll get back to you in no time.

Lampwork beads – How are they made?

Beads have been used for generations to make necklaces, rosaries, and other pieces of jewelry. While traditional beads are adorable, lampwork beads go a step above in adding aesthetics and enhancing the overall appeal of the jewelry. 

Despite their exquisite nature and unique heritage, few people are aware of their origin and building process. This necessitates shedding light on several topics such as ‘How lampwork beads are made?’ and so on. So without any further ado, let’s get started!

All the components needed to make lampwork beads

What are Lampwork Beads?

To know what Lampwork beads mean, it’s important to know what ‘Lampwork’ and ‘beads’ mean separately. So beads are small pieces of glass, stones, or similar materials that are threaded together to make jewelry or some other items. 

<p id="On the other hand, lampwork is a glasswork technique where a torch or lamp is used to melt the glass. And once the glass is in a molten state, it is shaped using hand or tools. 

So that means lampwork beads are those beads that are made using lampworking techniques. As these are mostly handmade, intricate designs and fascinating details are some features they are heavily endowed with. 

Why are Venetian and Murano Lampwork beads famous?

Whenever we hear about ‘glasswork’, the mention of Murano is bound to take place. This is because glass making is widely practiced in Munaro and the artists and workers belonging to this place have acquired distinctiveness in glasswork. The Muranian glass work is inspired by Venetian glass artists. 

One might wonder whether such beads can be copied by manufacturers in China or some other countries. Well the answer is Yes, they can be copied, however, there are several qualities of such Muranese beads that are difficult to be replicated, such as usage of Effetre glass canes (which are produced only in Murano). 

Likewise, the tools used, and most prominently the traditional Venetian techniques are hard to replicate too. 

All the mentioned factors make it a unique product which is endemic to Murano and some other areas where Muranian artists could provide their help. 

And this is why at Venetian Bead Shop, we are a family-owned business in Santa Clara, CA, USA where we have been importing Venetian Glass & Murano Glass since 1993 and we work directly with the bead makers of Venice Murano which makes us able to provide the best Venetian & Murano lampwork beads in USA and worldwide. 

What do you require to make Lampwork beads?

Every special thing requires unique efforts. The same holds for lampwork beads as well. It is important to source the required materials and tools before starting to make the Lampwork beads. Here are some of them-

  • Bench Burner

This is a device that produces heat and flames which is essential in heating and shaping the glass for making beads.

  • Hand Torch

You’d be dealing with intricate detailing and fine objects while working on beads. This makes a hand torch indispensable as using it you’ll be able to focus on different small and intricate particles of beads.

  • Marver

A marver is one of the most important tools when it comes to glassblowing. It is generally made of polished steel, brass, and attached to a metal or wooden table. However, when it comes to using them in a process requiring fine application, a hand-held version of the same could be used. Overall, it is a flat slab of metal or stone or wood on which glasswork is rolled, shaped and cooled. 

  • Reamer

A reamer is a rotary cutting tool used in metalworking. They are used for finishing or enlarging a hole on a metal. A reamer may seem the same as a driller, however, while a driller ‘makes’ hole on a solid surface, a reamer on the other hand, finishes or works upon the existing hole to leave smooth sides.

  • Tungsten Pick

Tungsten is a hard metal that is used in making light bulbs and its extreme temperature resistance makes it ideal in glasswork or anything that requires dealing with high temperatures. There are several applications of Tungsten in bead making such as raking (dragging glass), boring holes, and others. 

  • Mandrel

A mandrel is a cylindrical shaped rod around which metal or some other material is shaped or forged. Essentially, you’ll be using this device the whole time in making Lampwork beads.

  • Glass rods

These glass rods would be your primary raw materials. You’ll have to melt them to make beads.

How to make Lampwork Beads

Now we’ll directly shift to talking about how lampwork beads are made. We have tried to break down the steps involved into pointers. So here we go:

  • First of all, melt the glass rods over a torch and bring it into its molten state.
  • Now wound the molten glass carefully around the steel mandrel. The hole that we see in beads is formed due to the space taken up by these mandrels.
  • Now you have to give a shape to the molten glass by rotating the mandrel and holding it in various positions. The gravity and rotation given by you would help the bead in getting your desired shape. Now, as a beginner, you’ll not be certain about how hot the glass needs to be when it should be rotated or when to apply pressure. Needless to say, you’ll know the same gradually as you begin working regularly.
  • You can add decorative embellishment and colors to adorn the beads. Overtime, you’ll learn how different colors, tools, and metals react with glass to form beads.
  • You can also use marble tools, paddles, and marvers to give the glass the desired shape. Just make sure to keep the mandrel spinning and glass hot. 
  • At last, you’ll need to carefully ‘anneal’ the beads. Annealing is a process of cooling down the glass, reducing stress, and avoiding thermal shock to the glass bead.

Overall, we can say lampwork beading requires a great deal of patience, precision, and skill sets. With practice and proper tools, you can make your own designer Lampwork beads. 

Now if you wish to buy traditional Venetian and Murano Lampwork beads, you can browse for the same on our store. At Venetian Bead Shop, we provide over 6000 different colors and styles of traditional and modern Venetian glass beads. Do visit our store, we are sure you’d be delighted seeing the variety we offer.

Thanks for reading!

5 ways you can make use of the leftover beads

Only a bead stringer would understand how difficult it is to complete a bead work without leftovers. How many times have you added beads to your bead soup stash? You don’t want to dispose of them, but you aren’t sure what to do with them.

Did you know that with little effort you can turn leftover beads into a piece of different jewellery or craft altogether? Yeah, you wouldn’t have to tuck them away hoping that you could use them one day. 

In this article, we have compiled a list of unique crafts & pieces of jewellery that you can make with your stash of leftover beads:

#1 Make Bead Bottle Crafts 

If you have a pile of leftover beads, you should think about making Bead Bottle Crafts. But yeah, you would have to spend some time to sort the beads based on their colour. Once you are done with the sorting, get a transparent glass bottle and start pouring the beads in layers into the bottle. You can play with the thickness of each layer & colour combinations until you are left with a beautiful design.

#2 Create Ornaments

Yeah, you heard it right. Leftover beads make excellent materials for pendants, earrings & bracelets. 

Make a Pendant

Did you know that you can make excellent pendants for necklaces from leftover beads? All that you need is a headpin and a round chain nose plier.

Get a skinny head pin with a thickness that’s enough for the beads to string. Pick the beads that you want to make a pendant with and string them on to the headpin. Make sure that the bead in the bottom is fixed against the head of the pin. Using a round chain nose plier make a wire loop over the pendant. 

Make Earrings

Custom made & designed earrings from leftover beads are an excellent gift option to your friends or family. Choose the best beads from your stash and whip up a great pair in no time.

If you are into the jewellery business, you can even add these earrings as a complimentary gift with each purchase. Your customers would love it and it won’t cost you much.

Make Bracelets

Not just earrings, bracelets from leftover beads to make a piece of fabulous jewellery that you can wear. All that you need is a stretch cord, embroidery scissor, bead stopper, some glue and beading needles.

  • Cut a length of a chord that’s 4 inches more than the desired bracelet length. Fix a bead stopper 4 inches from one end of the chord.
  • String the beads from your stash onto the elastic cord. Make sure that you check the length of the bracelet. You don’t want it to be too tight or too loose. Also, ensure that the last bead you string has a hole large enough to hide a knot in your beading cord.
  • Hold the beards away from the knot and use a drop of glue to secure the knot. Use embroidery scissors to trim the end close to the knot.

Making pieces of jewellery with leftover beads is a lot easier, if you have the right tools for the job.

Get the right tools for bead projects

How to identify the right tools for bead projects?

#3 Make Some Garden & Home Décor Products 

If you haven’t thought of it, leaf over beads makes excellent home décor products. With little patience and the right tools, you can add beauty to a lot of things in your home. For instance, if you have leftover glass beads, you can make bead curtains out of it. There are a lot of tutorials that are available online. As said, all you need is patience.

Else you can also make small home décor products like beaded pots for indoor plants or beaded napkin rings. Look around, and you can see a thousand options.

  • Making a Napkin Ring

Napkin rings are an excellent home décor item. All you need is 18-gauge wire, a wire cutter, leftover beads & a plier. Cut approximately 20 inches of wire and make a small ring in one end to prevent the beads from falling. String the beads onto the wire in any pattern that you want to. Once you are done with it, make a small ring on the other end too.

Wind this beaded wire around a glue box or any cylindrical bottle and your napkin ring is ready!

  • Beaded Wind Chimes 

Wind chimes are always a thing of beauty. Did you know that you can make a beaded wind chime with some leftover beads, thread, and an old coffee container? Yeah, it’s easier than you imagined. Simply make a bead chain with leftover beads & some fishing line. It would be great if you can string some seashells, clay models or glass beads to it. 

Once you are done, secure it to a hanging pot in your garden, tree branches, windows or anywhere you choose to.

#4 Prepare a Bead Repair Kit

Finding the right spare for repair is a nightmare for bead workers. you never know when you might have to repair a broken bead from a piece of jewellery. Though spares are available in the market, you wouldn’t want to buy a whole tube or string of beads when you probably just need a few.

This is where a bead repair kit comes in handy. You can keep a few leftovers after every project in a container and label them. So that the next time you need a spare, you would know where to check for it.

#5 Donate the leftover beads or conduct workshops

If you have a lot of leftover beads, you can think about donating them to art classes or schools. Else, you can even conduct a one-day art workshop for kids who are interested in beadwork.

To Sum Up

These are some of the ideas on what to do with leftover beads. Remember that beads are highly versatile, and there is a lot you can do with them! 

You can also visit our website for more information on beads and bead crafts. 

Dead Soft, Half Hard, Hard – How to Understand Beading Wire Terms

I feel like we have answered this question before, but we keep getting it. Now those of you who know me, know that beads, specifically Murano Glass Beads are my field of expertise and anything to do with glass, Murano, Venice. So to answer this question I had to do a little sleuthing, naturally on the internet. I came to the beading world because – well because they made beads in Murano!

Choose Your Wire Based on What You Want To Make

The terms are used to inform you of the metal bending qualities of the wire. Hardness is actually just the measure of how much the wire resists bending.

  • Dead Soft is the most flexible, pliable and easiest to bend. It works great for wire wrapping, and forming spirals and free flowing designs. It will not make a right angle.
  • Half Hard gives resistance to forming, not easily shaped into those free formed spirals or designs.
  • Hard is just that, it can be forced into right angles but is too hard for soft curves or spirals.

From Wikipedia, comes the model used for analyzing the hardness of the wire.

“Since it is made of metal, wire has this same hardness property. Most modern manufacturers of jewelry wire make the wire with a defined hardness, generally a hardness of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4. Historically, these numbers were associated with the number of times that the wire was pulled through a draw plate, becoming harder or stiffer each time it was drawn through the drawplate. A hardness of 0 meant that the wire had been drawn through only once and was as soft and as pliable as possible. A hardness of 4 meant that the wire had been drawn through five or more times and the wire was as stiff and as hard as possible. Most jewelry wire that is sold now is designated dead soft, half-hard, or hard, where dead soft is wire that is manufactured with a hardness of 0, half-hard is wire manufactured with a hardness of 2, and fully hardened wire is wire with a hardness of 4.

Dead soft wire is extremely soft and pliable. It can be easily bent and is excellent for making rounded shapes such as spirals. It is also excellent for wrapping wire around beads to make them look as though they are encased. The disadvantage of using soft wire is that the finished piece can be bent out of shape if not properly handled.

Half-hard wire is slightly stiffer than dead soft wire. Half-hard wire is excellent for making tight, angular bends, for making loops in wire, and for wrapping wire around itself. However, it is not very useful for making spirals. Finished pieces made with half-hard wire are usually more permanent than pieces made with soft wire.

Hard wire is very stiff and tends to spring back after being bent, making it harder to work with when using a jig; it cannot be used to make a spiral. Pieces made with hard wire have the advantage that they are not easily accidentally deformed.

As in many things, no single wire is perfect for all applications. Soft wire is easy to bend and shape, but the finished product may be bent out of shape if squeezed. Hard wire is difficult to bend but makes permanent shapes. Half-hard wire is a compromise between the two. Wire-wrapped jewelry can be made by wire which is initially soft, simplifying fabrication, but later hardened by hammering or by work hardening”.

Beadalon has the following chart showing the hardness of their craft wire.

Guide to Hardness

But then, even Dead Soft wire can be work hardened with proper tools and knowledge. So if you want to make some earwires and you have only dead soft wire. Working the wire will harden it. But it is absolutely easier just to buy the wire you need, but if you have an inspiration at midnight, there is a solution.

If you are really interested in the ability to work harden your wire, I suggest you buy some of each hardness so you have the feel for each and keep as a sample for while you are working the wire. If you over work the dead soft, it can break so it is good to know exactly how much you can work it. You can harden the wire (best on 22-28 gauge) using nylon jaw pliers and pulling the wire. We recommend you only harden the amount of wire you need for a project, otherwise you’ll need to keep it identified. Test the wire during the work hardening so you do not over stress it. Compare it to those samples of various hardness wire we suggested you keep*.

What you want to make will determine which wire you need. Working with Venetian Beads, we often use the 20 gauge wire which is “Half Hard” because our larger beads are heavy.

Beadalon’s German Style Wire which many of our customers use in wire wrapping jewelry falls somewhere closer to Half-Hard than Dead Soft, which is probably because it has a copper core giving it greater strength.

*NOTE: Always wear safety glasses when working the wire.

Click here to see our selection of Wire for Wire Wrapping

 

 

 

 

Converting Fractions to Inches and Millimeters

Fractions – Hieroglyphics

It is said that the Egyptians were using fractions in 1800 B.C. writing in hieroglyphics, using them in their payments and taxes.

Inches, Yards

The inch was originally the width of a man’s thumb. In the 14th century King Edward II of England ruled that 1 inch equaled 3 grains of barley placed end to end lengthwise. The yard was the length of a man’s belt (you can see how this varied) until King Henry I of England fixed the “yard” as the distance from his nose to the thumb. That was 36 Inches (or 108 grains of barley)?

Meters – Millimeters

And the meter, which gives us the millimeter has an even more convoluted history surrounding a decimal based system which was derived from the distance a pendulum with a one-second period swung. After the French Revolution, the French Academy of Sciences defined the adoption of a decimal system with the term mètre as a basic unit which was described as equal to one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the Equator. Though how they knew this exact measurement is a mystery to me.

And so the debate went on for another century. Is there any wonder we have trouble converting fractions to inches and millimeters. So we’ve done the math for you. Just print it out and never mind that 1 meter is actually 39.370 Inches. We’ll just go with 39!

Easy Way to Convert: Repurpose 2 Rulers

Since we are constantly converting millimeters and centimeters to Inches (forget the fractions) there is an easy way. It does take a visit to an Ikea store, but the little paper rulers they give you to measure in the store are perfect. You can take 2 of them, one side has millimeters and other inches. Just match them up and tape them together. Right on your beading table is the perfect place. Good for measuring necklaces too.

Combine our taped ruler with our conversion chart below and you have a simple way to make your conversions!

Handy Chart for Converting Fractions, Inches and Millimeters

And if you wish to download and print, here’s the PDF

Using a Bead Gauge

We measure our beads in millimeters because that’s how our bead makers work. Millimeters are also how pearls are measured. So most women are slightly familiar with the concept, just ask one if she prefers a 10mm pearl or an 8mm pearl.

A handy thing to remember is that 1 inch = ~25mm

You need to be a bit careful using the brass gauges. The electronic ones will give you a digital readout. They are more expensive and must be handled more carefully.

The brass gauge is inexpensive, easy to put in your pocket to take to bead shows or bead stores to be sure you are buying the right size.

We recently had a customer who was very unhappy because his 8mm beads were only 6mm. His exact words were

“I bought 8 mm glass beads from you. Measured on a gapper, these beads are 6 mm. What am I suppose to do? I need 8 mm not 6 mm. I am very disappointed. How could you so consistently mess this order up?”

Well it turns out he was misreading the gauge. But we can learn from his mistake.

Making of a Millefiori Bead

What goes into making a millefiori bead? What are they always different? What makes them smooth? and other questions you’ve always wanted to know about millefiori!

First the canes must be made. And since there are many different opaque millefiori slices of canes used in this particular millefiori bead, well there are about 120 opaque canes that must be made by Effetre (and known as Moretti Canes) in Murano. In the picture below, friends at another furnace are making cane glass for us.

Then the canes must be chopped into small pieces. For our bead makers, Effetre does the chopping resulting in large wheel barrows of these slices. Our bead makers buy in 10 kilo (~22 pound) bags. The slices are random, and sometimes they have more of one cane than another, because at Effetre, there is a schedule for the production of canes, and no cane will be made before that scheduled time. (This comes under the heading of, “It’s how we’ve always done it and we see no need to change.” If you truly want the canes out of cycle, then you will need to buy 500 kilo ~1200 pounds.)

So now to the bead making

The slices of canes must be warmed or the bead will crack. This is done by laying them on a small tray beside the torch as the bead maker deftly wraps the melting cane which creates the base of the bead. Then carefully, using tweezers, they place the canes one by one onto the base of molten glass.

In the picture you see first the base and next to it, the base with slices applied, and already you can tell they have put it back into the flame, as the straight sides of the canes have begun to become slightly round. In the third, you see that by holding the bead in the fire, the canes begin to meld together. There is surely a technical term, but you just need to know that the glass flows toward the heat.

At this point, there will still be slight bumps or separations and the bead is not smooth. Here’s where the last secret come in.

The Secret of the Finishing

The Moretti brothers are credited with inventing a technique of “burattatura” a name that came from the use of a wooden barren (buratto) which they turned to smooth and polish the beads – a departure from the time consuming task of polishing with a cork wheel and water which was also expensive and impossible for small beads. They put the beads in the barrel along with sand and water. The sand becomes more sottile (fine) in the process which takes about 7 days and with the final time devoted to the polishing, part of the secret! Even today no one outside the Moretti company knows the exact process they use.

Thanks to our good friend Gianni Moretti for his research and writings as well as his exhibits at the Museo del Vetro in Murano.

Shop our great selection of Millefiori Beads.

How to Use a Safety Chain on PerlaVita Bracelet

This is one of my new favorite products, the safety chain for our PerlaVita Bracelets. Most of us have a little trouble putting on a bracelet and taking it off. There are “bracelet buddy” tools, someone in your household who helps you or your co-worker who comes to your aid but this little Safety Chain will make your life easier.

Here’s an easy way to be sure your bracelet doesn’t go rolling across the floor when you are trying that tricky maneuver, no matter how rushed you are. And you’ll want one for all your large hole bead bracelets.

This is a simple trick that works and makes it easy to prevent loosing your favorite bracelet/beads.

For our Perlavita Beads

Our Handmade Venetian Beads

For our PerlaVita Bracelets & Safety Chain

PerlaVita Bracelets and Safety Chain

 

 

Cleaning Silver Easy and Safe

If you prefer the bright shine ,925 Sterling Silver, not Silver with an Anti-Tarnish coating, which tones down the bright shine we all love, you need easy ways to clean it.

This cleaning method works, it’s easy, you have the items in your kitchen so give it a try. (Read the cautions below before you begin! And test on a small piece to be sure it works for you.)

Why does Silver tarnish?

Up until the industrial revolution, silver never tarnished? Imagine that. But with the pollutants that came from the industrial revolution, namely sulphur, we also got tarnishing .It is a chemical reaction, with the most common source through the air (pollutants) also bad for humans.

What You Need:

  • A glass or plastic dish or pan large enough to for your silver pieces to lie flat so that each piece is touching the aluminum foil
  • Aluminum foil to cover the bottom of the pan
  • Baking Soda
  • Hot Water (just before boiling) – I use my electric tea kettle.

Cleaning Silver the Easy Way

Note: Oxidized details (like lettering or other designs) are not suited for this as the cleaning may take away some of the oxidized details. Use a polishing cloth for this type silver items.

Give it a few minutes, close the aluminum

How does it work?

Well the silver sulfide which is the dark, black formed on your silver pieces also loves Aluminum, well more than Silver. So when you put the piece of tarnished Silver touching Aluminum, add the Baking Soda, and hot water you trigger an electrochemical reaction. The Baking Soda in hot water creates a reaction which allows the silver sulfide to transfer from your Silver to the Aluminum. The silver must be touching the Aluminum for this to work because a small electrical current flows between the silver and aluminum, which is what makes it work.

After a few minutes, remove the silver pieces from the water and rinse clean. If there is still tarnish, you can repeat the process.

How to prevent Tarnish?

Store it in a silver chest (yes they still exist and are great for your table wear. For jewelry,

  • Absolutely Never wrap your silver in plastic. It holds in any moisture.
  • Use Fabric Jewelry Rolls
  • Use anti-tarnish inserts
  • Avoid touching the silver with lotions and creams – great for the skin but not for silver.

Cautions!

  • Do not use on plated silver because a light plating may become dull.
  • Do not use this on any jewelry or silver pieces which have beads,crystals, crystal pearls, pearls or  stones as the hot water and baking soda may damage them.

Things that will increase the likelihood of tarnish:

  • Pools, Hot Tub, Sauna
  • Soaps: kitchen, bath, etc.
  • Oils
  • Sulfur in the air in your location.

Prevention is obviously the best solution!

Shop our great selection of Findings

Jewelry Making Refresher on Conversion Terms

Just a little refresher on terms we use in jewelry making. Math, it turns out, is also useful for jewelry making.

Conversions Factors
To Go From To Multiply By
Carats DWT 0.128603
Carats Grams 0.2
Feet Millimeters 304.8
Feet Meters 0.3048
Grams Carats 5
Grams DWT 0.6430149
Grams Troy Ounces 0.03215075
Inches Millimeters 25.4
Inches Meters 0.0254
Millimeters Inches 0.03937008
Millimeters Feet 0.00328084
Meters Inches 39.37008
Meters Feet 3.28084
DWT Carats 7.775869
DWT Grams 1.555174
DWT Troy Ounces 0.05
Troy Ounces DWT 20
Troy Ounces Grams 31.10348

Or you can easily use google.com to get an exact convered number. For example today I needed to know how many feet were on a spool of leather that was 25 Meters so I could decide how many 17 inch necklaces I could make.

So multiple 25 Meters by 39.37008 is 984.252 Inches so if I am quite accurate when I cut, I can make 57.8971765 (I think I will stick with 57 necklaces).

For a printable PDF of this you can print and keep Click Here

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