Ever wondered what happens to the bits of silver left over from making jewelry? Well, at Bedrock Rose, we don't let anything go to waste. Instead, we turn those scraps into shiny new sheet metal for our next creations. Let me walk you through the steps of melting down and shaping silver scraps into the perfect material for our handmade jewelry.
First off, I gather up all the silver bits and throw them into a crucible. I mix in a bit of copper to make sterling silver, then heat the whole thing up until it melts at a whopping 1763°. Once it's all nice and liquid, we pour it into a mold to make a solid block of silver.
Next comes the fun part – shaping the silver into thin sheets. The ingot measures about 4.2 mm and is passed through the rolling mill repeatedly until it's just the right thickness for whatever I’m making – whether it's a pendant, a ring, or a pair of earrings. But here's the trick: each time I roll it, the metal gets harder, so I must heat it up again with a torch to soften it before we can keep going (that’s called annealing).
I go back and forth between the rolling mill and the torch until the silver is just right – not too thick, not too thin, but just perfect for crafting beautiful jewelry. And by using scraps instead of new materials, I’m not only being eco-friendly, but I’m also adding a special touch to each piece I make.
So there you have it – the secret to Bedrock Rose stunning jewelry: a little bit of heat, a lot of rolling, and a whole bunch of recycled silver.
Next comes the design process and the creation of more silver scrap to recycle!
