Forging hollow neck rings

In this video, I’m forging hollow neck-rings. The template is from the book by Alan Revere: Professional Jewelry Making: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Jewelry Techniques, but I have added my own twists and ends.

[@kmartin6941]

I was holding my breath while you were bending that with your hands. Had me stressed over here. 😂. Beautiful work. I’m going to head to my studio and ‘attempt’ one. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@ShapingSilver]

You're most welcome. 😊 Good luck!

[@kensalasaki3593]

yes! thanks so much for the video you have helped me see how to fabricate and materialise my torc dreams!

[@ShapingSilver]

Glad to hear! 😊 Thanks for watching!

[@avaalto5085]

Like magic!

[@annag929]

Great job!❤

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. 😊

[@chiomascharm4596]

Beautiful work!!

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. 😊

[@KieranShort]

That's very inspiring. I love making things, and this looks awesome. But looks like it takes a real load of experience. Just the precision and accuracy of that hammer work was incredible. Much respect!

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. 😊 Yes, it takes a bit of practice.

[@shirleyjwagle]

Wonderful

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you and thanks for watching. :-)

[@ricardosander7390]

Pretty cool! Always found that particular project on the book intriguing maybe this is the sign I needed to try my luck?! Hahaha... Thanks for the video!

[@ShapingSilver]

It is definitely a skill building project. Give it a try. You're welcome. :-)

[@vogman]

So that's where my Grandmother's laundry press went! Very unnerving video... every hammer blow could have been a disaster and when you were bending by hand there, I was dreading a kink. Excellent work my friend. A fine show of craftsmanship. Your torc is the talk of the tube. Nice one. Oh, and have you ever read The Golden Torc by Julian May? An excellent series that I suspect you'd enjoy.

[@ShapingSilver]

*LOL* Yeah, so was I. :-) Thank you, I have a look.

[@hatehypocrisy1]

I love it, thanks for showing us the whole process of making an excellent piece of jewelry.

[@ShapingSilver]

Good to hear. Thanks for watching!

[@viv5645]

Absolutely fabulous! And the tiny one - OMG! Thank you for sharing, I shall share also x

[@amberm2777]

I just found your channel a few days ago and I have already learned so much. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@ShapingSilver]

You're welcome and thanks for watching. 🙂

[@sjv6598]

Watching you take the scrap silver, process it into an ingot then stretch it out cutting rolling hammering etc, my goodness that takes some skill! I can't imagine how many hours it took! Absolutely fantastic craftsmanship 👏🏻

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. :-) I think it took me about five hours a ring.

[@rosamariazea3596]

Excelente!!

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you! 😊

[@dorisdorisdotter933]

So incredibly beautiful necklace!!! You are really awesome with the hammer and when you started to bend the necklace I barely dared to look. Great job :)

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. 😊 Yeah, the bending part was somewhat nerve wrecking. Thanks for watching!

[@filipzan5664]

thank you. I've seen the project, but never seen someone actually filming the steps

[@ShapingSilver]

You're welcome and thanks for watching. Yeah, I couldn't find a video either, so here we are. :-)

[@EM-cg4iy]

So beautiful I wanna cry!

[@ShapingSilver]

Yes, the turned out quite niece. Thank you. :-)

[@dementedseamstress]

What a beautiful result, nerve-wracking to watch though - yet, at the same time so satisfying. I could watch you work for hours, but I wouldn't get any work done myself! Hello from New Zealand

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. 😊 And hallo from Seeland.

[@curbesidenation]

Wow beautiful pieces! Great job smithy!

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. :-)

[@as1m_]

Nice job! Aspire to learn this as a hobby someday

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. You should, it's wery gratifying. Thanks for watching!

[@jakematic]

Always look forward to your videos! Would have been very nervous bending it, and it came out beautiful. I think your rolling machine would be excellent for homemade pasta too😂 Beautiful radiometer on the window - way more elegant than one I have.

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you, always a pleasure making them for you. Yeah, you need to do a couple of practice pieces to develop a feel for the bending process. Pasta you say? Well theres a thought. :-) Thank you. I got it from my grandfather and it always reminds me of him.

[@spookiefish659]

brilliant work as always. I've never made such a long hollow form. what were some of the challenges you faced along the way?

[@ShapingSilver]

You have to get a feel for handbending the tube, so you can feel when to anneal and hammer back into round, or the tube will fold on you. Oh, and your solder work needs to be good, or it will crack. :-) Thanks for watching.

[@EM-cg4iy]

@@ShapingSilver every time you bent it I held my breath!

[@ShapingSilver]

@@EM-cg4iy so did I. *lol*

[@gerganashkodrova4251]

You must be a magician, sir. I couldn't believe my eyes, the way you achieved such elegant form with your fingers only:) Such mastery, left me breathless. Can this be achieved with brass? And what kind of solder did you use for the copper piece? Please? I gather it is not achievable unless soldered...

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. 😊 Brass is harder than copper, but I don't see why it couldn't be done. I silver soldered it with medium, as far as I remember.

[@gerganashkodrova4251]

@@ShapingSilver thank you, thank you, be healthy and very lucky

[@HereWeAre__01]

curious about the vent hole. everything made sense until you capped the ends. where did you put the vent hole so it didnt explode?

[@marcsenteney3160]

Amazing work sir! Were you ever afraid it was going to crease or fold on you?

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you. :-) Yes! And it did happen to me with one of the practice pieces. It takes a bit of work to develop a feel for it. Thanks for watching!

[@johnspargo5876]

Magnificent! Scary soldering. What solder did you use? easy to end up with 'silver soup'. Kind regards from John Spargo in Cape Town

[@ShapingSilver]

Yeah, lots of scary processes in this project. :-) Good point, I forgot to film the setting up part. I used hard palliet solder to avoid it cracking during bending. Great, how is the weather down there?

[@doramoscati1516]

Thank you ,Oliver for sharing this beautiful video! I just wanted to ask if you used Cooper for your practice piece, and what thickness. Thanks

[@ShapingSilver]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I used copper for the practice piece, knowing well that it is much softer than silver. I used 0.6 mm. In the book 0.4 mm is used. Thanks for watching!

[@doramoscati1516]

@@ShapingSilver thank you!

[@juliekirk2777]

Hi! I love this! I have Alan's book so I'm trying this project. Can you please tell me where the seam is when it's complete? I tried to see where it was as you were bending, but couldn't decide where it was... Thanks in advance!

[@ShapingSilver]

@@juliekirk2777 Thank you. 😊 It is on the inside. I think it is best to hide the solder seam on the inside, so it won't be visible.

[@juliekirk2777]

@@ShapingSilver so it rests on the skin of the wearer? Thank you for replying! Making one today x

[@sara-nf9lo]

Hi there! I've been trying to make this project in copper for several weeks. I can't get to smooth state. I paid much more attention to your video and saw both a upright raising hammer & tiny cows tongue anvil. Can you please share some details on these and how you used them? Also you said you altered the template from the book. I've tried so many different shapes and they all buckle and never get smooth. Could you share your template, type/size of raising hammer & cows tongue anvil used for smoothing/boujing? I'd love to actually get to the soldering but no matter how slow, gentle & cautious I end up with scrap everytime. Thank you for your help!

[@ShapingSilver]

Hi Sara, Sorry to hear about your troubles. It is a quit a challenge. The mini stake and the hammer are both used as stakes to smoothen the surface to “iron out” the biggest dents. The changes I made to the template was to make it a bit longer and wider, as the design not made for my neck size. ;-) I’ll have a look if have some cut out footage that can illustrate the closing process. I think the most important point is to go slow and watch what the metal is doing. Once you got the metal in a U shape, planish out the dents. Then slowly close by hammering on the open side. If it closes unevenly, hammering on the sides will open the shape again. Remember to anneal when the metal hardens.

[@sara-nf9lo]

@@ShapingSilver Hi! Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate your technical feedback & suggestions. I think it may be too technical for me rught now so I've decided to go back and make sure I understand shaping more clearly. I'd love to know your template size if that is something you could share if not that's ok too. Yours is just perfect!! Thank you sooo much!!

[@TheTaliswoman]

What is the book you mention please and also how do you apply the solder.. is it solder wire laid the length of the seam or something else please

[@ShapingSilver]

Professional Goldsmithing: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Jewelry Techniques by Alan Revere. Yes, ether that or use a stick of solder like the Silversmiths do, as it is quite a long seam.

[@user-tv2dc7eq7v]

круто ! подскажите пожалуйста как сделать такой припой самому

[@ShapingSilver]

Вы имеете в виду твердый припой? Это 66,5% серебра, 28,5% меди и 5% цинка. Спасибо за просмотр.

[@user-tv2dc7eq7v]

@@ShapingSilver спасибо

[@kensalasaki3593]

how long did it take you to make?

[@ShapingSilver]

A couple of hours for the copper test piece, I think. When filming, that takes most of the time.

[@kensalasaki3593]

@@ShapingSilver nice! what thickness was the silver you started with?