JANET STERLING SILVER DESIGN

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CAST PENDANTS: how they're made at the janetjewelry studio!
• Sweatshop-free, with individualized attention (and love) per piece, by the artist!

BEFORE and AFTER:
The cast piece "in the raw" vs. a high gloss finished cast piece that you see in stores!
When you hear of a "cast pendant," it does NOT mean that there is a magic mold, the silver is put inside, and it comes out the way you see it at the jewelry store....

Here is a "before" and "after" photo of 2 sterling silver pieces. Notice that the "before" shots are whiter--it's whiter because the surface is not smooth (it has to be mirror smooth to have the light reflect back to your eye evenly). There are also "sprues," which is the path that the wax & silver takes going into the mold shape.

A brief, layman's description of how metal is cast into a bunch of molded shape at once: think of each cast piece like a leaf on a tree: all cast pieces are connected to a main center (the tree), and sprues are the branches, and each "leaf" is a cast piece. Silver is shot through the tree, through the branches, in order to make each leaf. The casting company roughly snips off each leaf off their tree--when I get it, it still has a bit of the "branches" on it, and below is a brief explanation of how I clean or "finish" up each leaf.

***I've done my own casting before, but I don't have the time to cast each piece now, so I have a casting company cast my original designs from my molds, both rubber and silicone molds (depending on the design), and when I pick them up, they are still in this "raw" form.
All janetjewelry pieces are finished at our studio in NYC!

BEFORE (raw cast)
and AFTER (ready to go!)

STEP ONE:
First of all, the sprues need to be sawed off each pendant by hand, using a jeweler's saw. Jeweler's saw blades are incredibly thin and delicate, and without a lot of practice, you'll be breaking a lot of blades. Even I buy them by the gross (144)! The thicker the metal, the more difficult it is to saw off, as there is more metal to cover with each stroke of the saw blade. Each blade is made so that it cuts only on the downward stroke, so in theory, it's like exerting two strokes per cut--great for the biceps & triceps!

I like to use a little bit of wax on the blade to make the sawing motion smoother (that blue thing on the right), which makes for smoother, more precise cuts. With a jeweler's saw, you can manuever your blade to cut around whatever your pendant shape is, which makes for less filing (as opposed to just trying to "clip" them off with cutting pliers).

STEP ONE: Hand Sawing

STEP TWO:
Depending on the piece, I hand-file the excess sprue. Sometimes, it's faster for me to use a hand file (rather than using machinery), depending on the design, and depending on how many pieces I'm doing at once. For example, if I'm working on a large number of pieces at one time, I'll do less hand-filing--otherwise, my hands get extremely sore.

Imagine gripping something extremely hard for 10 minutes--I guarantee your hands will hurt the next day....

Funny factoid: I'm ambidextrous, but my left is definitely the dominant one. I saw & file with my left (which is where all the back & forth action is), but it's my right arm that's stronger! After contemplation, I realized that with the right hand, I have to hold each piece extremely hard, so that it doesn't move during the sawing & filing process--it actually takes more muscle to do that!

STEP TWO: Hand Filing

STEP THREE:
Depending on the piece, I have to hand file the little crevices to smooth out any bumps that are on the cast pieces unnecessarily. The more intricate the design, the more I end up having to do this step. I have a set of needle files in various shapes, to fit the curve of whatever I'm working on. Here is a photo of me with a round needle file, to smooth out the "loop" in the "Opposites Attract" pendant.

Once metal is filed, you end up with file marks, so these need to be sanded down smoother, at least in rough, before the mass finishing process.

I have to admit, I like this step the least--it's tedious, and sometimes I just don't have the patience to individually hand file & sand things. Since I don't like to use finger gloves, it means that my fingers are also directly on the sand paper, so my fingers also get roughed up.

There are various "grits" of sandpaper, and I use sandpaper ranging from 280 (rough), to 600 (fine). The numbers traditionally correspond to the number of "grits" or sandy grains per square inch, so the higher the number, the finer the sandpaper. Personally, I like synthetically made sandpaper--it has a more consistent surface.

STEP THREE: Hand Filing and Sanding

STEP FOUR:
For most of my cast pieces, I use various abrasives on a flex shaft to machine-sand the excess sprue. Of course, this still has to be done individually by hand, and my hands always look like crap because I don't always use finger protectants (like suede finger gloves--I find their bulkiness hard to work with, especially with smaller pieces). You also develop callouses--the spinning action makes the cast piece hot, and sometimes I'm so focused on the sanding, I don't really think much about my fingers.

Also, in terms of the nature of how molds, waxes, and metals work (not enough space here), sometimes there are defects in the cast pieces (like air pockets, the mold cut not being smooth, etc), and if it's visible in this stage, it'll be visible in the end, so I smooth out the discrepancies in this stage as much as possible, otherwise, there will be a redo at the end.

Sanding Factoid: if you've come to the store and seen gray powder on my face, hair, and clothes, it's from this sanding process (see my desk?).

STEP FOUR: Machine Sanding

STEP FIVE:
Once all the sprues are cut, filed, and sanded, they are ready for the mass finishing stage, which is another process in itself. What this does, is that it smoothes out the surface all around each cast piece evenly. That's why the visible marks on the metal have to be smoothed out by hand beforehand (steps 2-4).

There are different media (the abrasives--for example, the tiny white pyramid is the media that I use right before the next stage) and chemicals you use for smoothing out the surface in mass finishing machines. You can only put in about 15-20% silver to media, otherwise the metals can scratch themselves. For the machines that I have, I can do only about 50 average sized pendants at a time, and this stage takes about 24 hours total machine time, and I have to change the chemicals about every 4-5 hours.

Since I do go home to sleep (contrary to popular belief), this stage alone takes up about 2-3 work days minimum.

STEP FIVE: Mass Finishing,
using various media & chemicals

STEP SIX:
How do you get silver really shiny? Steel shot and burnishing compound! This stage is my favorite stage--it's kind of exciting to know that you're almost done! You'd think that the steel would mark the silver, but the steel shots are really smooth, and with the burnishing compound (chemical), it basically pounds the metal into being really smooth and shiny.

This stage only takes 2-2.5 hours, and it makes a lot of noise, but I don't mind at all. The noise to me signifies, "Janet, you're almost done!"

When this step is done, I wash all the silver and dry them--if you're not careful, you can get waterspots on the silver, which is a pain to polish later on. Plus, at this stage, I can look at them individually and do a janetjewelry "quality control" check! If I can see a significant mark in the metal, I resand the piece and go back to step three, sand, and I put it in whatever media it has to go into next, and I run it with the next batch later on.

Sometimes, there's a slight flaw in the piece that most people can't see, but I can, and I put those "slightly imperfect" pieces in our "Clearance" section, so check it out for the best deals!

STEP SIX: Mass Finishing
with Steel & Burnishing Compound

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Copyright © Janet Sterling Silver Design, 2003. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

E-Commerce Solutions	CAST PENDANTS: how they're made at the janetjewelry studio! • Sweatshop-free, with individualized attention (and love) per piece, by the artist!
	BEFORE and AFTER: The cast piece "in the raw" vs. a high gloss finished cast piece that you see in stores! When you hear of a "cast pendant," it does NOT mean that there is a magic mold, the silver is put inside, and it comes out the way you see it at the jewelry store.... Here is a "before" and "after" photo of 2 sterling silver pieces. Notice that the "before" shots are whiter--it's whiter because the surface is not smooth (it has to be mirror smooth to have the light reflect back to your eye evenly). There are also "sprues," which is the path that the wax & silver takes going into the mold shape. A brief, layman's description of how metal is cast into a bunch of molded shape at once: think of each cast piece like a leaf on a tree: all cast pieces are connected to a main center (the tree), and sprues are the branches, and each "leaf" is a cast piece. Silver is shot through the tree, through the branches, in order to make each leaf. The casting company roughly snips off each leaf off their tree--when I get it, it still has a bit of the "branches" on it, and below is a brief explanation of how I clean or "finish" up each leaf. *I've done my own casting before, but I don't have the time to cast each piece now, so I have a casting company cast my original designs from my molds, both rubber and silicone molds (depending on the design), and when I pick them up, they are still in this "raw" form. All janetjewelry pieces are finished at our studio in NYC!**	BEFORE (raw cast) and AFTER (ready to go!)
	STEP ONE: First of all, the sprues need to be sawed off each pendant by hand, using a jeweler's saw. Jeweler's saw blades are incredibly thin and delicate, and without a lot of practice, you'll be breaking a lot of blades. Even I buy them by the gross (144)! The thicker the metal, the more difficult it is to saw off, as there is more metal to cover with each stroke of the saw blade. Each blade is made so that it cuts only on the downward stroke, so in theory, it's like exerting two strokes per cut--great for the biceps & triceps! I like to use a little bit of wax on the blade to make the sawing motion smoother (that blue thing on the right), which makes for smoother, more precise cuts. With a jeweler's saw, you can manuever your blade to cut around whatever your pendant shape is, which makes for less filing (as opposed to just trying to "clip" them off with cutting pliers).	STEP ONE: Hand Sawing
	STEP TWO: Depending on the piece, I hand-file the excess sprue. Sometimes, it's faster for me to use a hand file (rather than using machinery), depending on the design, and depending on how many pieces I'm doing at once. For example, if I'm working on a large number of pieces at one time, I'll do less hand-filing--otherwise, my hands get extremely sore. Imagine gripping something extremely hard for 10 minutes--I guarantee your hands will hurt the next day.... Funny factoid: I'm ambidextrous, but my left is definitely the dominant one. I saw & file with my left (which is where all the back & forth action is), but it's my right arm that's stronger! After contemplation, I realized that with the right hand, I have to hold each piece extremely hard, so that it doesn't move during the sawing & filing process--it actually takes more muscle to do that!	STEP TWO: Hand Filing
	STEP THREE: Depending on the piece, I have to hand file the little crevices to smooth out any bumps that are on the cast pieces unnecessarily. The more intricate the design, the more I end up having to do this step. I have a set of needle files in various shapes, to fit the curve of whatever I'm working on. Here is a photo of me with a round needle file, to smooth out the "loop" in the "Opposites Attract" pendant. Once metal is filed, you end up with file marks, so these need to be sanded down smoother, at least in rough, before the mass finishing process. I have to admit, I like this step the least--it's tedious, and sometimes I just don't have the patience to individually hand file & sand things. Since I don't like to use finger gloves, it means that my fingers are also directly on the sand paper, so my fingers also get roughed up. There are various "grits" of sandpaper, and I use sandpaper ranging from 280 (rough), to 600 (fine). The numbers traditionally correspond to the number of "grits" or sandy grains per square inch, so the higher the number, the finer the sandpaper. Personally, I like synthetically made sandpaper--it has a more consistent surface.	STEP THREE: Hand Filing and Sanding
	STEP FOUR: For most of my cast pieces, I use various abrasives on a flex shaft to machine-sand the excess sprue. Of course, this still has to be done individually by hand, and my hands always look like crap because I don't always use finger protectants (like suede finger gloves--I find their bulkiness hard to work with, especially with smaller pieces). You also develop callouses--the spinning action makes the cast piece hot, and sometimes I'm so focused on the sanding, I don't really think much about my fingers. Also, in terms of the nature of how molds, waxes, and metals work (not enough space here), sometimes there are defects in the cast pieces (like air pockets, the mold cut not being smooth, etc), and if it's visible in this stage, it'll be visible in the end, so I smooth out the discrepancies in this stage as much as possible, otherwise, there will be a redo at the end. Sanding Factoid: if you've come to the store and seen gray powder on my face, hair, and clothes, it's from this sanding process (see my desk?).	STEP FOUR: Machine Sanding
	STEP FIVE: Once all the sprues are cut, filed, and sanded, they are ready for the mass finishing stage, which is another process in itself. What this does, is that it smoothes out the surface all around each cast piece evenly. That's why the visible marks on the metal have to be smoothed out by hand beforehand (steps 2-4). There are different media (the abrasives--for example, the tiny white pyramid is the media that I use right before the next stage) and chemicals you use for smoothing out the surface in mass finishing machines. You can only put in about 15-20% silver to media, otherwise the metals can scratch themselves. For the machines that I have, I can do only about 50 average sized pendants at a time, and this stage takes about 24 hours total machine time, and I have to change the chemicals about every 4-5 hours. Since I do go home to sleep (contrary to popular belief), this stage alone takes up about 2-3 work days minimum.	STEP FIVE: Mass Finishing, using various media & chemicals
	STEP SIX: How do you get silver really shiny? Steel shot and burnishing compound! This stage is my favorite stage--it's kind of exciting to know that you're almost done! You'd think that the steel would mark the silver, but the steel shots are really smooth, and with the burnishing compound (chemical), it basically pounds the metal into being really smooth and shiny. This stage only takes 2-2.5 hours, and it makes a lot of noise, but I don't mind at all. The noise to me signifies, "Janet, you're almost done!" When this step is done, I wash all the silver and dry them--if you're not careful, you can get waterspots on the silver, which is a pain to polish later on. Plus, at this stage, I can look at them individually and do a janetjewelry "quality control" check! If I can see a significant mark in the metal, I resand the piece and go back to step three, sand, and I put it in whatever media it has to go into next, and I run it with the next batch later on. Sometimes, there's a slight flaw in the piece that most people can't see, but I can, and I put those "slightly imperfect" pieces in our "Clearance" section, so check it out for the best deals!	STEP SIX: Mass Finishing with Steel & Burnishing Compound
Home \| About Us \| Testimonials \| Ads & Press \| FAQs \| Return & Exchange Policy \| Contact \| Privacy Policy Copyright © Janet Sterling Silver Design, 2003. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.