This pendant is inspired by the native madrone trees which grow here in the Santa Cruz Mountains. A popular pendant, I am frequenly asked how it is created, so I thought it would be fun to explain a little about the process.
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A drawing of my design is glued to the silver, and small holes are pierced so I can use the saw blade to remove the silver between the branches.
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The blade used to saw the silver is quite tiny, only .008" thick. This part of the process requires my greatest concentration. It's so easy to stray off line, but worst of all, these delicate blades break very easily.
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I have learned that I must relax and let the saw move through the metal smoothly. Any tension or abrupt turns will cause the blade to snap, and it is very frustrating to replace the blade and set up the work again frequently. I've also discovered too much coffee in the morning does not help at this point of the day!
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I carefully file the silver to clean any rough edges and form the metal. This is where I can have fun giving each tree it's unique character. No matter how often I make this pendant, no two trees ever turn out identical.
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I sand and burnish the branches to smooth out the surface, and enhance the contrast between the leaves and the trunks of the trees.
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A block of wood which has perfect hemispherical indentations of various sizes, called a dapping block, is used to curve the discs into concave domes.
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The metal is supported in the wood, and hit repeatedly while rotated in the block.
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The interior edges of the front and back are sanded to ensure a close fit. Solder will not fill in any gaps or spaces, so the fit has to be perfect. A flux is painted on and allow to dry and tiny pieces of hard solder are placed where needed. These will be heated and melted in place. Then the silver is placed in a pickle bath (mild acid) to clean, before the two parts are soldered together. This is known as sweat soldering.
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