Turning coins into clasps

I have always loved coins, and tend to think of them as little works of art. Then came a love of jewelry making and the next thing I know I'm making coins into beads and clasps and here is how I do it....

Doming Coins

First I dome the coins using my dapping block and brass mallet, it is always best to start off on the biggest size dome and then work your way through the smaller sized ones because if you just go straight to the smaller size you can crack/split the coins. Two or three sizes is normally sufficient.

Making hook clasps

Next I make the hook clasps, If I am using silver coloured coins then I use sterling silver wire if the coins are not silver then I tend to use copper wire. The wire needs to be around 1.2mm thick about 16 gauge or the clasp will not be strong enough when finished and will bend.

Checking the Fit

The size of the clasp depends on which coin I am using and the finished clasp needs to sit comfortably inside the domed coin.

Cleaning the Insides

Next the inside of the coins need to be spotlessly clean for the soldering I tend to do this with either the ridge remover part of a nail buffer pulled off the buffing block or some fine grit sand paper.

Spotless

It is important that they are really clean or the solder will not flow properly! I also give the hook clasps a once over with the sandpaper just to make sure there is no grease or dirt on there either.

Ready to solder

Then all suited up in my protective clothing (apron and goggles) I set to soldering! I use easy solder paste on the two places where the clasp touches the coin and prop the clasp in place using tweezers and a few coins to hold the tweezers in place. While soldering I heat the coin and not the wire as I don't want the wire to melt (using the tweezers like this also helps to protect the wire from over heating).

Cleaning up

After a dip in safety pickle and a rinse in bicarb the coins come out looking pretty ghastly, so I give them a rub over with a brass brush to remove some of the crusty stuff and throw them into the tumbler for an hour. The tumbler dose not bring the coins back to silver but it dose clean them up a little and helps to work harden and polish the clasp.

Polishing

They come out of the tumbler shiny but still rather black so I use my rotary tool and a block of rouge to polish them up and bring back the silver colour.

All Shiny

There you have it shiny coin clasps!

July Component of the Month Giveaway!

Hello wonderful people, It's time for another Component of the Month giveaway and July is my turn to host, so of course it had to be coin related....

Farthing Coin Beads and Clasps

Up for grabs this month is a selection of coin beads and coin clasps. Each one of these have been handmade from beautiful old farthing coins from the UK.

Wren Farthings

They all feature the lovely wren design (one of Britain's smallest birds) which was in use from 1937 to 1960 and have such a lovely warm colour.

Farthing Coin Bead

Want to play along? Here are the rules…

• I will giveaway 1 coin bead or clasp (chosen at random) to each of the 3 winners selected randomly from those who leave a comment below this post. Your comment MUST included your EMAIL AND BLOG address so we can contact you should you win.
• Please — only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date.
• The names of the 3 winners will be announced on Friday, July 3, 2015.
• This giveaway is open to US and international countries, but please be aware that these will be posted from the UK and international addresses will have longer postage times… sometimes up to 3 weeks.
• The blog reveal will take place on Friday, July 31, 2015.

Good luck and have a wonderful day!

Bits by Niky
Artisan Jewellery by Niky Sayers

The Making of a Coin Bead

Give a bead addict a handful of coins and they will either buy beads or turn them into beads and here is how I do it....

This works better with the older solid metal coins, it can be done with the more modern plated type but that does throw up a few issues such as splitting when doming and the plating wearing off with soldering and polishing.

I start with a handful of copper farthings (so far I have found these to be the easiest coins to work with, being made from copper they are rather soft and easy to shape with out needing to be annealed first and they are a nice size) Each coin is domed using my doming block.

The edges of the coins are then sanded flat using a sheet of sand paper, the coins need to have a flat edge of about 1mm thick all the way around, the more surface area touching the better the solder will hold them together. After this I use a small round file to file a grove where I want the hole to go, I use a file rather then a drill because quiet frankly I am hopeless with a drill and find it easier to do it this way! First I file the groves on one coin and then sandwich two coins together and mark where the groves are on the second coin with a sharpie, then I file where I have marked on the second coin.

Next is the soldering, I use solder paste because again it is easier. This part is important, I need to make sure that I use enough to flow around the whole of the edge of the coins, I don't want any gaps, but not too much that I have to worry about getting silver all over the copper coins. After applying the solder paste to the first coin I then sandwich the coins together making sure that the holes line up then I solder them together. At this point I leave them to cool a bit before pickling, they can be quenched first but often in my haste I quench before the solder has cooled and they come apart leaving me devastated, it's much easier to just wait a while!

After pickling they look rather awful, but that is normal. I then neutralise the pickle on the beads with a bath in Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate), give them a good rinse and a brush over with a brass brush to clean them up. Next I neaten up the holes with the round file being careful not to leave any sharp edges.

Then comes a quick dip in a liver of sulphur bath to give the coins back that beautiful aged metal look and a 30 minute spin in the tumbler with a splash of water and drop of dish washer soap.

After drying throughly I finish them off with a coat of renaissance wax and a buff and there you have it coin beads!

If you like the look of these but don't want to make some up yourself I have some in my Bits of NikNats shop and if you do give these a try please remember to wear an apron, safety goggles, hair tied back (because no one like the smell of singed hair) and follow the safety instructions on the chemicals!

Niky Sayers
Silver NikNats