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 COM Winners!

A massive thank you to everyone who entered July's COM and the winners are....

July's COM Coin Clasps and Coin Beads

• Rebecca Anderson
• Nan Smith
• Jess Green

Congratulations ladies, I shall be emailing you to get your addresses shortly, and I can't wait to see what you create!

Bit's by Niky

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