Silver Heart Pendant

This heart shaped pendant first started off as a 1963 Canadian Silver Dollar. It was about 80-20 silver to copper. The rough shape was made using the lost wax technique and after hours of filing, sanding and polishing the final product was finished. It was made for my gf for our anniversary.

Step 1 Wax Shape

The wax used was from a candle from the dollar store.  It was heated using hot water and formed by hand. I made it a little bigger then what I wanted the final size to be to account for any shrinking and room to file and polish. The sprue (the hole made for the metal to be poured) was made extra large to be turned into the ring so it could be hung from a chain.

Comments

[th30be]

How did you make the compound? Just mix it with water?

[th30be]

So how do you make the compound? You did not really explain that bit.

[puddingpet]

If your making small stuff like that, maybe you should try using cuttlefish. It has a wavy pattern you can put into your design(more or less depending on if you brush the powder out), and I think it'd be safer than drywall. It might be fire resistant, but the fumes from the chemicals are probably worst than cuttlefish. Their available in the pet bird section.

[whygreen]

I've been playing with lapidary stuff for a while... Rocks, etc.. I've done basic silver bezels, etc. Now, I have the courage to try lost wax casting because I've been afraid it was too difficult. If I took 1 good thing away from this was that it must be workable going back 1000's of years. If you can do it with candle wax and drywall compound, I know I can do it. Thanks for the kick in the pants, I needed it to move forward.

[Barrettkg]

Did you just use a drill press for the sprue and file accordingly?

[jkennedy1]

i filed the rough shape and used a vice and cordless drill and then cleaned it up

[misssweetie2u]

Wow. this is totes cute! you should put it on etsy. i bet you'd get super huge bids! I saw one just like this at macy's for like, $114!

[krysteanuh]

This is gorgeous! I must try it :o

[scoochmaroo]

Beautiful work!

[ladycroft108]

I love this! It's so low-tech, I never would have thought of drywall compound. Keep up the good work!