Newbie Advice For Swivel Ideas Please

Discussion in 'Jewelry' started by 890894_deleted, Oct 19, 2016.

  1. Hi
    I have some experience of 3D printing - but that was making some custom Hot Wheels wheels so doesnt help me with this project. Which is ...

    I want to make a christmas gift for my wife - a silver pendant with her 4 granddaughters names cut into it. So far the top of it looks like this ...

    upload_2016-10-19_16-45-45.png

    My lack of jewelry expertise now lets me down.when deciding how best to make it so this can be hung from a chain.

    I can do a basic loop, but it would be nice if it would swivel and not favour any one or two names - are there any standard techniques/mechanisms for this - even some examples?

    The top is 10x10mm

    Thanks

    Stewart
     
  2. NoahLI
    NoahLI Well-Known Member
    you can cut a small hole on the top, 2 mm diameter is plenty. get some silver wire, a little smaller diameter than the hole you cut in the pendant. Heat one end with a plumber's torch till it beads up enough where it won't pass through the hole in the pendant. thread it through the hole with the bead inside the pendant, bend for a hoop for the chain, cut off excess and polish as necessary.
     
  3. seriaforma
    seriaforma Well-Known Member
    You could try something like the attached pic, making the loop as fancy as you like, and print in interlocked metals.
    The disk would be inside the column pendant and the pendant would twist freely on the bail. Just make sure the clearance between parts meets the requirements and print it first in WSF so you know it will work as expected.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. 2 great ideas there - thanks.
    @seriaforma - that was the kind of 3d-printed way I was thinking, but I wasn't sure if the softness of silver would be an issue and there might be excessive wear around the hole?
     
  5. NoahLI
    NoahLI Well-Known Member
    interlocking silver would work great, just more expensive. SW's using sterling silver for jewelry, should be plenty good for normal wear on a pendant like this.
     
  6. Is my understanding of interlocking silver correct, in that if I did something like this with a disk to cover the hole as well as a retaining disk inside ...
    upload_2016-10-20_23-30-0.png

    ... there needs to be 1mm clear all round the post, and 1mm between each of the disks and the plate that is sandwiched between them?
     
  7. NoahLI
    NoahLI Well-Known Member
    that would be right according to material guidelines. but you have to consider the process and imagine yourself as the SW production artist working on the piece: temporary sprues have to be attached to the wax print before pouring the mold and casting, so the outside disc needs to have enough space for 2 maybe 3 sprues. and that the temp sprues don't push the bail too high.

    Personally I'd give the center rod 1 or 2 mm more height so there's less chance bail being pulled up too high when the temporary sprues get attached, and get fused to the top plate of the pendant. if that happens it'd be difficult to fix without reprint/recast and hope it doesn't happen again.