I’m working on a container ring and I’m at the very end where I
put the wire through the hinge and ball up the ends of the wire
to keep the wire from falling out. I’ve got a 24 gauge sterling
wire in but the whole thing is acting like a heat sink. I’ve
fluxed the ends and am applying a lot of heat with the torch but
the ends won’t ball up. Am I going to have to heat the whole
piece up to a high heat just to ball the ends of this little 24
gauge wire? I hope someone out there in the Land of Orchid can
help me. NET
Dear Net;
Check out http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tree.cgi click on
folder #12 (Construction), you will find many articles available
for online reading.
Take a look at the extracs from Charles Lewton-Brain’s
brainnet@cadvision.com book “Hinges and Hinge-Based Catches
for Jewelers and Goldsmiths”
Hidden hinges
All About Hidden Hinges - Ganoksin Jewelry Making Community
Hinges with bearings, a bracelet and a box
Hinges with Bearings - Ganoksin Jewelry Making Community
HTH
Hanuman
Dr. E. Aspler
aspler@ganoksin.com
Managing Director
Ganoksin Jewelry Co.,Ltd
Webmaster Ganoksin Online
ICQ # 258 49350
Why not peen the ends of wire like rivet instead. You can
counter sink the end of your tubing first, then ball one end of
wire before putting rivet in. Then install rivet and snip a
little longer, flatten end of rivet evenly. Now you can hand
peen into ball. Steven D. De La Vega
I would’nt heat the whole piece of jewelry to ball the ends of
your hinge wire.You might freeze up the hinge or worse. Why
don’t you try to rivet the wire with a hammer on a metal block.
It’s safer. Make sure the wire fits snug in the tube and spread the ends of the wire with light taps.
Ed
Try soldering a short section of tight fitting tubing to the ends
of the wire instead, then use a cup bur or file to round the
ends.
Rick Hamilton
Richard D. Hamilton
A goldsmith on Martha’s Vineyard
Fabricated 14k, 18k, 22k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography,
CAD/CAM…
http://www.rick-hamilton.com
Regarding balling up the ends of hinges, is that a design
element? Because it certainly is not necessary and as you
discovered it poses problems. Another method of securing the
hinge is to be sure that the wire should be very straight,
hardened and tight, binding only on the end knuckles. Then
counter sink the outer ends of the end knuckles, shove in the
wire, cut it off about 1 mm longer than needed on each end and
cross peen the ends to spread them into the countersunk areas.
File the ends flush and Voila.
Good Luck
Alan Revere
.....I'm at the very end where I put the wire through the hinge and ball up the ends of the wire to keep the wire from falling out. I've got a 24 gauge sterling wire in but the whole thing is acting like a heat sink........
G’day; It will because it is! Unless you have an ox propane
or an oxy acetylene torch you won’t get anywhere. I suggest you
go to your local garage, get friendly with the senior mechanic,
and talk himher into lending you hisher acetylene oxy torch with
the smallest tip available, and spend ten seconds doing the job
in front of himher! - oh, use pliers or something to hold the
job - and yes, smother it in Props flux before you go!. Although
I expect it will have plenty of firestain already. Cheers,
Steven, can you describe the method you use to counter sink the
tubing. My method is not a good one as I usually either mash
the tubing, or it splits. Thanks. Alma.
Net you may have burnt the wire. Try using a new piece of wire
if you already did this then using a new wire heat the area
around the wire then sharpen flame and ball up the ends. Good
luck Ed
Ed, balling the ends of a wire is done more safely if one uses a
third hand or clamp as a heat sink and using a really hot point
source flame. If they are really afraid about melting the hinges
they can coat it and the hinges with ocher. The same principle applies
with soldering clasp fittings. Geo.
Hello all!
On this hinge thread I would like to add a suggestion. First I
should say the way it has been described is the way I was
taught. Even on Piaget. Patek’s etc; no solering is ever
necessary when properly countersunk and peened.
The suggestion is to work harden the tubing ends with a
rat-a-tat, or gravermax, prior to countersinking. You will have
to rubberwheel and redress the tube for appearances. Helps to
retain the integrity of the tube especially when forming a
figure eight. I am convinced this may make the arrangement last
longer; provided everthing fits snugly as well.
Tim
Alan, Thanks for the hinge hints. So I would drill or ream a
little recess to counter sink the wire end into? For one thing I
don’t have a cross peen hammer, but the wire is 24 gauge so
would a tiny cross peen hammer be needed? Or maybe a regular
hammer with a certain shaped chasing tool? I will
try this all on the next hinge. Thanks again. NET
Counter sinking: In preparation for riveting the pin into the
hinge, put a chamfer into the ends of the outer knuckles. Use a
bur, almost any tapered shape will do: setting, bud, hart, ball,
etc. Place the tapered end of the bur into the tubing. Twist the
bur, preferably by hand, to remove the inner corner of the
tubing. Do this only until you see a small new angled interior
surface, no further. This small recess will be enough to allow
the upset ends of the pin to grab securely. Cut the pin to about
1 mm longer on each end than needed, and use a cross peen hammer
to spread the ends of the pin into the countersunk recess.
Alan
Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts
760 Market Street . Suite 900
San Francisco . California . 94102 . USA
tel: 415 . 391 . 4179
fax: 415 . 391 . 7570
email: alan@revereacademy.com
http://www. revereacademy.com
So I would drill or ream a little recess to counter sink the wire end into?
Neither drill nor ream to countersink for the hinge pin.
Instead, use a bur that “flares” the inside opening at an angle
of about 45 degrees. A small ball peen hammer will work if no
cross peen is at hand. If you have an extra pair of hands to
hold the work you can use a cross peen shaped chasing tool, with
a hammer to upset the ends of the rivets. Alan
What does “upset the ends of the rivet” mean?
thanks
Virginia Lyons
Neither drill nor ream to countersink for the hinge pin. Instead, use a bur that "flares" the inside opening at an angle of about 45 degrees.
Alan, Could you be more specific regarding the type of bur you
use to flare the inside opening. Thanks.
Linda Crawford
Linda Crawford Designs
@Linda_Crawford
http://www.jps.net/lcrawford
Alan, Thanks for the hinge hints. So I would drill or ream a little recess to counter sink the wire end into? For one thing I don't have a cross peen hammer, but the wire is 24 gauge so would a tiny cross peen hammer be needed? Or maybe a regular hammer with a certain shaped chasing tool? I will try this all on the next hinge. Thanks again. NET
I thought I might offer a technique that I use for inserting a
hinge pin that also permits reversal of the procedure without
damage to the knuckles of the hinge. I take a section of the
wire to be used as a pin which is 5mm or so longer than the
hinge. For the sake of clarity I’ll assume we will push the pin
in from left to right. The end of the wire which will be the
left side of the hinge is given a slight crimp. ( the amount of
this crimp will easily be judged be experience with the
technique) The right end of the wire is pushed in from left to
right until it shows on the right side of the hinge. This end is
grabbed with pliers and pulled until the crimped section rests
within the leftmost knuckle. This wedges the wire (pin) within
the knuckle so that it will not come out of it’s own accord. The
excess wire on both the left and right sides of the hinge is
then clipped off and there is no need to upset the wire so that
it mushrooms into prepared ends of of the knuckles. I hope this
is clear, since it takes a lot longer to explain than to demo
the procedure. For what it’s worth J.Z. Dule
What does "upset the ends of the rivet" mean?
G’day Virginia; to tap the blunt end of a rivet or piece of
wire until it expands to form a rounded mushroom shape, or
typical rivet shape. Cheers, John Burgess
Another question for Alan on the hinge pin - looked in Rio
Grande and couldn’t find a “cross peen” hammer. Could you tell
me if this goes by another name? Is it a variety of a ball peen?
All help on this will be gratefully received.
Thanks!
Shael
dakotahdog@msn.com
Neither drill nor ream to countersink for the hinge pin. Instead, use a bur that "flares" the inside opening at an angle of about 45 degrees.
Alan, Could you be more specific regarding the type of bur you use to flare the inside opening. Thanks.
I have used a variety of burs, because many different styles
have a tapered end. Any setting bur, hart bur, bud, or flame bur
will work, so long as it is large enough not to slip inside the
tubing. Therefore, when inserted, it removes the squared off
inner corner and cuts a small angled rim which provides a
“shelf” for the flared pin to grab onto. Hope this is clear, but
if not, perhaps Peter, Charles or others can be more articulate
this early in the day.
Alan