QuestionHello,
I would like to start making solid silver pendants etc where I can put finger prints, foot prints etc onto a metal to sell as pendants, bracelets etc. Where would I get this metal kits from. I want to get it as cheaply as possible so I can make a profit. Also is other a market for this?
Many thanks xx
AnswerHello Danielle,
Well as for a market, there are many already being sold so depending on the venue you plan to sell them I would perhaps check out the surrounding shops and see if they are already there. many people working in metal clay are doing just that because it is easy, but quite costly as the price of metal clays are ridiculously expensive compared to the actual sterling or fine silver or 22 karat gold used.
To do it in metals yourself you can roll print the fingerprints etc. onto annealed metals by sandwiching the template ( your design) between the metal you want to print on and two sheets of brass and then passing the whole sandwich through your rolling mill.
The other alternative is to have a stamp created that you can simply impress with a blow of a brass mallet ( or a copper mallet, ball pein hammer etc.) the design into your pierced silver or gold shapes that you can either cut by hand, using a shaped cutter ( harbor freight tools sells a cheap disc cutting set that is quite nice for making circular shapes up to about an inch and a half), or buying the blanks ( the most expensive method of purchasing, but with metals dealers the higher the quantity of silver or gold in ounces the higher the discount given as your total purchase weight increases).
There is also the metal clay method that is expensive but versatile and can be fired on a gas stove or by any number of methods or in any type of kiln. If you need to research the metal clays www.artclay.com is a good place to start, the pmc guild another. Again that is the most expensive way to go about making any jewelry as the cost is phenomenally high compared to the same metal in its raw form. Fine silver is about 12.90 an ounce and an ounce of metal clay, that will never have the same properties ( in strength or crystalline structure) as the material from which it is made is about 140.00 an ounce or more..if not fired exactly it may crumble or need refiring or the whole piece will fail ( for instance a stone set or bezel set ring of which the bezel may easily come detached from the band if not attached correctly and fired exactly).
As for the marketability; you know your target market better than I do, and you know your area equally so, so do some research and look around, also look on-line in findings and jewelry supply catalogs and see if your idea is already available and being mass produced- I know I have seen some fingerprints in Rio Grande's catalogue and as for footprints, I have also seen them in cheap materials catalogues like Fire Mountain Gems junkie( meaning low grade, low quality imports that are then highly re- priced in their catalogue) stuff..so do some research first before investing your time and energy into first making then marketing your wares.
I don't want to discourage your creativity but I do want to be honest, and you can count on my honesty in answering anything you ask. So go for it, but go armed with information..
best regards, Ari
