How to Make a Silverware Wind Chime

Whispers of the wind can be transformed into music for your porch or patio with a wind chime. All you'll need is a few pieces of salvaged silverware plus some simple tools and supplies.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Nonabrasive Silver Polishes
• Superglue
• Superglue
• Old Silverware
• Silver Plated Pieces
• Chains
• Monofilament Line
• Dremel Rotary Tools
• Craft Wire
• Electric Drill/assorted Bits
• Hammers
• Jewelry Wire
• Screwdriver Sets
• Thin Wires
• Wire Crimpers
• Wire Cutters
• Wire Nippers
• Wire Cutters
• Wire cutters
• Hammers

Getting Ready

1. Choose the silverware you want to use. Six to eight pieces of old silver plate should do it.

2. Shop flea markets and secondhand stores for single pieces.

3. Make certain the silverware pieces are both appealing to the eye and produce a pleasant, tinkling sound when struck lightly together.

4. Choose a mounting plate, perhaps something exotic - an old silver-plate serving dish from a flea market, for example.

5. Choose the mounting plate for diameter and weight. It shouldn't be so heavy that it will overburden the chime. Choose a diameter small enough that the chimes will strike with a light breeze.

6. Decide whether you intend to hang the chime where it's exposed to the weather or in a sheltered area.

7. Select weather-resistant materials if you intend to hang the chime outdoors. If the chime is to hang on a covered patio, you can use a less durable material to tie off the pieces.

8. Find a flat surface and temporarily lay out your silver chime. You'll want the pieces - the chimes - to hang at different lengths.

Making the Chime

9. Collect the hardware you'll need - monofilament line, some very light stainless-steel link chain, four small "S"-shaped stainless hooks, and one larger "S"-shaped stainless hook.

10. Mark points to drill four holes equally spaced every 90 degrees around the mounting plate's circumference.

11. Give your drill bit a place to bite by using a punch first at your marked points.

12. Drill the four holes in the mounting plate from which the chimes will dangle.

13. Clip off four equal pieces of light stainless-steel chain, perhaps 6 inches long. The pieces will angle upward from the edge of the plate to a central point and should be long enough to allow the chime to move freely.

14. Use the "S" hooks to attach the chain pieces to the mounting plate, with the four smaller ones at the plate edges leading to the larger "S" hook.

15. Assemble the wind chime temporarily - tie four of the silver-plate utensils at different lengths and use the four drilled holes on the plate as attaching points.

16. Check for balance. You want the mounting plate to hang level.

17. Adjust the chain lengths as necessary.

18. Add the four chimes by loosely tying off the silverware pieces with different lengths of monofilament line.

19. Judge where you'll want to add the remaining pieces of silverware. Hang the pieces opposite one another if the mounting plate is circular.

20. Achieve balance by hanging silverware of different weights at different lengths from the plate.

21. Drill the necessary holes.

22. Hang the additional pieces, also tying them loosely.

23. Experiment for sound and balance by changing both the point where the line is tied to the silverware piece and the arrangement of the hanging pieces.

24. Tie the monofilament lines securely, trim the knots, and secure each with a dab of superglue.

25. Hang the chime - and enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• Substitute decorative craft wire or light chain for monofilament line for a different look. Select wire or chain in a weight to assure durability, but light enough not to dominate the appearance of the chime.
• Let your imagination run free in selecting a mounting plate. There are probably dozens of items at your local flea market that would work - and offer a unique look.
• A silverware wind chime will not need a dangling striker, but the silver pieces must be mounted closely enough together to touch in a light breeze.
• Be patient. Balancing a wind chime is a matter of trial and error.
• Wind chime construction is a good family project. Exercise care when young folks are handling tools.
• All wind chimes need attention. Any object subject to winds will wear. Check your chime regularly, especially any line, chain or wire connecting the parts.

[smooshie]

on 2/20/2008 I tried heating and bending silverplate with a torch in order to bend it discolored. When I used a wire wheel on a dremel I still couldn't bring the silver shine back. Am I heating it wrong?

on 11/22/2005 I used fishing swivels on the string. This avoids the string rubbing against the sharp edge of the drill hole, it looks pretty cool and it gives more masculine, outdoorsy appeal.

But be careful, I went through quite a few drill bits. You might have to get a cobalt bit to last.

on 11/22/2005 Bend the tines of the fork in opposite directions, curling up the ends with a needle-nose plier. Either make the holes in the ends of the chime silverware large enough to swing freely when slipped over the curled end of the tine, or use wire or S hooks.