How to Make Soldered Glass Jewelry
Soldered glass jewelry allows you to customize your own professional-looking pendants that feature photos or prints of your choice. Along with your own photos, you can use fabric, scrapbooking paper or just about any medium thin enough to comfortably sandwich between two glass microscope slides. Soldered glass jewelry is usually made into pendants or necklaces, but can also be used to make bracelet charms or rings.
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Things You'll Need
- Photo or print
- Two glass microscope slides
- Copper tape
- Burnishing tool
- Scissors
- Flux
- Brush or cotton swab
- Solder
- Soldering iron
- Chain-nose pliers
- Jump ring
- Chain or ribbon
Instructions
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1
Choose the photo or print you will sandwich between the two pieces of glass.
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2
Cut the photo to size using your glass microscope slide as a guide.
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3
Sandwich the photo between the two pieces of glass.
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4
Wrap your copper tape around the perimeter of the two glass pieces. Bend the excess tape over the top and back of the piece. The tape should only cover roughly 1/4 inch of the front edges of the piece once the edges of the tape are brought up and around the glass. Take your time applying the tape. Overlap the ends of the tape to secure your two glass pieces. Once applied, the tape will border the glass piece much like the edges of a photo frame.
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5
Burnish the copper tape onto the glass so that it as smooth as possible before applying any flux or solder. Run your burnishing tool or a popsicle stick down the sides and edges to remove any creases, bumps or air pockets.
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6
Apply flux to all areas of the copper tape where the solder will be applied. The flux will bind the solder to the tape, allowing the solder to stick to your jewelry piece.
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7
Apply your solder to your glass piece using a hot soldering iron. Hold the solder to the copper tape and join the solder to the tape by heating with the iron. Continue to apply the solder by running the solder and iron along the edge of the copper tape, covering the copper tape entirely.
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8
Attach a jump ring to your pendant by heating a bead of solder to the top of the pendant. Apply the jump ring in the hot solder while holding with your chain-nose pliers. Hold the jump ring in place until the solder cools.
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