I belong to a mailing list for Beaducation - if you haven't seen their YouTube vidoes I highly recommend you go check them out - they have everything there and their videos are very well done. They have a number of different instructors and they teach everything from beadweaving to riveting to fusing. Go check them out.
Last week I got a link to one of their videos - "Fused Fine Silver Peacock Chain Tutorial" and I really wanted to try it. I have been working with fine silver for a while now - I prefer it because it fuses with no need for solder and it doesn't get firescale the way sterling silver does - cuts WAY down on the clean up.
I watched the video through once - (wonderful instructor - Iris Sandkuhler - kudos for such a detailed video) and because the instructor went into so much detail she made it look manageable - and not at all scary. It's not that I am afraid of the torch, after all I do torch enameling and LOVE it, rather it's a fear of melting the silver when I try to fuse it. And this project calls for 20 gauge fine silver (although I used 18 gauge and am very happy with the results) so that made it all the more intimidating.
I laid out all the tools and followed along with the video - and I can definitely say I will be making this chain a lot. It was fun to do and makes up fast (I used a 3/4" copper pipe and 18 gauge fine silver).
the links
