How to Make A Seven Strand Braided Band

in this video, I've condensed down a 4 hour process into about 32 minutes and have done my best not to leave anything out.

Fabrication Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Soldering Skill level: Intermediate/advanced
Materials: Sterling Silver sheet, and round wires, dead soft. Hard, medium and soft silver solder
Tools: Torch, hammer, files, grinding and polishing wheels, pliers, saw and misc buffs.

The main aspect I want to point out is that you get to build your own braid condensing die! Preferably a hardwood, like oak.

The second aspect, which may not be clear in the video, is that it is best if you can line up all of the solder joints along the same spot in the ring.

I do a lot of stick soldering in this video instead of placing individual chips. I do this because I know I am going to be cleaning up excess metal at the end, so cleaning up a tad extra solder does not take any extra time. Second: I also want to make certain that all the solder joints are totally full. and Third: Although I am using multiple grades of solder, each time I solder a new step, previous solder joints retreat a tad. Having a bit of extra solder here means I don't end up with solder lines in the finished piece. And lastly: This is silver, so solder is cheap, so time is the most important resource. If I were to do this same ring in gold, I'd likely take the time to place each individual piece of solder so as to minimize waste.

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Thank you for watching,
Austin

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