One of the final processes in my jewelry design is filing the metal so it is smooth to the touch. My husband has asked me many times if there is an easier way to achieve this finish.. one that does not involve so much of my time. He is the king of finding simpler solutions to save time! I tell him what I share with you now.

I LOVE the process of filing these designs.

Yes it is time consuming. To me this adds to the concept of Handmade or Handcrafted. It means no shortcuts. This is the simple explanation of course. However I find that this process, which can add as much as an hour to each design, is relaxing. I have the radio tuned to KBACH classical music. My Preferences are baroque, JS Bach and Mozart. Then I get out my files and begin. It becomes almost a meditation for me. I relax into the motion of filing and zone out on the music.

Several File types are involved in my process.

Yes I own LOTS of files. Above is an image showing the two main files I use for working with silver. the larger one is coarser and is normally the first one I use. Then I switch to the smaller one, which is a finer grit. Beyond this I have smaller files referred to as needle files. These smaller files allow me to take care of smaller areas in the design. Another type of file is the 1/2 round file. This curved surface is perfect for curves in the design.

When working with copper or steel I use a different set of files. This is not because they are a different grit but actually so I am not mixing the tiny particles of these two metals that tend to stay in the file grooves. I want the silver or gold to be pristine. It’s another quirk of the perfection I seek for each of my pieces.

Finding simpler solutions is necessary in most cases. Filing is just not one of them for me!

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