Make a beautiful Ginkgo hollow pendant

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Learn how to make a beautiful and tactile Ginkgo-patterned hollow pendant

Combining two of my favourite things, rolling mill textures and hollow beads. In this case I'm using a new Ginkgo leaf pattern and a long narrow oval silhouette die - both available in the Jeweller's Bench Shop on Etsy of course!

image shows the finished project, a hollow pendant with a ginkgo leaf pattern embossed into the silver. The pendant is hanging from a chain and is laying on a small round wooden plate.

Safety first:

The photos below take you step by step through the project but I wanted to add a safety issue.

I often solder hollow forms closed without drilling an air escape hole first. The hot air escapes through the seam before the solder flows and closes it. However, I am very careful to make sure that I don't over heat the silver and cause the air to try and escape through the closed seam. I always drill an air vent before doing any other soldering, before adding a bail for example. 

If you are still building your confidence with soldering then I would strongly recommend drilling an air vent before doing the first soldering step. Safety first!

You will need:

  • 2 pieces of 0.5mm sterling silver sheet, approximately 2-2.5cm by 5cm
  • a small piece of 1mm or 1.2mm round sterling silver wire
  • a chain
  • Ginkgo 1 large texture sheet available here
  • 35mm narrow oval silhouette die available here
  • soldering kit
  • saw, file, round nosed pliers, wire cutters, tools for polishing and drilling
  • rolling mill (or give your metal a hammered texture instead)
  • hydraulic press

If you don't have access to a hydraulic press don't worry! Learn how to use silhouette dies in a bench vise here.

    And here's how to do it!

    anneal the sheet metal to prepare for texturing
    sandwich the metal between a piece of texturing sheet and a piece of watercolour paper
    roll the texturing sandwich through the rolling mill to texture the metal
    1. Anneal the silver sheet to prepare it for texturing. I buy annealled sheet, but always assume it has become a little harden in the post and knocking against other sheet in my storage!
    2. Cut a piece of texturing sheet and a piece of watercolour paper a little bigger than the silver. Sandwich the silver sheet between the two. The watercolour paper will help push the thin metal into the texture.
    3. Set your rolling mill to the correct tightness (which you will know from practicing with copper!). Roll this texturing "sandwich" through the rolling mill to emboss the pattern into the silver.
    image shows the beautiful pattern of Ginkgo leaves embossed into the silver sheet
    anneal the silver again to prepare for shaping
    set up the silver on the silhouette die
    4. And look at that gorgeous texture! Repeat to texture the second piece of silver.
    5. Anneal the silver again to prepare it for shaping. Black sharpie burns off at annealing temperature, so it's useful to mark the sheet to tell you when to stop heating.
    6. Tape the first piece of silver sheet on to the silhouette die, textured side down. The clear perspex allows you to easily position the silver and choose the best texture.
    image shows silhouette die, silver, rubber sheets and metal block under the hydraulic press
    image shows two pieces of silver sheet, each with a puffed oval shape in the middle
    draw around the edge of each oval with a sharpie
    7. Place the silhoutte die and silver under the hydraulic press with one or two rubber sheets on top. Add a bench block on top of all that and press under the die. Repeat for the second piece of silver.8. The rubber will be pushed into the hole in the die, forcing the metal in too and creating beautiful shapes!9. Use a sharpie to draw around the edge of the shapes. This makes it easier to see where to trim off the excess metal without accidentally cutting into the shape.
    image shows an oval being sawn out from silver sheet
    image shows the edges of a silver oval being filed
    image shows the rim of a silver oval being sanded flat.
    10. Carefully saw out the two ovals.11. File to neaten and trim off the last little excess silver around the ovals.12. Sand the rims of the ovals using a figure of eight motion to keep your sanding even. This creates a nice wide solder join, making the solder join stronger.
    image shows the finished sanded oval with a neat flattened rim
    image shows medium solder paste being applied just inside the rim of a silver oval
    image shows the oval being soldered together to create a hollow form
    13. The rims should look like this, and the two ovals should match nicely when you hold them together.14. I prefer to use solder paste for hollow forms. As it's tacky it stays where I want it, just inside the rim. Use medium solder so that easy solder is left for the bail.15.Solder flows to the hottest part of the work, so play the flame along the seam to draw the solder out.
    Let the silver air cool before pickling so that heat shock doesn't contract the air and pull the sides of the silver in.
    image shows the solder seam being tidyed up with an abrasive tool
    image shows a hole being drilled in the back of the oval form
    image shows solder being applied to the bail
    16. If necessary, tidy the seam. My favourite tool for this job is a rubber wheel in my pendant drill.17. Drill a hole large enough for the silver wire centrally on the back of the pendant, about 1cm from the top. 18. Add a little easy solder paste over the hole.
    adding the bail to the pendant
    soldering the bail in place
    image shows the oval pendant being polished
    19. Bend the wire into an upside-down "J". Push the longer side of the wire through the paste and into the hole. This will push some of the paste into the hole and help create a stronger join.20. Adjust the bail so that the shorter side sits neatly on the back of the hollow form, and add a little solder paste here too. Solder the bail in place. Again, let the silver air cool before pickling.21. After cleaning in the pickle give your beautiful new pendant a polish. I prefer radial discs for this job.


    If you're looking for more hollow forms inspiration 
    have a look below


    Dotty Box Earrings video tutorial
    Dotty Box Earrings
    How to use silhouette dies in a bench vise
    Hollow Forms and Beads
    Learn how to make hollow boxes - 
    they're great for pendants too!

    Love the look of hollow beads

    but don't have a hydraulic press?
    Learn how to use your bench vise instead!

    Learn four fantastic methods for making
    beautiful hollow pendants, beads and more

    Categories: : hollow forms, jewellery tutorial, tool talk

    Joanne Tinley

    Tutor and Founder of The Jeweller's Bench

    The Jeweller's Bench is run by Joanne Tinley. She has been making her own jewellery for as long as she can remember and left her first career as a school teacher to set up business as a  jewellery designer and tutor nearly 20 years ago. She is
    self-taught and like many people started with wire and beads. Learning how to solder, however, opened up a whole new world of jewellery making,  one that she is keen to share!

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