Piercing

• This silversmithing technique involves using a piercing saw to cut metal. This can cut the metal into two pieces or cut a decorative pattern into your metal. Drill a small hole into your silver, then insert the piercing saw blade into the hole. You can get a variety of saw blades to use in simple cutting or more detailed scrollwork. Every blade is easy to break, so be slow and careful while working. To create a smoother cut, run the blade through beeswax before cutting. Once the cut has been made, collect the shavings and melt them into new silver.
  
  

Soldering

• Silver has to be soldered using a blowtorch, as it has a higher melting temperature than most commonly soldered metals. This is often a very difficult and intricate technique, as the soldering temperature for silver is close to the melting point that would melt, and potentially ruin, the entire piece. Make sure to use the level of silver solder that you need. Soft solder has a lower melting point, so it is less likely to destroy the silver. Medium solder has a slightly higher melting point, so it is better when fusing more complex pieces. Hard solder has the highest melting point and is used initially when multiple instances of soldering is required. Begin with hard solder, then use medium solder, then soft solder until the piece is finished.
  
  

Annealing

• Annealing softens silver so that it is more malleable and easier to work with. Often this technique is used multiple times during the process of creating a piece of jewelry as silver becomes harder and more brittle as it is worked. Like soldering, it is done with a blowtorch in the dark, but the silver piece is then thrown into a bucket of cold water in order to cool it quickly. The only hindrance to immediately working on your silver after annealing is that the torch leaves a mark on the silver. This mark needs to be cleaned off by pickling before working again.
  
  

Pickling

• Pickling is the process of dipping your silver jewelry into an acid bath to remove oxidation. Most professional silversmiths will use sulphuric acid, but pickling salts can also be used. Pickling salts are often less expensive and less dangerous solutions for the hobbyist silversmith. The pickling solution is kept warm until the piece has been sufficiently cleaned. Move your jewelry from the acid bath into room temperature running water. Clean the silver with pumice powder to remove the last of the oxidation before resuming work on it.