I am looking to make a pendant for my wife out of a favorite guitar pick...

December 21, 2005 4:00 PM

I am looking to make a pendant for my wife out of a favorite guitar pick...

I am looking to make a pendant for my wife out of a favorite guitar pick. I do not want to drill a hole in the pick (she would kill me). I saw exactly what I wanted this summer in a jewelry shop, but it was not the right pick and about thirty times more than I would spend on what is primarily a piece of plastic. The outside edge was wrapped in a silver channel and there was a simple ring attached to the silver. Does anyone know a technique and/or source of supplies that I could use to do something similar?

posted by Macduff to Media & Arts (20 answers total)

Are you willing to wrap the pick? My husband uses thin wire he buys at art supply stores and a soldering iron to make all sorts of things for me, usually out of shells. You could wrap it around one tip, use that side as the bottom, and pull the wire up the back to make a loop that it could hang from on a necklace. I realize that isn't a very good description of how it would work, but I know it can be done - I've got a pick shaped shell necklace at home!

(Also, very cool idea.)
posted by dpx.mfx at 4:05 PM on December 21, 2005

could you find a very strong very small clip? or a magnet that worked through the plastic?
posted by devilsbrigade at 4:32 PM on December 21, 2005

Seems like you could melt a little silver, fill a tray with it as deep as you want the channel wide, then just roll the pick through it on edge and add a little silver loop when it's half-cooled. (I don't have any bright ideas about holding the pick while you roll it, or while the silver dries.) Try it on a less-important pick first!
posted by nicwolff at 4:34 PM on December 21, 2005

Go to a jeweler. Avoid the guy at the mall; get a recommendation for a custom jeweler. They will be able to do this much more easily than you will. The little I know about it is that much of the techniques aren't that complicated but there are definitely some skills and some halfway expensive equipment.
posted by deanj at 4:48 PM on December 21, 2005

When I worked at my aunt's stained glass studio we used thin strips of metal foil to wrap around the edges of the cut glass before fitting them into leading and soldering them into place.

We usually used copper, but I know this foil comes in other metals as well and it also comes in varying thicknesses and widths.

If I recall correctly the foil itself can be soldered.
posted by padraigin at 4:50 PM on December 21, 2005

I like the wire-wrapped idea. Mostly because it will do no damage to the actual pick (unlike rolling it in molten silver, I'd guess).
posted by Rock Steady at 4:55 PM on December 21, 2005

I would avoid any heat related handling where picks are concerned. A small amount of heat will incinerate whatever part of the pick it touches. They are highly flammable. The traditional Fender lights, mediums and heavys will not take the heat. If it's a Dunlop tortex, they will burn up as well, just not as fast. The nylon Dunlop picks are less susceptible to heat but I'd still be careful. I think anything involving glue is your best bet.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 5:02 PM on December 21, 2005

Response by poster: Padraigin- I already tried the approach using stained glass supplies. The problem is that the pick melts once I start soldering the copper foil. I was smart enough to try with some cheap picks first.
posted by Macduff at 5:16 PM on December 21, 2005

I'd think that you'd want to start with an L-shaped silver bar.

Shape it to fit the pick, solder it closed and add something to hang it with, place the pick in it and then gently hammer straight edge to roll it over and hold the pick in place.
posted by Good Brain at 6:08 PM on December 21, 2005

I second the suggestion to wire-wrap the piece - bezel wire won't help, as the pick probably won't stand up to the heat required to finish a bezel.

A good general book about wire working - more focused on working with a wire jig, but with some good basic instructions for wrapping pendants.

I would recommend either Rio Grande or Fire Mountain Gems for supplies.
posted by ersatzkat at 6:10 PM on December 21, 2005

You should ask at the jewelry forum at Craftster. The members make lots of soldered and foil-wrapped jewelry, and guitar pick jewelry is huge there.
posted by iconomy at 7:23 PM on December 21, 2005

Oh. You're supposed to type guitar and pick in that search box.
posted by iconomy at 7:24 PM on December 21, 2005

Um, are there any flea markets near you? There are usually tons of people who make jewelry at such things and I'm sure one of them might be able to do it for you for a reasonable price. I also suggest going the wire wrapping route, since dipping the pick in hot silver would probably do some damage to it.
posted by katyggls at 7:32 PM on December 21, 2005

My sister is studying fine arts at university, and I think she and her classmates would be interested in helping out for a nominal fee. They have access to tools and materials, and they can use the result as a project for assessment. Getting a real commission from a client would also be good experience for a student. Try your local college? The stuff she has been making looks very professional, so I wouldn't be concerned that it would be an amateurish job.
posted by bystander at 7:53 PM on December 21, 2005

You could make a wire loop with two pieces sticking out of the bottom parallel to the top edge of the pick, and then wrap it to the pick with your stained glass foil. Otherwise hammering the L-bar sounds easiest.
posted by casarkos at 8:52 PM on December 21, 2005

Dude. If this is your wife's 'lucky pick', you might want to reconsider. If someone made my lucky pick into a piece of jewelry, I'd flip.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:09 PM on December 21, 2005

Aaaaack! Don't do anything with her stuff!

Just buy an eight dollar bolopick and call it done.
posted by sourwookie at 11:56 PM on December 21, 2005

FYI: I don't wear one but I keep a couple around.
posted by sourwookie at 11:57 PM on December 21, 2005

I have no idea if this is helpful but have you looked at doing something with precious metal clay (PMC)? It's tiny silver particles mixed up with some sort of organic binder material - shape it like clay, then fire it to burn off the binder and melt the silver and you have a silver piece in the shape you want.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:45 AM on December 22, 2005

Also a great book on wire is Mark Larreau's All Wired Up. Easy instructions if you've never used wire before.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:48 AM on December 22, 2005