Silversmith Supply List

Here’s a little list of some things to start with! It’s a tool heavy craft so it can seem like a lot at first but definitely worth the investment if you’re really interested!

Metalsmithing tools

I buy most everything from Rio Grande, but some from Etsy and wherever you can find it at the price you want! Michaels has some good options for cheap.

-jewelers/coping saw

-bench pin

-butane torch

-soldering block (charcoal ones are good to start with!)

-easy, medium and hard solder (sheets or wire, I prefer sheets)

-tweezers for arranging pieces to solder and picking up

-flux and pickle

       -flux helps the silver fuse together before soldering and pickle removes firescale after soldering! I use white vinegar and salt in a tiny crock pot and have never used anything else. Works best when hot. Only use copper tweezers in the pickle!

-metal files

-assorted jewelry making pliers

-rawhide mallet + hammer + steel block for forming metal

-it helps to have a flex shaft or dremel for polishing and sanding, but then you need to get the bits for it so that’s a lot of supplies

-I recommend starting with just silver, copper or brass and getting good at soldering—then bringing stones in to the mix! It’s tough at first to figure out how to heat silver correctly so it’s helpful to get a good understanding of this first. Copper is cheap and good to work on, but also solders a lot differently than silver so either way it will take some experimentation. Don’t be worried to mess up and melt some silver—and have fun!