Cat Brooch for Helen

Well, This one is finished now.

My friend Helen has admired a little cat brooch I made years ago so I’m making one for her. Its a simple brooch with the cat’s tail forming the pin.

Here goes – step one – clear the bench.

That’s a lot better, might not look clear but you should have seen it before!

Now draw out the shapes onto a sticky label and get the wire for the tail ready.

Stick the label onto a sheet of 0.8mm sterling sheet and cut the shapes out using the piercing saw.

Gosh, those ears were fiddly, there’s still one lost under the bench.

I spent a lot of time filing the edges smooth to take out all the saw marks. I used first a file and them different grades of sandpaper to get them really smooth.

The cat needs to be slightly rounded, don’t want a flat cat. I placed the shape onto a block of lead, yes I know – poison- washed hands and cat very thoroughly after use. I used a doming hammer to gently round the shape. Then I applied my sponsors mark from the Birmingham assay office.

Now to join the cat up. First solder the head to the body. That went well, no problems there.

Then the ears. Oh My Lord. That was so fiddly. How can it be hard to solder ears onto a cat. I had to pin it down with two tweezers and even than I had about three runs at it. I sweat soldered the ears on in the end. Seemed to be the best way. As Helen commented – it would have been harder to solder ears onto a live cat!

Then I flattened the end of the tail to fit it onto the .. ermm…. posterior… of the cat.

Then polish up and sharpen the end of the tail.

My brooch has a design flaw because the sharp end of the tail pokes out. I though I’d give this one a ball of wool to play with which should stop the point digging in. I haven’t made the point very sharp. I think Helen will need to use it on loose weave garments. I can sharpen it up if she wants me to.