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The few designs shown here are easily worked out in either metal. Many
handsome watch fobs of silver alone, or copper plain, or copper and
silver lettering can be made from an elaboration of these designs.
College students delight in copper fobs with silver lettering,
symbols of their fraternities, or figures representing their class
year. The white of the silver and red brown of the copper blend very
well together. The fobs may be set with a single stone, or a number of
stones, and, again, symbols may be sawed out of the silver sheet.
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_Material:_ Silver, No. 16 gauge. Copper, No. 14 gauge. The size of the
piece of metal depends upon the size you wish to make the fob.
_Tools:_ Solder, rivets, shears, drill press and drills, saw frame and
saw.
_Directions:_ After deciding upon the design, draw it on paper and cut
it out. Paste this pattern on the silver sheet and cut out along the
outline. If there is any cut out work to be done, drill the holes and
saw the design out. If you are making a silver fob and you wish to
enrich it by setting stones, decide upon your stone, make a bezel out
of No. 24 silver, and proceed to set the stone as you did in the ring.
If the background is copper with silver initials riveted upon it, saw
out the slot for the strap to go through, and polish the surface free
from all scratches and lines. File the slot round so it will not cut
the leather strap. Polish by tearing a little narrow strip of emery
cloth the length of the sheet and pushing it through the slot backward
and forward, pressing down on the top and bottom of the slot. This
tends to round it and to polish out the file marks. Mark the initials
on the silver and saw them out. Be sure that the stems of the letters
are wide enough to allow holes for riveting. Put only enough rivets
in to hold the letters in place. Two are usually enough, except with
the letters V and W. The more carefully you follow the lines of the
letters, the less filing you will have to do later. However, even with
the greatest care some filing must be done and since these letters are
the principal part of the decoration, they should be filed square,
smooth, and a little rounding on the edges of the face side. Keep the
side to be riveted against the plate flat, so it will fit snugly when
fastened.
When the holes have been drilled in the letters, place them on the
copper plate in the proper position and scratch through one hole with a
sharp instrument. Drill a hole through this point the same size as the
holes in the letters. Rivet these on with silver rivets. Square the
letters up on the plate, drill the remaining holes, and rivet. If the
rivet is driven down good and snug the end of the rivet can be filed
flush with the top of the silver. If one should wish to use rivets for
decorative purposes they should be arranged in a definite way. While
riveting the ends be careful to round them up instead of making them
flush.