If you've gathered a few tools but haven't made a finished piece yet, this is the project to start with. A stamped disc pendant uses the core bench skills — cutting, stamping, doming, finishing — in their natural order, and the result is genuinely wearable. You'll learn far more from making one complete object than from a dozen half-finished experiments, and you'll have something to show for the afternoon at the end of it.
What you'll need
A small sheet of 0.8 mm silver or copper (copper is cheaper and very forgiving for a first attempt), a disc cutter or any round cutter from our Disc Cutters range, a design punch, a hammer, a steel bench block, a doming block, and a way to drill a small hanging hole. Anneal your sheet first so it cuts, stamps and forms cleanly rather than fighting you at every step.
Step by step
- Cut the disc. Slide the annealed sheet into the cutter, seat the punch squarely, and give it one firm strike. See our disc cutter guide if it's your first time — clean cutting is mostly about a sharp tool and full support underneath.
- Stamp it flat. Stamp your motif or initials now, while the disc is flat and fully supported on the steel block — one square blow per stamp. Stamping after doming is far harder because the curve won't sit flat under the punch, and doming a stamped disc actually opens the design out attractively.
- Dome gently. Tap the disc into a shallow depression of the doming block for a subtle curve. Don't over-dome a pendant or it cups into a little bowl; a gentle convex shape catches the light and sits nicely against the body.
- Drill and finish. Drill a hole near the edge, file off the burr front and back, then work up through the abrasives to a polish.
Finishing
Work up through progressively finer abrasives before you polish — a polish only removes scratches finer than itself, so skipping a grade leaves marks that no amount of buffing will lift. Our guide to polishing jewellery by hand explains the order that actually works. Add a jump ring and a chain and your first pendant is finished. When you want crisper, more repeatable lettering on the next one, our guide to stamping metal cleanly covers technique in depth.
Everything for this project is in Disc Cutters, Punches & Stamps and Hammers & Forming.