PROJECT
INTERMEDIATE | METAL
Shibuichi
Cuff:
Learn how to make decorative rivets
while working with this uncommon alloy.
by Addie Kidd
T
FCT-MWON0216_ART46
o take full advantage of shibuichi, you’ve got to use patinas.
One of my favorite patinas for copper-based alloys like shibuichi is Baldwin’s patina — it can create the most beautiful
warm purple-browns. I chose a 5% alloy of shibuichi (that’s 5% silver
and 95% copper) because it can achieve a darker patina than alloys
with higher silver content, such as 15% or 25% alloys. Unaffected by
Baldwin’s patina, bright fine- and sterling-silver rivets highlight the
deeply patinated shibuichi.
Copper alloys aren’t always suitable metals for bracelets, as many
people are sensitive to copper. To combat this, I lined my cuff with
sterling silver, but without using solder. Instead, the flush rivets that
punctuate the cuff also securely hold the silver liner to the shibuichi.
©2010Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be
reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
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An
Exercise
Riveting
Sterling silver tube rivets and finesilver wire rivets secure a sterling silver
liner to a patinated shibuichi cuff without solder. 1 x 21 ⁄2 in. (25.5 x 64 mm).
materials
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Shibuichi sheet: 5% alloy, 24-gauge
(0.5 mm), 1 x 6 in. (25.5 x 152 mm)
■■ Sterling silver sheet: 24-gauge (0.5 mm),
half-hard, 7 ⁄8 x 7 in. (22 x 178 mm)
■■ Fine-silver wire: 18-gauge (1.0 mm),
round, 1 ft. (30.5 cm)
■■ Sterling silver tubing: thick-walled,
2 mm (5 ⁄64 -in.) outside diameter,
6 in. (15.2 cm)
■■
additional tools & supplies
Jeweler’s shears (optional)
Circle template: 11 ⁄4 in. (32 mm)
■■ Riveting hammer 
■■ Bracelet mandrel: oval
■■ Rawhide mallet
■■ 3–4 mm bud bur or ball bur
■■ Rivet block
■■ Torch, fire-resistant surface
■■ Flush cutters
■■ Baldwin’s patina
Part 1:
Cuff and liner
While it may seem counterintuitive to form
the cuff and liner before you pierce and
rivet them together (rather than riveting
the pierced cuff and liner when they’re
flat, then shaping them), I made mine in
this order to minimize distortion, create
springiness through work-hardening, and
ensure that the ends of my rivets on the
liner side stayed nicely flush.
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■■
Prepare the shibuichi. Cut a 1 x 6-in.
(25.5 x 152 mm) strip of 24-gauge (0.5 mm)
shibuichi sheet. Locate the center of the
strip, and measure and mark 15 mm from
each side of the center point [1].
Place a 11 ⁄4-in. (32 mm) circle template
on the measured line, aligning the circle
with both marked 15 mm points. Using a
permanent marker, draw a curved line.
Repeat on the other side of the line to
draw a marquis shape [2].
Hammer the edges of the shibuichi
strip. Place the shibuichi strip on its edge
on a bench block. Using a small tapered
riveting hammer, hammer perpendicularly
along all edges [3]. This hammering will
create texture, thicken the edges, and
work-harden the metal so that it will
hold its cuff shape better.
Pierce the marquis shape. Using a drill
and then a jeweler’s saw with an 8/0 saw
blade, pierce the marquis shape [4]. Using
a half-round file, refine the marquis shape.
If necessary, use a file to soften the four
outer corners of the strip.
Shape the strip into a cuff. Carefully
bend the shibuichi strip around an oval
bracelet mandrel. Use extra care when
bending the metal in the area around the
pierced marquis; the thinner material in
those areas could bend more sharply than
the rest of the strip. Use a rawhide mallet
to further form the strip into a cuff bracelet
shape [5]. 
Form the silver liner. Cut a 7 ⁄8 x 7-in.
(22 x 178 mm) strip of sterling silver. Using
the bracelet mandrel, bend the silver strip
to match the shibuichi cuff. Squeeze the
ends of the curved silver liner together and
slip it inside the shibuichi cuff. Place both
the cuff and the liner on the mandrel, and
use the rawhide mallet to hammer them
together to minimize any gaps. Mark the
ends of the silver strip [6] and remove the
silver liner from the cuff. 
Trim the silver liner. Using jeweler’s
shears or a saw, trim the liner at the marks.
Using a flat file, file the ends of the strip so
that it’s slightly shorter than the shibuichi
cuff; gently round the corners.
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Part 2: Rivets
I’ve found that the best way to line up
rivets is to make one complete rivet (drill
the first hole and make the first rivet)
before drilling the remaining holes and
making those rivets. That way you’ll avoid
the frustration of even slightly misaligned
rivet holes.
Make the rivet head pins. Cut a 6-in.
(15.2 cm) piece of 18-gauge (1.0 mm) finesilver wire. Using a torch, ball up one end
of the wire. Using flush cutters, trim the
wire to about 1 ⁄4 in. (6.5 mm). Repeat
to make the desired number of head pins;
vary the size of the head pin balls to create
differently sized rivet heads. 
Insert a head pin into a 1 mm hole on a
rivet block. Using the flat side of a riveting
hammer, lightly strike the ball of the head
pin to slightly flatten it [1].
each mark. Supporting the cuff on a piece
of wood, use a 1 mm drill bit in your flex
shaft to drill all the wire-rivet holes [2].
Drill the wire-rivet holes. Use a marker
to mark the points on the shibuichi cuff
where you want to place the wire rivets.
Place just the shibuichi cuff on a mandrel,
and use a center punch to create divots at
Make the first rivet. Slip the silver liner
within the cuff. Using one of the wire-rivet
holes in the cuff as a guide, mark, center
punch, and drill through the hole in the
cuff to make a corresponding wire-rivet
hole in the liner; use a 1 mm drill bit.
Remove the liner from the cuff. Using a
lubricated 4 mm bud or ball bur, bevel the
rivet hole on the inside of the liner [3].
Make sure not to cut all the way through
the liner; you just need a slight bevel to
hold the metal of the flush rivet. See “How
to Make a Flush Rivet in 3 Steps,” left, for a
closer look at making flush rivets.
Slip the liner back within the cuff, and
insert a flattened rivet head pin through
the rivet hole. Holding the rivet in place,
use flush cutters to trim the rivet head
about 0.5 mm (1 ⁄64 in.) above the liner [4].
Position the bracelet so that the head
of the rivet wire is supported on a bench
block. Using the tapered end of a small
riveting hammer, tap the cut end of the
rivet to flare it into the bevel [5], beginning
to make a wire rivet.
how to make a flush rivet in 3 steps
Flush rivets aren’t difficult to make, but they do require a bit of prep work.
If you’ve made your flush rivet correctly, it will hold your metal securely while
blending seamlessly into the surrounding metal.
[1] Use a large bud
bur (shown) or ball
bur to carve out a
beveled opening
about one-third to
half the depth of your
drilled rivet hole.
[2] Insert a head pin
up through the rivet
hole. Trim the head
pin so that it extends
just slightly above the
bevel opening.
[3] Make a basic wire
rivet, flaring the wire
into the beveled
opening. File any
excess wire so that
it’s flush with the
top of the bevel.
Drill the tube-rivet holes. Repeat the
previous step to mark and drill the tuberivet holes in the shibuichi cuff; use a
2 mm drill bit.
If you can fit the hammer within the
bracelet, rotate the hammer to hit the
rivet perpendicularly to the first few
strikes. This will flare the rivet into the
bevel more evenly.
NOTE: If you can’t fit your hammer
within the cuff, place a small dapping
punch against the rivet, and hammer
the punch to flare the rivet [6].
Make the remaining wire rivets. Now
that the first rivet is securely holding the
two strips of metal together, drill the
remaining 1 mm holes through the liner,
and repeat the previous steps to bevel
them and set wire rivets in them.
Make the tube rivets. Using the 2 mm
holes in the cuff as a guide, drill corresponding 2 mm holes through the liner.
Bevel the inner sides of the holes in the
liner with a 4 mm bud or ball bur.
Cut a 4 mm (5 ⁄32 -in.) piece of 2 mmoutside-diameter thick-walled tubing
for each 2 mm rivet hole.
Insert a piece of tubing through a
2 mm hole. Place one end of the tubing
on a bench block (if on the outside of
the cuff) or on a curved anvil (if on the
inside of the cuff), and tap the other
end with a dapping punch or a small
ball-peen hammer to flare the tubing,
making a tube rivet.
In addition to the decorative tube
rivets on the front, I also made three
tube rivets on each end of my cuff to
hold the two strips of metal together.
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Part 3:
Finishing
Drill decorative holes. Using drill bits
in various sizes, drill holes through the
exposed liner [1].
Make the rivets flush. Using a half-round
file, file the inside ends of the wire and
tube rivets flush with the liner.
Sand the entire inner surface of the
cuff, using 400- and then 600-grit sandpaper. To speed up the process, I like to
use a piece of sandpaper inserted into a
split-mandrel bit in my flex shaft [2]. 
Pierce the marquis design. On the
liner, use dividers to mark an even
border around the inner edge of the
marquis and around the decorative holes. 
Using an 8/0 blade in a jeweler’s saw,
cut out the interior part of the marquis
design. To avoid inadvertently cutting
the bottom of the cuff, I turned my cuff
frequently and even ended up sawing
sideways on my bench pin [3].
Clean up the cuff. Using needle files,
refine the edges of the pierced design.
The holes at the ends of your tube
rivets may be distorted from your hammering. If necessary, use a 1 mm drill bit
in a flex shaft to open up the tube rivets.
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Using an abrasive radial disk in a flex
shaft, clean up any sharp edges from the
pierced design [4], the rivet heads, and the
surrounding metal between the rivets.
NOTE: I went over my entire bracelet with
a lightly abrasive radial-disk attachment,
because the patina will react better with
metal that isn’t fully polished.
Using a rubber polishing-wheel attachment, carefully polish just the silver rivet
heads to make them shine.
Patinate the shibuichi. Following
the manufacturer’s instructions, apply
Baldwin’s patina to darken the shibuichi;
this patina will not color the silver. Rinse
the cuff well and dry it.
To protect the patina, apply a thin layer
of microcrystalline wax [5]. Using a soft
cloth, buff the wax to a low shine. Repeat
to apply another layer of wax.