Something's Fishy Pendant

17. Melt 24K casting grain into one ball and roll through the rolling mill repeatedly until the rollers are almost together. Continue rolling four more times without changing the position of the rollers. Note: Kum-boo leaf is now available at metal retailers — gilder’s leaf from the craft store is too thin for this technique.

18. Cut strips of the 24K kum-boo leaf for the fins and tail accents.

19. Place the fish on the hot plate, and arrange the kum-boo leaf to create stripes and fins. Wait until it is mat white. If it starts to oxidize, lower the temperature. Wearing the cotton gloves to protect your hands from the heat, hold the gold in place with the cross tweezers and burnish it with the steel burnisher. Note: If the metal is hot enough, the gold will adhere to the silver permanently by the process of eutectic bonding. Check the edges of the gold with the tweezers. Pickle when finished.