Posted 9 years ago
SpiritBear
(813 items)
I took "Metalsmithing" in high-school. I didn't expect it to be a jewelry class, but it was.
By this project, I'd broken half the blades on my finely strung hand-saw-- by finely-strung, I mean that the saw-blade you string into a saw by hand is more reflective of a guitar string than anything else. It's just more breakable.
This piece took me a week to make.
It began as a slightly warped solid piece of copper sheet I rough-cut off to a rectangle.
I sketched my design and transferred it to the copper, which I then cut the exterior of with the string-like blade of the awkward hand-saw-- the object clamped down.
I then drilled relief holes (a lot) in the design and strung my blade through them to cut the designs out.
I cut and filed and sanded and burned this many times. I added copper shavings and powdered chemicals before torching it repeatedly, then either letting it slow-cool or cool quickly to experimentally achieve its colouration.
I beat it into shape and would then go burn it again (work-hardening from hammering.)
I beat into it with a texture hammer and filed again, sanded, clear-coated.
The chain is also made of copper.
I wound the jump-rings up on a hand-cranked jump-ring maker from solid wire, cut them all by hand as the pump-pedal cutter was broken, filed down the end on each, put them together, formed the chain and left in in Liver of Sulphur for a bit to get it that colour.
I presented this to my mom on Christmas, several months after I had made it.
For 10 years my mom and I have been volunteering at an animal sanctuary. We work with the wolves there. This is why it is a paw print.
(My name's first influence stems back to the bears that used to be there.)
Great texture on this copper! I bet your mom loves it.
A work of love.
Davy, she did.
Correct, Nevada.
You are a man of many talents, Spirit. It looks like a professional piece. Very nice.
Oh how does it go, "Jack of all trades but master of none"?
Thank you.
Define master. It's all relative. ;)
Master = better than average. For this project, this piece took first place and was displayed for most of the year in the showcase, but it's still just a student project which shows both my "designer" (blame my mom and my being homosexual for that) side coming out and that my teacher taught us well. (By the end of the class, though, I'd broken all my little hand-saw blades and was using 1/3rd of one to finish up lest I have to buy another. LOL.)
I will later show what I made for myself. I'd wear it if I did not hate one aspect of it that was mandatory for the project.
From what i've seen so far, you are better than average in bottles, writing, and now jewelry making...so you can't claim a "master of NONE" title. At the very least, it's "master of some" :P
Bear, i hope it was a better day today :)
Anna, the night before last I learned that I lost someone close to me.
My pleasure, Valentino.
I'm so sorry about your loss, Spirit...i hope God gives you strength to live through this difficult time and helps you heal with time...my deepest condolences.
Thank you.
Excellent work Spirit! So many steps went into the making, so obviously you were paying attention in class. :)
Thank you, Rick.
Sadly I sat between the two rowdiest kids in class. Sometimes I felt threatened by how unsafe they were being-- one burned the other with the torch at one point, and at another point they risked causing an explosion when one burned into the hose that held the gas pouring into the lit torch.
Sometimes they randomly pounded metal, quite bored, as loudly as they could-- my hearing is a bit sensitive, so that often made me ill.
Attention could be hard sometimes.