Spring 2017 DES 331 Post # 15

The Combination Setting Project is complete. Final shaping of the neckpiece and setting the tourmaline was done in Upton Monday after a final conference with Professor. It was gone over with tripoli then into the Jett sett  to notch the final prong. The setting of the prong went as smoothly as if I had planned it. The final polish was rouge on a muslin buff. 

 

 

The second 12" vessel for Metalworking is completed and was treated similarly as the first for its patina.  Interestingly, the effect came out differently, darker and didn't adhere as tightly.  Trying to explain the variation, the only things I could come up with was that the final abrasive on the second vessel was steel wool, as opposed to sandpaper on the first and the temperature of the solution was warmer.  The solution and pretreatments were the same, but the container was larger for the first. 

 

What I am learning about this process is that the smallest variations in protocol make a significant difference in the final finish.  I went over the outside lightly with steel wool again after taking it out of the solution to create the highlights and polished the inside edge and around the rim.  The inside was also given a rough polish to highlight the interior.  At this point I have to consider it done, next semester I can raise some more vessels to experiment with.  I hope to have some Mokume Gane sheet to work with which will create some very interesting patterns with patina.

 

 

Now I just need to keep everything intact until critique.  I have two night shifts coming up today and tomorrow.  I'm very glad I am finished, as another all-nighter to finish my projects doesn't sound very appealing to me.  



Spring 2017 DES 331 Post # 14

We are now down to the last week of school.  This has been a busy semester, but productive.  My goal was to try to stay on schedule, or ahead, as I knew I would be short of time at various points during the semester.  Even with that, there was barely enough time to complete the projects due.  I truly feel badly for those taking 3 or more studios.

I have a bowl! 12" vessel #2 has been raised and nearing it's final form.  Just a bit of work on the edge and time for finishing.  I am thinking about putting a patina similar to the chalice and making a  series.  I'm not sure yet.

 

 

Construction has gone surprisingly smooth with the Combination Setting Project.  Fabrication of the setting and the transition to the neckpiece are completed.  My express goal in this piece was to highlight the stone.  This translated into a more understated piece than is usual for me.  The word that comes to mind is minimalism, although it seems a bit Asian to me as well.   We'll see how it works out once the stone is set. 

 

 

 

It has been a great experience learning the stone setting techniques we covered this semester.  I feel more confident in approaching projects I might not have otherwise.  Thanks again, Prof. N!

Spring 2017 DES 331 Post # 13

Down to the last 2 weeks now, with two projects to finish and a Power point.  I have a design and a start on the combination setting piece.  I am going to set a faceted tourmaline crystal in a pendant, hanging on a swivel from a forged neck piece.  This will be done in square silver rod and utilize a modified basket setting.  While waiting for the rod, I trialed the construction in copper and am relatively comfortable with the anticipated process.  I don't have enough time to do a full size version in copper the way I normally would, but with the Micro-torch, I can build anything. ( Well, almost)

Metal working has a similar time constraint.  I have a template for a simple bowl with a turned edge on top and a shallow flat foot.  Not terribly unique in design, but my goal is to see if I can achieve a smooth, polished surface.  I may use a bit of brass accent on the top and bottom as it worked out so well in the last vessel project. 

Speaking of which, here are some shots of the finished Chalice Project.  I did put the accent on as suggested  and polished a couple of edges.  Now, with the patina in place it looks like an entirely different piece.
 
To be honest, it was not much to look at before, but has changed entirely in aspect as a result of the finishing details.  I don't know what this says about my craftsmanship though.

 

This patina was accomplished by using a concentrated sodium chloride solution on the sanded, degreased metal and then placing it still wet in a strong ammonia atmosphere.  I set the chalice feet on a couple of small plastic cottage cheese containers in the bottom of a 5 gallon drywall compound bucket to keep them out of the solution.  The ammonia atmosphere was created by pouring about 3 oz. of concentrated ammonium hydroxide solution in to the bottom of the bucket and then placing another inverted bucket on top of the bottom one and duct taping the seam. 

 

Apparently the vapors layered out in the container and reacted differently with the metal at different levels, giving the stratification seen in the finish.  It stayed in the buckets about 24 hours and then was removed, rinsed and dried.  Over the next day the patina matured. The accents were then buffed out with sandpaper and a star wheel on the flex shaft. The final step was a clear coat of Krylon that

really brought out the different colors and sealed the surface preventing much more change in the finish.

 

I am calling this piece " Calicem Nigrum"  which is Latin for Black Chalice.  Black not so much in color, but in purpose.

Spring 2017 DES 331 Post # 12

Amazing, how in the course of one day I have completed so much!

Here's the assembled bracelet with the stone seats cut mounted in Jett-Sett and ready to set the stones.  This assembly was placed in a heavy bench vise at standing height under bright illumination and the seating work was done through Optivisors.  This allowed me to leverage my weight onto the metals edge. 

 

Today in the metal studio I was able to create my anti-clastic form and get it into an actual ring.  I think I am now done with all the assignments short of actual creation of the piece for project 3.  Too bad I haven't decided on a design. Or a stone.

 

 



Spring 2017 DES 331 Post # 11

I have had some productive days at the bench now that I'm off work for a bit.  My main focus has been getting the bracelet fabricated and finalizing the chalice. There are some small tasks to be completed such as the synclastic and anti-clastic forms. These I have not yet begun.

Project #3 Flush setting Project is well in hand.  Here are the early construction photos.

 The top center piece is completed and the first two hinge mechanisms have been soldered.  Each piece is shaped slightly before attaching.  Every thing seems to be coming together.  The clasp remains undecided as of yet.  I should know better, but I will ask Professor what she thinks.

Upside Down Chalice

Spring 2017 DES 331 Post # 10

Project # 2 for Jewelry Studio, the Flush Mount  is starting to take shape.  This has been an insane week for me, having been at work everyday except school days and not yet done.  I work nights tonight but will then have an entire week away from work to get moving on my studio projects in Jewelry and Metalworking.  I tried to get ahead early in the semester anticipating this situation and am very glad I did.

The Flush Mounting project is all cut out and has been partially assembled. The center piece is cut out in silver and ready to solder.

 I need to account for the thickness of the stone seats and position another layer underneath the center piece to allow a flush mount at the appropriate spots.  All the forms for the band need to be cut out and placed in order to assemble. 


Here are the individual pieces in position with each other.

 

 

 

 

Metal working is focusing on the Chalice Project now, the 12 inch vessel is raised and ready for a pedestal and base.

 

 

I'm thinking about a stem pedestal, using forms fabricated from sheet to create a triangular base which opens up to encompass the bowl.  It is much different fabricating metal on this scale as opposed to the typical jewelry pieces I am used to.  A lot of heat is needed, but the large tip on a B acetylene tank is working so far, only once did I need two torches together to flow a seam. 

 

 



 

Spring 2017 DES 331 Post #9

Need to get moving on the Flush Mount project.  I did get some stones at the show I Hamburg last weekend, and am looking forward to seeing the selection Wednesday. 

Having been stopped dead in my tracks in my attempt to sleaze out this assignment with just  another version of my sample piece, I am back at the drawing board with the bracelet concept. I am using the stacked rooflines of the Himalayas as a reference and came up with some ideas, the lower right being the most representative.

 

 

This rolled around in my head for a few days and finally came out into a model looking like this.

 

 

This was looking like it might work, but needed mixing up a bit.  I took it apart and rearranged the elements in various ways and ended up with this mock-up in copper.

The individual pieces will need to be resized in the final version, or else I will be setting 2 or 3 mm stones. Which I am considering, because I am pleased with the proportions.


Metalwork is now focusing on the 12" vessel for the chalice.  I need to get the vessel formed to get templates for the pedestal and base.  It need the sides brought  up and in, but is looking doable, as long as I keep the lead solder away from it and stop setting off the alarms.  My apologies to all inconvenienced.



Spring 2017 DES331 Post #8

No new work to show, It is Spring Break week and I have been at work since finishing the Flush Setting sample.  I have had a chance to do some drawing for the Metalwork Chalice project and am beginning to think about the fabrication aspects. It will be started with sheet, probably 18ga and have a bit of shell forming and something called decking.

The vessel will be straightforward, and the remainder can be made out of sheet and soldered Considerations at this point are: types of metal, textures, patina, stones, and feet.  Stay tuned.

Gem show coming up, I am running low on faceted stones and hope to stock up.  I am not sure if this is the show with much in the way of loose stones.  I should contact the fellow from Bary Gems and get some stones on approval for the class. I might poll them to see what interest there is and come up with a list and see what he can do. 

Stone Setting #2 is now assigned.  Flush set pendant or bracelet with a minimum of three stones. I have my visual references and need to start some drawings.  I will do a bracelet, a first for me. 

Spring 2017 DES331 Post #7

Back after some weather and other related absences.  March has always given a little going away present and this year was no different. 

I have graciously been brought up to date on assignments and class demonstrations by Professor N. and have been able to follow her instructions to finish my sample piece. I felt awkward going through the trouble to set three stones with nothing to show for it, so decided to come up with a production type design and create a wearable piece.

This was created as a pin with two triangles as the basis of the design. 

I created a setting tool out of a 1/16th inch pin punch. I file down the end to a beveled tip and then sanded and polished it. It seemed to work well and has enough heft and handle to apply quite a bit of force to set the edge on these stones. 

The only ball or setting burs I had were 3.3mm and 3.5.  I think 3.4mm would have worked better as I had to really crank down on the edges to firmly seat the Cubic's.

Spring 2017 DES331 Post # 6

 

I know Professor told us no pictures of our pets, but this is pertinent to my metalworking projects. Our cat Bob has taken ownership of my work and is critiquing the finish and function of the vessels. 

 

 

 



 

 

Here is a mock-up of the pin project, done in copper to trial the 3-D forms.  

 

 

 

Now the forms have been done in sterling

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the finished piece, stones set and pin back in place. this was a complicated fabrication, but scrupulous attention to cleaning and sanding the piece between each step and use of boric acid/alcohol kept the final clean up to a minimum, as the interior is relatively inaccessible now. Setting the stones was relatively uneventful excepting the interior stone. I made sure the prongs were all set up prior to assembling the piece.  All I had to do was place the stone, then use pliers, prong pusher and a file to set the prongs.  

 



Spring 2017 DES331 Post #5

It's time to get a move on the pin/brooch project. I have one set of drawings for the project that could be put into fabrication right away, but wanted to explore another design reference.  I took characters from the Tibetan alphabet and transcribed them freehand in a calligraphic manner and then explored various transformations and combinations.  I traced them onto hard painting board and then cut them out to explore some 3-D variations.

 



I'd like to do a mock up in cardboard, or even metal, to get the curves and 3-d down and then fit the prong settings in place. 

Catenoid  vessel (L), was formed out of a 6x10 " sheet of 18 gauge copper, lap seam soldered into a cylinder.  I have about 5 hours hammering and annealing into it so far. There's a bit more narrowing of the waist needed. The 6" vessel (R), is ready for flat hammer planishing.

Spring 2017 DES 331 Post #4

The last sample setting assigned was a basket style prong setting, made out of 16 gauge brass wire.  Fitting the jump rings to the appropriate size of the stone was challenging and required a re-do after my first attempt was too large in diameter and wouldn't allow for notching of the prongs and a good fit when pushed over onto the stone's crown. 

Instead of starting from the beginning with new wire, I disassembled the setting and created new rings which were then soldered to the original basket.  You might think that by this point in life I would understand the futility of this type of shortcut, but yes indeed, I spent more time and effort cleaning up the original piece and refitting the rings than I would have had I started over. Oh well, optimism is a virtue I suppose.

The prongs are a bit asymmetric around the circumference of the stone, again, a consequence of not starting from the beginning. They were appropriately positioned on the original setting.

 

Love those needle holders, I used them to hold the rings and basket while soldering.  I used the notched, self-clamping forceps for the first solder joint of the ring to the basket. After that I was able to solder the other 3 joints at one time using the micro torch. The micro torch has become one of my favorite tools as it can give you such a hot, but tiny flame that you can solder each separate joint on the setting without risking melting the others as long as you work quickly.  

DES331 Post #3

Completed the tube setting and sheet metal prong setting samples, I needed to push the prongs down a bit on the sheet metal sample.  Filing them down more and then using the prong pusher followed by a burnisher worked out well. 

 

 

We have received our instructions for the first project for DES331, a brooch with a minimum of three prong set faceted stones.  My semester theme is Asian script and symbols.  I have resources for the theme compiled and now need to obtain some images of  historic settings and develop some ideas for the project.

 

Metalworking has been great fun and I am now planishing the 6" vessel.  I need to bevel the catenoid vessel sheet and complete the final planishing of the small vessel .



 The top rim is a bit irregular, but should be able to be straightened out.  

Spring 2017 DES331 Post #2

Completed the Tube Setting sample, I believe I got the depth of the stone seat correct and even better, the stones haven't dropped out yet.  Holding the setting bur absolutely aligned with the tubing is a challenge. If I was going to do this a lot, I would set up some sort of jig to hold the piece and the handle of the flex tool in alignment, such as a drill press with a gimbaled vise beneath it.

The bezel tool made setting the bezel super-easy, I literally set the three bezels in 5 minutes.   I like the looks of the settings we've done so far and am psyched to learn the rest of the techniques Frau N. has in mind this semester.  Thanks for this opportunity Professor!

 

 

The sheet metal prong setting worked out as well, and I didn't melt it and have to start over, as I did with the tube setting sample. I kept the stone up off the existing seat and made a 1 mm ledge higher up to fully expose the base of the stone.  I also like the looks of this style of setting, it's clean and contemporary in appearance and can showcase the stone beautifully, if that is your intent. 

On this piece the prongs need shaping and pushed down a bit.



 

 



Spring 2017 DES 331

Post #1

Back in class after too short a break.  I'm taking both metalworking (Yay! Finally!) and Junior studio which is going to be a challenge with everything else going on this spring. 

Studio is going to focus on stone setting with the first project involving tube settings and prong setting made out of sheet.  We were given a 6 inch length of half round copper wire and 4 mm silver tubing. Although this is supposed to be a sample, it seemed too easy to create a small ring out of the materials and could actually be wearable by someone with small fingers.



My semester theme is due next week and is going to involve the script and symbols of Asia.  I find the calligraphic styles of the Tibetan, Arabic, Indian and Japanese languages fascinating and will attempt to utilize these as inspiration for the stone setting pieces in Studio.  Metalworking will be focusing on the basics of technique, but I would like to utilize some Mokume Gane  at some point in the semester.  I need to get back to the forge and make a larger billet and finish one that is started.