Jumping into June - Chat Thread

[#1]

Who we are:


AbellaBlue = Jessica
AlegraJewelry = Vicki
AlexSharDesigns = Gaynor
AlisonMooreDesigns = Ally
anidem = Jesse
artdi = Diana
bagsnstuff = Dianna
BeatrizFortes = Beatriz
BellaBijouJewellery = Jaime
BellaBijouToo = Jaime
bddesigns= Christen
bijoutery = Jen, Jennifer, or bijoutery
Brokentreasures= Amanda
Brontotheroocity= James L.
cabbingrough = LauraH
CGWhitfield = CG, or Cliff
Chrissilynn2=Chrissi
Chrissicabs=Chrissi
corybethy = Cory
DaisiemaiCreations = Janea
DiemDesignsJewelry = Sarah Jo (CarpeDiemGems)
DominicanLounge= Alpha
Doxallodesigns = Janice
Doxallostudio = Janice
Duffy Designs= Duffy
Eklektisch = Cole
EmilyWiserJewelry = Emily
evelynjewelry = Evelyn
evittscreekarts= Lois
ericafreestone = Erica
EyemaginationRSB = Robin
fix8ion = Tammy
GirlLovesGlitter = Lilian
HappyTortoiseSupply = Jason
Hartleystudio = Ann
HRBeaDesign = Heather
InbarBareket = Inbar
JackStones = Jack
JaneaPauline = Janea
JazznJewelry = Kathy
JelliesJewelry = Jack
JenniferCasady = Jen or Jennifer
Jewelrytutorials = Janice
KarlaWheelerDesign = Karla
karmahjean = Karen
kiliari = Raina
KimberlyBellDesigns = Kim
KimVGlass = Kim V
KriksSilver = Kristie
lamazonian = Vema
LauraRoberson= Laura
LeahBestDesigns=Leah
Lilnut = Caroline
litapsilverj = Lita
lsueszabo = Sue
Luxedesignworkshop = Peg
MarcusBerknerJewelry = Marcus
Markaplan = Mark
Maythenwolfbane= Nicole
Metalluxe = Peg
MieleMelograno = Liz
MissToryDesigns = Lina
novadesigns = Tess
novaofsweden = Tess
NRjewellerydesign = Nikki
OrmanaDesign = Katya
OverThinkingIt = Bree
Ppennee = Pennee
RadianTrace = Ronnie
rockaholic=Peggy
sbevisdesigns = sue
ScrapMetal = Addie
ShireJewelry = Lisa
SilverBlueberry = Esmeralda
SilverLinesJewelry = Jenny
SilverMade Studio = Teresa
StoneTemple = Mark
SToNZ = Susan
SugarCity = Grace
thebutterflygirl = Veronika
TheSpeeceCollection = Pat
ThirteenGems=Melissa
tinkertown = Sue (tinkerSue)
Treasuregypsy = Darcy
TreeFrogJewelry = Sheryl
TwoSilverMoons = Birgit
valerietyler = Valerie
verysmallbird = Heather
VillainAccessories = Brandi
VisionQuest = kim or VQ
WednesdaysDesign= Kristina (Wednesday)
2trickpony = Rachel


Join in one and all!

[cgwhitfield]

Good morning.

[Former_Member]

Goodmorning. Sawing that form in half would be a challenge!!
Back from a pretty strong 3 mile run. I call it strong because i had gas in the tank at the end. Always a good thing. Heh

Should get time in the metal shop today. Just finished my weekly chicken chores. Things are going my way today!

[Former_Member]

Lenghthwise i meant. Sheesh!

[cgwhitfield]

Someone's off to a good start today.

Unless it's paper thin a bandsaw would saw that in half nicely. Just though it might look interesting with sort of a yin/yang look, paired and touching side by side, one inverted, maybe a pin.

Or a sneaky way of getting a pair of lighter weight earrings.....

[Former_Member]

Good morning, CG! Enjoying your first cup of coffee of the day? I'm on my third....mix half decaf and half regular because I like drinking coffee but the family doesn't appreciate the hyperness of straight coffee. :-)

Sorry to have been mia (not that I'm the most vocal....I do tend to be on the quieter side). Three shows in three weeks...I'm beyond exhausted :-) Taking today off...sort of. Congrats and happy birthday to any that happened while I was off.

I do have an enameling question....I think I know the answer, but want to run it by the group. I want to develop a ring line for shows. I was thinking about enameling a disk and riveting to a ring blank. If the metal is left flat, should I be concerned about the edge of the enameled glass chipping due to wear? Should I solder a short bezel around the edge of the base and enamel within that? (This would sort of defeat the purpose of a lesser expensive ring line) What would happen if I were to slightly dome it concave? Do I need more coffee? :-)

[Former_Member]

Morning Tammy. I wasn't being rude....it takes me forever to compose a message...and dh kept interrupting me trying to be helpful :-)

[cgwhitfield]

Kim, no idea about the enamel part, but rivetting does also put some stress on the area immediately around the hole the rivet goes through, not just the rivet. If the enamel is near it might not like that.

On a different track, is it possible to use a torch to melt on a long 'string' of say clear glass to a finished enamel piece?

[Former_Member]

what type of glass are you thinking of?

[cgwhitfield]

Just have an old memory of watching at a fair a guy making little animals from clear glass rods and a torch.

[lsueszabo]

well, it looks like i showed up just in time. haha.
morningf tamara! haven't seen you for awhile,
ok, to cg first- yes, you can enamel thin rods of glass, nuggets of glass, millifiore, and glass beads to the enamel surface. done them all if you have questions- here'a a quick pic of one i did with stringer (glass strings) that you were asking about-
http://www.lsueszabo.com/exhibition_detail.php?pid=41
i'll answer you kim in a minute, going back to read your questions. more coffee.

[cgwhitfield]

Tammy, just noticed all the colourful wide cuffs in your shop. Very nice.

[cgwhitfield]

Sue, I was only thinking of Kim already working with glass.

My own future with enamel and glass is limited I think. As much as I like it, my lack of patience won't get me very far.

[Former_Member]

Gorgeous pendant, Sue!! Did you use the glass strings from Thompson's (or wherever you buy your enameling supplies)? I've used millefiori and some of their strings. Should play with making some stringers with the glass that I have for beads....try out the different coe's and see how they react stress wise....so glad to have a little bit of play time before my next show!!!!!

[lsueszabo]

looking at that piece brings back bad memories. i had to back rivet 12 20 g rivets and getting 12 holes that i drilled to line up to the rivets was a nightmare. the rivets are actually soldered along the back around the edges of that frame so i had to try to drill the holes after the rivets were soldered- oh man, that was so tricky it was ridiculous. this process is called "blind riveting" - cause you cannot see the rivet at all from the front. i tried to get that right about 6 times- 1 hole would always not line up!! i was going insane. i would measure as carefully as i could. finally, i came up with what i thought was an ingenious solution to the problem- i melted some wax and coated the surface of the back piece with a fine layer. then i carefully laid it down exactly how it was to fit- i lifted it off and could see where the rivet pins had left little marks in the wax. i drilled there. worked. i'm sharing that cause there is so much sweat and labor in that piece and you can't even tell. haha. and i know cg loves a good "mystery solved" story!

[cgwhitfield]

Sue, that's sort of like taking a sheet of drywall and holding it in position against the studs and rapping with a fist where the electrical outlet sits proud of the wall to mark exactly where to cut out the hole in the sheet.

Well, sort of.

[Former_Member]

Definitely great thinking!! DH has done the drywall thing...not sure I would have thought to do it with metal

[lsueszabo]

yes, 12 times. ugh. and you know with a 20 gauge rivet it has to fit EXACTLY - no sideways stress on the rivet. i should show you the back of that thing and you would be duly impressed. i'll never do that again!
kim- you can cup or dome your enamel bits, they don't have to be flat. yes, your edges are vulnerable- no way around it unless you set the enamel in a bezel or something similar to protect the edges. here's what i'd recommend- if you're going to do this, make sure you file and lightly sand the edges of your enamel. one- it looks better (enamel edges left crunchy are the sure mark of an amateur), two- if you remove the enamel from the edges and they hit the ring on it's edge, it is less likely to crack. good luck riveting- that is tricky cause if you hit the enamel or the rivet puts too much stress on it, it will crack - count on it. it can be done, but be oh so gentle.

[Former_Member]

That's what I thought, Sue, about the edges. My riveting is limited to using a tool due to a vision issue. I give a different meaning to blind rivet...literally can't see what I'm hitting, so I bought a little tool to help with that. No hammering involved, but will have to be careful to not put too much pressure on the rivet. Hmmm, maybe a little googling to see if there are any teeny tiny washers that I could use to help alleviate some of that pressure...like tiny neoprene ones (I already have brass ones). Think that would help, or am I just adding something that really is useless? I've also thought of "sewing" it on with wire, instead of riveting.

My area has been really, really hard hit with this economy, so I'm needing to think about some lower price points. Won't work for nothing, but I'd like to be able to offer some things affordable to more people. kwim?

[lsueszabo]

don't know about the washers kim , never tried it. i guess i'd make a couple prototypes first and see if you can even rivet what you're doing with that tool you have. if you can't, well, then you haven't wasted your day making enamel bits.

[Former_Member]

true...plus then I'd have some rings myself. I'm sort of like the cobbler here :-)

[ShireJewelry]

Kim, I would love to know what tool your using since my eyes are going faster than glasses can keep up with. I had to buy a self threader sewing machine so I could still sew lol Oh and good morning ! The wax idea is neat Sue, I would have probably dipped the rivets in ink and then stamped the back of the plate they were going on but wax is a neat idea too.

[Former_Member]

Lisa, this is the one. I much prefer the look of hand-riveted, but at least with this I can rivet....without destroying my metal :-)

http://www.metalclayfindings.com/product/1000105.aspx

[Former_Member]

Waves at Kim, CG and Sue!!

Yes, I'm slowly making a comeback. I've been working very hard for 6 months finalizing our new fleet of trucks. All cab configurations, all bed configurations, heavy duties and dualies for both lines Chev and GMC. I'm one of 2 leads on the aesthetic/sculpting side of the project. a lot of it is in engineering hands now. We do this about every 4 years, which is soon enough because the work load would kill me if it was closer together than that.

Hense my inability to be real active in too many discussions! I now see the light!!

Still catching up. Loving your new Copper Pieces CG!!

[cgwhitfield]

Tammy, I'm selling some copper bracelets wholesale, but no action on etsy, they're likely too plain.

Oh, and can you put in a request to have more clearance between the lowered tailgate and the bumper? Since you're designing and all....

Snow and ice builds up there in that 1/2" gap, and the tailgate can't be lowered until it's scraped off. Maybe the newer models have avoided this, don't know. It's all I can fault. It is nice to have the generational link in design so I don't look too out of date.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. And I am kidding, won't be able to afford a new one anyway.

[ShireJewelry]

thanks so much Kim, I actually bought something just like that for punching holes this week. I'll have to see if I can change out the pins