![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Dec. 13th, 2009 05:30 pmA good day in the studio again today- commission progress, plus working on 4 St. Brigid's croses. I now have 2 done (one's been sold), 1 very close to done, and 1 still need the bail plus the finishing.
I didn't have time for anything fun, though yesterday I did pull the materials for a new ring idea I recently had. This one will definitely be a basic prototype; I'm since getting a better "vision" of what I want to do with the concept, and it looks like it'll involve carving wax and getting some cast... which is kinda a nuisance, since then I either need to keep castings in different metals in stock, OR take a LOT longer to get the ring made than I'd prefer...
I also tried again to raise the germanium oxide in a piece I've been working on. The first time I baked it in my kiln, and the Argentium got yellow. NOT what I had in mind! So I pickled, and debated, and finally re-polished and baked it on a glass pieplate in my home oven. Success! I'm guessing that the smaller volume and less precise heat control in the kiln caused the problems. Anyway: now I can set the stone in it and finish it- it's a big, slightly translucent stone, so I really wanted to do my best to prevent tarnish from happening under it. I will remember to raise the germanium oxide in my baking oven rather than the kiln henceforth. (No fumes are produced, and it's at a really low temp- 250F- so there's no toxins released.)
I didn't have time for anything fun, though yesterday I did pull the materials for a new ring idea I recently had. This one will definitely be a basic prototype; I'm since getting a better "vision" of what I want to do with the concept, and it looks like it'll involve carving wax and getting some cast... which is kinda a nuisance, since then I either need to keep castings in different metals in stock, OR take a LOT longer to get the ring made than I'd prefer...
I also tried again to raise the germanium oxide in a piece I've been working on. The first time I baked it in my kiln, and the Argentium got yellow. NOT what I had in mind! So I pickled, and debated, and finally re-polished and baked it on a glass pieplate in my home oven. Success! I'm guessing that the smaller volume and less precise heat control in the kiln caused the problems. Anyway: now I can set the stone in it and finish it- it's a big, slightly translucent stone, so I really wanted to do my best to prevent tarnish from happening under it. I will remember to raise the germanium oxide in my baking oven rather than the kiln henceforth. (No fumes are produced, and it's at a really low temp- 250F- so there's no toxins released.)
