Happy New Year!
Jan. 1st, 2008 05:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
afmetalsmithI had a nice day in the studio today, mostly soldering. I even did more hot work on the piece that exploded! and have no additional explosions to report, thank goodness.
And I have (mostly) been very good indeed about wearing goggles for soldering. I have even been wearing my dark goggles, which protect they eyes from IR rays. Yay for virtue. I am still not a fan of wearing goggles, but I am more aware of their importance after the BAM!
So, today was a Soldering Day. I made progress on getting the setting properly soldered onto the spiculum, though it needs another pass. Sigh. (And then the mending and the findings...)
I got several tiny double spirals fused onto my Viking bead bits. I also braved (expensive) disaster and opened my vial of purchased argentium granules, and decanted some into a smaller tin for use on the other Viking bead. Out of interest, I weighed them, and the tin's got about $9 worth in it; I'm hoping that'll about do it for that bead, but could be wildly wrong. (FYI, I love the small "watchmaker's" tins from Lee Valley for granule-storage; the lids fit tightly enough that the granules don't get stuck between lid and vessel, and the clear tops mean I can label them easily. Plus you can get 10 small tins that fit neatly into a larger tin, which is fabulous for storing a range of sizes.)
And I worked on my first Russian filigree piece! I'm making my own version of the first project on the video, and now have the basic structural filigree pieces in. Since I don't yet have any of the special solder, I'm using tiny chips of medium, and that's working OK. (I tried hard for the first one, and a delicate tendril melted despite my care. Phooey.) I'm also designing somewhat (ahem) more ambitious projects, but I'll wait until I've finished this one to start any of them. Yes. Probably. I suppose. :)
And, in the non-soldering area, I've got the January thimble polished now, and ready for the garnet to be set. I may even have it done while it's still January! (Actually- yes I will. It's a priority at the moment.)
Plus I set another 2mm sapphire in my current "eternity-style" ring. It's going OK.
And I have (mostly) been very good indeed about wearing goggles for soldering. I have even been wearing my dark goggles, which protect they eyes from IR rays. Yay for virtue. I am still not a fan of wearing goggles, but I am more aware of their importance after the BAM!
So, today was a Soldering Day. I made progress on getting the setting properly soldered onto the spiculum, though it needs another pass. Sigh. (And then the mending and the findings...)
I got several tiny double spirals fused onto my Viking bead bits. I also braved (expensive) disaster and opened my vial of purchased argentium granules, and decanted some into a smaller tin for use on the other Viking bead. Out of interest, I weighed them, and the tin's got about $9 worth in it; I'm hoping that'll about do it for that bead, but could be wildly wrong. (FYI, I love the small "watchmaker's" tins from Lee Valley for granule-storage; the lids fit tightly enough that the granules don't get stuck between lid and vessel, and the clear tops mean I can label them easily. Plus you can get 10 small tins that fit neatly into a larger tin, which is fabulous for storing a range of sizes.)
And I worked on my first Russian filigree piece! I'm making my own version of the first project on the video, and now have the basic structural filigree pieces in. Since I don't yet have any of the special solder, I'm using tiny chips of medium, and that's working OK. (I tried hard for the first one, and a delicate tendril melted despite my care. Phooey.) I'm also designing somewhat (ahem) more ambitious projects, but I'll wait until I've finished this one to start any of them. Yes. Probably. I suppose. :)
And, in the non-soldering area, I've got the January thimble polished now, and ready for the garnet to be set. I may even have it done while it's still January! (Actually- yes I will. It's a priority at the moment.)
Plus I set another 2mm sapphire in my current "eternity-style" ring. It's going OK.
