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Jan. 6th, 2008 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
afmetalsmithI think the soldering's done on my first Russian filigree piece. Woohoo! I have to say: while the tiny solder chips worked OK, medium paste solder was a delight. I used it to finish up the last few bits that hadn't wanted to solder previously, and it worked like a charm. Then I flipped the piece over and gave it a nice soak in a fairly gentle flame, just till the solder ran, to get rid of any clumps. There's still some clean-up to do, of course, and maybe a pass or 2 of depletion gilding- but the soldering's done! I'm going to use 3 jump rings as a bail, I think: 2 round or square-wire ones on either side, and a twisted-wire one in the middle. I'll probably not solder them shut, since they'll be fairly hefty (and 3 of them!). I'll probably add a dangle; I have some attractive baroque pearls that would look nice.
Did more fusing of the double-spirals onto the Viking beads. Progress is being made, albeit slowly. And I thought these would be the easy ones! Ha! :)
Also: it always surprises me how much time paperwork sorts of things take. I have not been taking that into account. Today, while waiting for things to pickle, I spent time in catalogs and on the Web pricing stones for several commissions; all told, it was probably at least 45 min. And then there's communicating with the people who commission stuff! I'm not complaining- I love working closely with people, partly because then I know they're getting exactly what they're dreaming of, and partly because working with other people's aesthetics is, frankly, a fun challenge for me! but it does take time. I need to remember that, because it IS an appreciable amount of the work I do- even when I'm not physically in the studio, making stuff.
As is design work, on the computer and not. I spent some good time yesterday and today on computer design stuff. I now have a bunch of pieces ready to be masked for etching, and hope to put some time this evening into either working on a pendant with a cephalopod theme, and/or on an absinthe spoon.
Did more fusing of the double-spirals onto the Viking beads. Progress is being made, albeit slowly. And I thought these would be the easy ones! Ha! :)
Also: it always surprises me how much time paperwork sorts of things take. I have not been taking that into account. Today, while waiting for things to pickle, I spent time in catalogs and on the Web pricing stones for several commissions; all told, it was probably at least 45 min. And then there's communicating with the people who commission stuff! I'm not complaining- I love working closely with people, partly because then I know they're getting exactly what they're dreaming of, and partly because working with other people's aesthetics is, frankly, a fun challenge for me! but it does take time. I need to remember that, because it IS an appreciable amount of the work I do- even when I'm not physically in the studio, making stuff.
As is design work, on the computer and not. I spent some good time yesterday and today on computer design stuff. I now have a bunch of pieces ready to be masked for etching, and hope to put some time this evening into either working on a pendant with a cephalopod theme, and/or on an absinthe spoon.
