(no subject)
Apr. 18th, 2009 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
afmetalsmithI made good progress in the studio today.
I made lots of settings for stones for a commission piece, and did the forging and twisting for 2 experimental Mobius rings.
The alloy I worked with today for these Mobius rings is a sterling silver with 3% palladium replacing some of the copper used in regular sterling. This seems to give it a slightly darker color, and thus far the working properties have been excellent; I didn't anneal between the forging out and the twisting, and it was very malleable for the twist. I did anneal after that, because I pretty much always have to before forming the ring and making the ends match. It's looking like a very nice metal to work with so far, and might give a nice alternative to sterling or Argentium sterling for wedding rings, especially; I'll be interested to see how the color when polished compares, and also the density.
I also worked on various other things, particularly commission pieces; it was nice to make good progress on several fronts.
I'm drafting people to try the new ring sizers I just got, to make sure they work well and give results consistent with my equipment. So far, so good. These sizers are new, and are an adjustable band- sort of like zip-ties in concept- on which one can read off one's size. Thus far the sizes gleaned from them are matching the sizes gleaned from my usual ring sizers- but they're less expensive and less bulky to send to people, plus have handy instructions printed right on the package. Cool! I can definitely see using them instead of the big sets of sizers I've been using so far, especially since they're so much easier to send.
I made lots of settings for stones for a commission piece, and did the forging and twisting for 2 experimental Mobius rings.
The alloy I worked with today for these Mobius rings is a sterling silver with 3% palladium replacing some of the copper used in regular sterling. This seems to give it a slightly darker color, and thus far the working properties have been excellent; I didn't anneal between the forging out and the twisting, and it was very malleable for the twist. I did anneal after that, because I pretty much always have to before forming the ring and making the ends match. It's looking like a very nice metal to work with so far, and might give a nice alternative to sterling or Argentium sterling for wedding rings, especially; I'll be interested to see how the color when polished compares, and also the density.
I also worked on various other things, particularly commission pieces; it was nice to make good progress on several fronts.
I'm drafting people to try the new ring sizers I just got, to make sure they work well and give results consistent with my equipment. So far, so good. These sizers are new, and are an adjustable band- sort of like zip-ties in concept- on which one can read off one's size. Thus far the sizes gleaned from them are matching the sizes gleaned from my usual ring sizers- but they're less expensive and less bulky to send to people, plus have handy instructions printed right on the package. Cool! I can definitely see using them instead of the big sets of sizers I've been using so far, especially since they're so much easier to send.
