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Aug. 14th, 2006 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
afmetalsmithI got some good work done today! Even involving some with metal!
I did an hour or so of wax carving. I'd say I'm maybe a third of the way done with that part of that particular piece.
I got the smile made for my plique-a-jour smiley face, and got it and the eyes glued in place within the rim. The next part is to create the thin meanders that will decrease the cell size for the enamels to something that will fill properly and reinforce the piece. I have no idea yet how difficult that may or may not be; there's a lot of space to fill up! Still, I'm happy with the look of the eyes and smile, and will just mention that creating them with 24 ga. wire in that size was not particularly easy- the wire is pretty heavy for a few of the tiny curves.
I looked at the cloisonne forms and decided the sheet within the borders needed some work. The eutectic solder ran all over the place and left tiny lumps here and there. So I took the larger bits off with a graver, then used an abrasive with the flex to smooth and even everything out. Now they'll need to be depletion gilded again, of course... So it goes.
I also sorted out the gem show purchases, and organized a number of the beads etc. Now all the Mardi Gras beads are together, and labeled with what they are and how much they cost, for example.
So I'm pretty pleased, on the whole. And although it was a bit warm, there was a nice breeze so I had the windows open and could hear the birds- I love that!
I did an hour or so of wax carving. I'd say I'm maybe a third of the way done with that part of that particular piece.
I got the smile made for my plique-a-jour smiley face, and got it and the eyes glued in place within the rim. The next part is to create the thin meanders that will decrease the cell size for the enamels to something that will fill properly and reinforce the piece. I have no idea yet how difficult that may or may not be; there's a lot of space to fill up! Still, I'm happy with the look of the eyes and smile, and will just mention that creating them with 24 ga. wire in that size was not particularly easy- the wire is pretty heavy for a few of the tiny curves.
I looked at the cloisonne forms and decided the sheet within the borders needed some work. The eutectic solder ran all over the place and left tiny lumps here and there. So I took the larger bits off with a graver, then used an abrasive with the flex to smooth and even everything out. Now they'll need to be depletion gilded again, of course... So it goes.
I also sorted out the gem show purchases, and organized a number of the beads etc. Now all the Mardi Gras beads are together, and labeled with what they are and how much they cost, for example.
So I'm pretty pleased, on the whole. And although it was a bit warm, there was a nice breeze so I had the windows open and could hear the birds- I love that!
