Cuff & Ring

Made an awesome 3x7" cuff for Samira and a big ring for myself.

Need to get back into the cutting, soldering & hammering again. I miss it. Now that the price of silver has dropped a couple dollars and ounce, I think I can buy myself some more material and get back to work. I have ideas I need to get out of my head and onto the workbench.

In other news, an artist created a logo for me...here's a mock-up of 2 of her drawings...can you tell the difference between them???

Semi-finished Pieces

Some pictures of my "fresh out of the investment" silver rings. These were all cast from wax in my class that is now finished :(

This piece was cast from 3 pieces of wax. The texture was created by using a heated dental tool.

A diamond in the rough and an experiment with curves. The three dots need to be drilled out. When the wax was formed they were hollow, but the silver filled the holes when it was cast.

In this shot, you can see what is left of the sprue on the top right corner. This will be sanded smooth and again, the dots will be drilled through.

The "Collection"

More Castings

More casting pictures...

the inside of the kiln

Heating the metal

Pouring the metal into the flask

The cooling flask

A Torch & Hot Metal

Last night I cast for the very first time...here are pictures for your viewing enjoyment:

Lighting the torch - GOOG (on: gas, oxygen; off: oxygen, gas)

Heating the crucible before adding the silver. You can see the flame shooting out of the spout on the right. This is where the melted silver will flow out into the mold.

Stirring the molten silver just before pouring into the mold. Silver melts at just over 1700* F. Once the metal was poured, we let the mold sit for about 30 minutes and then quenched it in a bucket of water.

The finished castings! The three rings are all attached to a large "button" (the center ring) which will be recycled and used in another cast. The silver is dirty due to the firing process and needs to be cleaned up. The sparex in the pot will remove most of the oxidation, but these rings will still need a little TLC before they are wearable. Next steps: clean, buff and polish...

Sprue

Last night, I learned how to sprue. What a funny little word. No, I am not talking about the tropical disease that ravages the gi tract, rather I'm referring to the piece of wax that when attached to a carved piece, acts as an umbilical cord of sorts, giving life to my jewelry. It sticks out from the carved wax like the hair on Alfalfa's head and acts as a funnel for the molten metal that will be poured into the investment.

I attached 4 sprues to 4 different pieces (I now consider myself an expert spruer) and will hopefully be able to cast them next week. They are all rings, three of which will be cast in silver, and one heavier piece, will be cast in bronze (my first sculpture - watch out michelangelo). I will post pictures of the pieces soon.

If you are inclined to read more about it, I found this website: http://www.peninsula.wednet.edu/classroom/hummelj/Jewelry/Jewelry%20Assignments/casting.htm which gives a great explanation of the lost wax casting process (and of course, spruing).

Support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

As a part of my fund raising effort, I have decided to donate $50 for each 'Recuerdo' bracelet sold through my Mezze store. I created this petite sterling bangle as a personal reminder of the reason I am running this half marathon. I put it on the day I pledged to run and I will not take it off until I cross the finish line.

For each bracelet sold, I will donate 100% of the proceeds to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Proceeds will be submitted in the buyer's name or in the name of a person they wish to honor and are entirely tax deductible.The bracelet is entirely handmade by me out of sterling (.925) silver. The thin bangle is highlighted with a string of 5 Japanese seed beads and a 1/2" diameter hammered circle.Materials: Sterling silver, Japanese seed beads (available in purple or blue)

Size: 2 1/4" diameter

Please contact me directly to order or visit http://www.mezzedesigns.com/

Metal Casting

I am so excited to be taking a metals casting class through Metalwerx (www.metalwerx.org). I am completely HOOKED. I am hoping to use the pieces that come out of this endeavor to join the Cambridge Artist's Association.

I am also currently working on a couple of custom orders. It feels great to get back into a creative mode after having to pause because of the high supply costs.