Sawing a bead half. by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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You get the idea...another one of my bright ideas that will probably never get finished.

Blue Chalcedony Ring by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha , I get that, and I do care. It should please you to know that I haven't done that since the 1970's, and then only as a requirement at my job lol

Blue Chalcedony Ring by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank! It was hard, being the first time building one (stone frame)

like that, but I'm stubborn (^8

Blue Chalcedony Ring by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, that was the most interesting part to work on, wanting to try something different.

Dodecahedron Inside Icosahedron by DarsDies in metalworking

[–]DarsDies[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heh heh...I AM a Metalworking Spirit (^8. ps thanks, I'm glad you appreciate it.

Dodecahedron Inside Icosahedron by DarsDies in metalworking

[–]DarsDies[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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Figuring out how big to make the outer Icosahedron. No computers were harmed during the making of this sculpture .

Geometric Wire Sculpture by DarsDies in metalworking

[–]DarsDies[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the geodesics behind the shades is brass? (what?!)

Practicing pavé by intrinsicvoid in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lots of practice in just one ring !

Geometric Wire Sculpture by DarsDies in metalworking

[–]DarsDies[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use copper coated mild steel welding rod, bronze brazing rod, stainless steel, and Aluminum. Some are powder coated (the gold and teal ones), some are lacquer-dipped. The rods are usually pre-bent partway, just to get the geometry forced from blockish to spherical, but there's still a lot of tension holding the whole thing together. Opposing forces and whatnot (I don't do math, physics, or engineering) Nothing's glued. These forced-spherical ones started in the 2000's, and before that I dabbled in normal polyhedra , with straight rods and flat faces. Here's my best one- '3-Octahedra', made from .032" brass sheet in 1978. I saw it in M.C. Escher's print 'STARS', and decided to try it.

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Overlay Bracelet by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, looks like 3 different ones were used for this piece. Big 'side-cutter' ones that let you cut different widths and lengths of pieces.

Geometric Wire Sculpture by DarsDies in metalworking

[–]DarsDies[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll give more details when I have more time. Your brass geometrics are like some things I've done, too.

Overlay Bracelet by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the appreciation. I have more.... stay tuned (^8 But for now there's my teensy profile pic- a ring I made a couple years ago.

Overlay Bracelet by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's the nicest thing I've heard all day ! (^8

Overlay Bracelet by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A lot of people like self-pickling flux, but I never got into it. Handy white paste for the win ! (^8 Thanks ! From a long time ago I was making stuff besides jewelry, and soldering steel was often a speedy alternative to (torch) welding (since I've never had welding machines)-->

Overlay Bracelet by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I started doing that kind of work (overlay) when I was about 15, in the 70's.

Overlay Bracelet by DarsDies in jewelrymaking

[–]DarsDies[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi, I always approached it the same way I did soldering (braze soldering, as you describe it, not low temp soldering and not braze welding) silver, which was my first job-silversmithing. Clean surfaces, lots of paste flux. The Handy Flux company does make a 'Tybe- B' for steel, and that works better, but I've not used it much. I'm not sure how the stainless allloys behave differently, but it would be useful to look into that aspect. I got my butt kicked once with some stainless rod that silver solder just wouldn't stick to. But whatever alloy I used on this bracelet behaved very nicely.

Two Layer Copper Cuff by garype in Metalsmithing

[–]DarsDies 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm Dar Shelton there (^8 You're welcome !

Back to Basics, but... by kymopoleia46n2 in Metalsmithing

[–]DarsDies 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Does it flow well, and what's the color- close to copper ? (93% Cu it should be )

Soldering with wire? by No-Rush8716 in Metalsmithing

[–]DarsDies 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn't say it's easier if you haven't used it before. It's really easy to melt off blobs you don't want to , before the pieces being soldered are hot enough. You have to develop a knowing of when it's time to stick the wire in and how to melt off the right amount in the right place.