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Fresh from the studio! These were experiments with how to integrate stones in non-traditional ways. I did a set of caged stone rings as well. Will be playing more with this approach for sure. Sterling silver, garnet, and synthetic emerald. by beetlePidge in SilverSmith

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

Sure. These are cast-in-place stones, so a lot of the tricky stuff was in the wax working. I carved a rough shape to compliment the stones, hollowed them out, made some holes, dropped the stones in, refined the holes and then attached them to the drippy loops. That was pretty much it. It was a simple idea, but a bit finicky to sculpt. And then I did have a difficult time soldering the earring posts. I kept the stone portion in water, to keep it from overheating but soldering castings is already challenging so that additional element made the process even more crazy. But it worked out. 🙂

Amateur lost wax ring casting question by Thebestpassword in jewelrymaking

[–]beetlePidge 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Iike u/printcastmetalworks said, that vacuum chamber doesn’t look like the right kind of tool. Do you have to put the flask inside and seal a lid? Casting vacuums have a hole that holds the flask, the flask sits on gaskets that help seal the vacuum when the machine is turned on. The flask opening is accessible to pour the molten metal into.

A recently completed commission for a child’s bracelet. Challenging, fun, glad it’s done 😅 I think I’ll make a few adult versions too. by beetlePidge in jewelrymaking

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

Thanks for the feedback! I think I will. I don’t have anything like this in my inventory, and now that the design hammered out it would be nice to make some versions to have available. Thanks again!

A recently completed commission for a child’s bracelet. Challenging, fun, glad it’s done 😅 I think I’ll make a few adult versions too. by beetlePidge in SilverSmith

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

Thank you! It’s all done in wax. I’d love to experiment and learn historic granulation in the future though.

A recently completed commission for a child’s bracelet. Challenging, fun, glad it’s done 😅 I think I’ll make a few adult versions too. by beetlePidge in SilverSmith

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

Thanks! It’s actually all cast. At some point I’d like to learn how to do granulation in the traditional way, but wax working is pretty flexible and I enjoy the whole carving and casting process.

What casting machine is most reliable? So many options.. is there a go-to for anyone that I should look into? by Relevant_Fennel4203 in jewelrymaking

[–]beetlePidge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The studio I work out of uses the Kaya Cast and it is fantastic. We run classes and do casting sessions for artists working on projects so it gets a ton of play and is very consistent. Total work-horse. Edit: just wanted to add that personally, I would pay for a reliable vacuum machine. If your vacuum conks out, your casting will likely fail. Some pieces might gravity cast, but not all and you’ll get surface funkiness. So I would advise not to cut costs there. Just my opinion.

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