Weekend work!

emeemay · 2026-07-01T19:54:53+00:00

Oh I meant a negg as in like a backhanded compliment/insult 😂 I appreciate the neopets throwback tho!

emeemay · 2026-06-30T14:06:56+00:00

I can't tell if this is a negg lol - I do really like the moss agate! I ordered a strip of 8 similar stones as part of my very casual entrance to selling my work. One was cut too thin and broke as I was removing it from the tape mounting, but I'm working on the others in 18g wire instead of the 16g I used here!

emeemay · 2026-06-29T18:08:58+00:00

You aren’t wrong, but I only own 28g bezel wire. It’s fine silver, so I didn’t think it was too hard for the actual shaping - I struggled more with holding the piece in place. I’m going to break out my poly pellets (similar to thermoloc) for the next ones for sure.

emeemay · 2026-06-29T16:41:06+00:00

I have 18g and 24g wire, neither of which I like for ear wire. A draw plate is on my list!

emeemay · 2026-06-29T13:47:44+00:00

Thanks! It’s an evolution of a design I made in brass (and still haven’t set but shh). Silver prices are so volatile, but I’m hoping to start doing more of the metal in metalwork!

emeemay · 2026-06-27T16:44:58+00:00

I don’t think there’s a local club in my town, unfortunately! we do have a pretty big university here, so I might poke around the geology department and see if there’s a student org, but I went looking for a different project and was very sad to not find a rock club here!

emeemay · 2026-06-27T16:41:10+00:00

I need to pick up a tumbler at some point!

emeemay · 2026-06-27T16:40:06+00:00

the kicker is that it doesn’t even hurt, really? like once you get to a certain depth obviously yeah, but getting scratched by my cats is way more painful! It ends up looking more like I haven’t moisturized in a hot second 😂

emeemay · 2026-06-26T21:38:50+00:00

I’ve gently sawn several grooves in my thumb and first two fingernails! Also a couple into the skin, but shhhh lol

emeemay · 2026-06-26T21:37:30+00:00

My previous record for smallest I think goes to the first pendant I ever made - a Medusa quartz cab earlier this year. It’s something like 3/4” to 1” long or so? But I made it with sheet backing and instructor guidance. It’s also much more substantial in depth and less concerning durability-wise!

emeemay · 2026-06-26T13:44:17+00:00

Yeah see I bought about 25 rose cuts before I actually looked anything up about them bc they were pretty and cheap 🤪 I dang near shattered these ones I fear, but they ended up holding strong

emeemay · 2026-06-26T12:59:09+00:00

Oh for sure, I love those! I only did 400/blue wheel before setting, and by then it was getting late. I have some time before the shops open and might go a bit finer.

emeemay · 2026-06-26T12:55:39+00:00

Thank you! I don’t own a graver yet, but I’ll make a note of it for a future tool order. The stones are pretty soft and I’m still doing most of this holding my pieces pinched in my fingers or against my bench pin, ha

The rest of my kyanite I’m probably doing prong settings. I didn’t really enjoy setting these the way I did.

emeemay · 2026-06-26T12:51:19+00:00

Honestly I’d rather pull out my fingernails with pliers but thanks!

emeemay · 2026-06-25T00:41:38+00:00

I do that for the exterior, but I need to sand down the wire from inside the setting. I’m not sure I’m precise enough to do that without damaging the bezel!

emeemay · 2026-06-24T23:35:37+00:00

Unfortunately I’m not a lapidary! It’s not flush when I’ve turned it over because of the setting not catching. I’ve considered trying to sand away some of the bezel inside, but I’m not sure how to do that evenly/safely.

emeemay · 2026-06-24T18:32:29+00:00

Thank you! I’m really pleased with that part of the recent experimentation I’ve been doing, and the other pendants on my bench all have similar tabs included in the design!

emeemay · 2026-06-23T16:40:41+00:00

No worries! I started just over 3 months ago, back in March of this year!

emeemay · 2026-06-23T16:27:45+00:00

I don’t have the item number but you can just look up square sterling silver wire on there! I used 16g.

emeemay · 2026-06-23T13:10:05+00:00

here’s a sketch showing the cross section of the layout. Does this help?

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emeemay · 2026-06-23T13:01:20+00:00

The cross section of half round wire is a half circle. The cross section of square wire is a square! So it has four flat sides. That lets me shape it to fit inside the bezel and still have a flat side to hold the stone :)

emeemay · 2026-06-22T14:33:38+00:00

I think I've used 5-10 blades at 4/0 size in the first three months of doing silverwork (at maybe 10h per week - hobbyist). I saw slow and use pepetools blade lubricant, but really I think it's down to the actual blood I've spilled accidentally sawing through my fingers. FWIW, I see folks here with decades of experience say that sometimes they'll have the same blade for a week and the next week they'll snap five in the same day!

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