I finally took the plunge and got myself a Swanstrom disc cutter. I've played around with it a couple of times and I'm happy with it thus far. There is some 6ga twisted silver wire, which I am going to make myself some bangles with. Some ring shank wire, earring wire, a charcoal block and some wire screens for my tripod and finally some Vintaj patinas.
I've never used the patinas before, but I have heard (and watched) plenty about them. So I hope once my Ferric Chloride arrives, I can go ahead and etch my own designs and then play around with patinas to help the patterns stand out. As much as I love to oxidize absolutely everything I make, sometimes I like to mess around with colours. It's an inexpensive way to expand my skills and inventory, as mostly I will be using brass and copper for etching, so the patinas will be perfect for that....I hope.
Oh and I also bought a silicone polishing set (you can see that under the charcoal block) I haven't used any polishing things like that before, not really even sure How to use them, but I'll figure it out.
Thus far I have made myself 2 bangles from the twisted wire.
I had to dig out the MAPP gas for that though.
Not a huge fan of the MAPP gas, but needs must. Still have another 2 to make and I might be making one for Summer as well.
Thanks to the new supplies/tools I am dabbling at the bench a little this week. I have some scrap gold (from an old ring of mine) that I am making some nice weighty studs with, just waiting on the solder and stud parts to finish.
Annnd there is a student open day on Saturday the 3rd, at a place that holds workshops and courses for silversmithing. I have been pondering attending a workshop there for some time now, but never got around to it before baby was born. I checked out the website again and saw that the owner/teacher now offers private tuition and studio hire. So I figured now's my chance (well Saturday will be) to see what it's like there and to meet the owner/teacher and see if it really is something I want to go ahead with.
I am chuffed with how far I have come on my own.
But I feel I need some guidance and help to further my skills and private tuition every now and then would be great for that! Also I would like to hone the skills I already have so that my work can be better.
I am getting sick again :(
Summer has had a cough for quite a while now, if it doesn't disappear in the near future, we might have to take her to the doctors and go down the medication route - which I don't like to do. That's the only reason I hate Winter time, sickness. It's everywhere and it's so contagious too :( I can deal with it, but the thought of poor little baby getting sick again makes me very anxious!
Okie Dokie, I don't have much else to write about today. Not sure if you've noticed, but I have been blogging more lately?! Off to look at cabochons (and to buy a few lol). Have a great week.
Em ♥
6 comments:
I'm liking those twisted silver bangles very much and your parcels are the type I like to get in the post too! I'd love a Swanstrom disc cutter :D
Thank you Tracy :) I would totally recommend a Swanstrom if you find yourself doing a lot of circles, it's a great investment!
The only reason I haven't bought a Swanstrom disc cutter is that you can't see the metal. Do you care? My old disc cutter is really wobbly and I barely ever use it because of that. Is that any issue for you?
Do you mean that you can't see the metal whilst it's in the disc cutter? With the Swanstrom you put the metal in and turn the handle to lock it into place, so that the metal doesn't move about once you place your cutter into the hole, so it gives you the chance to get the position correct before you go ahead and cut it.
Have fun with your new tools and supplies Emma! I'm especially interested in the patinas and what they will look like on metal. Besides a verdigris patina, I haven't tried anything else and I would love to experiment more with it.
Anyway, I just wanted to stop by your beautiful blog, say hello and wish you a great day :-)
Thank you so much Maria! I am going to try and etch some copper/brass discs this weekend and I will try out the patinas if the etched pieces look any good. I will blog about it too :)
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