Silver Bee

Silver Bee joins the JETT SETT!

JETT SETT, another tool that I've always wondered about. I'm amazed that I've waited this long to work with it and discover the extent of its uses. It's one of those products that I am so excited about I can hardly get the words out.

I should back up a bit though to fill you in on what this new to me miracle product is. First it's not new and has been around for awhile although I don't know for how long exactly. It is a unique combination of  plastic and ceramic compounds that when heated in hot water becomes moldable. It wasn't until I started to see what I could mold it around that I became really excited about its possibilities. JETT SETT can be used to secure stone settings in place so you can finish the job more easily. Use it to create ergonomic handles for gravers and files. The same can be done with pliers so the handles sit more comfortably and secure in your hands. If you want to bend wire without marring  mold some JETT SETT around the jaws of the pliers. It's easily applied and just as easily removed. It's a completely reusable  product which makes the initial investment more economical considering its uses and longevity. 

I was like a mad scientist trying all the possibilities I'd read about or thought of using this product. Unfortunately I didn't think of taking photos until I was just about finished setting a stone into a toggle clasp.  

The photo to the right is JETT SETT pellets straight out of the bag. After putting it in water that has been heated to between 65 - 75 degrees C (145 - 170 degrees F) let it sit for a moment to absorb the heat. The photo on the left (below) is what it looks like when it's had just a few seconds in hot water. Remove it from the hot water (I used a chopstick to pull the mass out) and carefully squeeze the hot water from it. You'll see that it starts to become a solid moldable mass. While it is warm you need to start to molding it. As it cools down it becomes less pliable so you want to work fairly quickly but not with a sense of panic! (I did the first time I used it.) When you've
used it a couple of times you get to know how long it takes to harden. Once it is hard you can hit it with a hammer and you won't damage it. The possibilities seem endless to me 

 
You can make pieces that you will use over and over such as the perfect size dapping punch for your dapping block. Another option for shaping metal would be creating a 2-part mold. Put a flat annealed metal sheet between them and using a leather or plastic mallet hammer the two shapes so they fit together again. The sheet in between takes on that shape. I really could go on and on but I think you get the idea. 

When you are finished using it simply heat it up again and flatten it into a thin sheet. This makes it easier to reheat when the time comes to reuse it. 

Obviously I'm enamoured of this product and I'm sure you will be too when you have the opportunity to join the JETT SETT!

Silver Bee tries liver of sulphur gel.

I recently read a review of Liver of Sulphur Extended Life Gel (LOS) in the January 2010 issue of Art Jewelry. In the past I had used Jax Silver Black for creating a darkened or black patina on silver. I resisted using the lump form of LOS because of the smell but upon reading the review I thought it was time to give it a go.

I followed the suggestions I read and made a weak solution of the LOS and added ammonia to it. Well the smell didn't get any better but the results were spectacular. The greens, purples, blues and reds were amazing. I soon had as many silver items that I could find lined up for dipping. It didn't matter that shiny silver is still my favourite look I wanted to experiment with this new 'toy'. I discovered that the trick to getting the great patinas is the water must be hot and the hotter the better. I had fun and as you can see by the photo the results are colourful. I also discovered that if you don't like the patina then you can heat the piece with your torch, pickle and of course re-tumble for the shine. You can also just decrease the depth of patina by using fine steel wool or a polishing pad.

The first time I wanted to blacken something I bought the lumps of LOS but it turned out it was past its best before date and wouldn't work. This won't happen with the gel. The review stated that even after being left open for a year the results were just as good as when the jar was first opened. That's impressive but why anyone would want to leave a jar open of something that smells like rotten eggs is beyond me. 

So if you have been using the lumps of LOS you might enjoy the gel. Just make sure to stir it carefully so that you mix in the thick stuff at the bottom of the jar. I used an old chopstick for this. I've been using this during the Monday evening class and everyone who has tried it really liked the results. I know there are ways of preserving the patina you've created but I've yet to try that. As soon as I do of course I'll let you know.

Stay safe, use ventilation and gloves. If you have have any questions or anything to add about using this product I would love to hear from you.

Silver Bee gets lost in wax

I was never attracted to lost wax casting because for some weird reason I thought it was cheating! I just thought it was a matter of purchasing one of those red wax molds and casting someone else’s designs. I didn’t imagine for a moment that you would carve your own. A little naïve I know but I had never explored the subject so my knowledge of it was extremely limited. So much has changed since then.

It was during the evening class I am taking that I discovered it could be so much more. The class’s instructor, Bryan, has a great “give it a try” approach to the process. My first cast was of box wood tree leaves, an African violet leaf , some spiral pasta and an itty bitty starfish. An odd combination to cast together but it was all about just seeing what could be cast.  They all turned out. I’ve since used the starfish in a design, the spiral pasta was relegated to the scrap heap, and the leaves are waiting for a design. Apparently the starfish wasn’t supposed to work because of its’ composition. I love challenging the ‘rules’ when working with silver and taking chances without knowing what the outcome will be.

Next stop…the lost wax casting class. It’s been a few weeks since I took the class but I still want to share it. We had an amazing instructor, Rose, who brought alive the process involved in casting. The best part was walking into the classroom where she had completely set up individual stations. And there were kits! This was someone who clearly enjoyed details and organization…a kindred spirit. I knew I was in the right place and I knew I had the perfect instructor. An added bonus my classmates were a great group. There was a lot of laughter while we were learning.  In my books this was a perfect recipe for learning.

Faced with a  tube or block of wax I was incredibly intimidated. I certainly didn’t know how to look at the wax and ask what it wanted to be. You know like carvers of stone or wood. I was used to building up using silver but not taking away with carving wax. My first several attempts at carving were marginal but it’s what I needed to do in order to find out what happens when you work with the wax. Before any further attempts I knew I had the opportunity and necessity to build my tool inventory! What a beautiful thing when you have a whole new reason to add to your tool box. I even had to buy a new tool box! Before I start to wax (pun intended) eloquent about the new tools I bought I should get back to learning about carving.

Just like learning about what silver was all about I needed to know what the wax was about. Why are there purple, blue and green wax? Did it need finishing and polishing like silver? Does it bend? What makes it break? Nothing like experience to teach you. I discovered that different colour waxes have different hardness and melting temperatures. The green wax is hardest which allows you to carve more detail into your design. Blue is usually the “go to” wax for beginners and those wanting something with a little more give to it. Purple…well I’m not too sure what it is for exactly. I just knew that it had some limitations. I also knew that blue wax was prone to breaking ( well in my experience) and that green wax was more like silver. It offered resistance and had that wonderful attitude I love about silver. So even though blue wax was the best for starting I stuck with the green. Rose made the comment that once you use green wax there is no going back. And she was certainly right!

I had these grand ideas about what I would carve and those hopes were soon dashed. I decided to go back to the beginning and carve something very basic like a simple ring. It was the smart thing for me to do because I learned more about the personality of wax and believe me it does have one. I carved a wide thick plain ring band and decided that I wanted one of those flared rings that have become so popular. But you can’t flare the wax, instead you have to carve away from the middle of the ring band to make it concave. I bought some burs that could be used with wax. They were much more open in their design which stops the wax from clogging up the bur. A little safety tip here. When I was carving with these "monster" burs I needed to go slower and make sure I had control of it. It could easily slide off the wax and across your knuckles. As usual I found out the hard way. My advice is to tape up your knuckles or better yet wear a glove. I found some gardening gloves made with leather. My knuckles thanked me after they recovered from my learning curve. Next step is polishing and this is an exacting process. It needs to be as finished as you want the cast ring to be. All little nicks and marks will show up and you'll curse yourself for not taking more care before investing the wax. I used one of my new wax carvers to gently scrape away the worst marks followed by fine sand paper. It was starting to look very good but one more step...polishing. Rose had included a piece of cotton fabric in the kit which we used to polish the wax. Rose had one more tip up her sleeve, well she had several but for the purposes of polishing this one had to do with a piece of panty hose. It gave the wax a real shine! The trick to this is having the right kind of panty hose! The expensive silky kind didn't work very well but a pair of dollar store knee highs were great. They had more tooth which is important when you are polishing. I'll never buy another pair of panty hose again without thinking of this!

So now we have a very polished ring and it's time to sprue it up! But that will have to wait until part two because I just realized how epic this post is. 

Stay tuned for "Lost in Wax - Part Two".

Smile...you're on candid camera!

Meet my new camera, a Canon PowerShot G10. A bit on the heavy side for a compact digital camera. I won't be dropping this one into my purse for those "just in case" opportunities.  A little under dressed as well...no pretty shiny colour options. It's just...well...all about performance. At this point in my description I should be able to rattle off all sorts of impressive facts, like how many megapixels it's capable of using, the shutter speed, optical zoom, ISO capabilities, functions, and on and on. But I can't because I've learned that it's quite one thing to do all the research and compare feature upon feature with other cameras to come up with an educated decision. Another to actually understand all the features I spent hours pouring over in the reviews I read. Don't misunderstand me, I'm happy with my new camera. I proudly unpacked it, started charging the battery and settled into reading the manual. You know the "Let's get started!" section...page 9 in my book. This should be a snap! I won't even begin to explain what a humbling experience it has been. Needless to say I'm still reading the book. 

The moral of this story...I can't remember but I'm sure it has something to do with patience!

Happy New Year.

Bee says practice, practice, practice!

On Sunday I went on a mission...to buy a set up for taking photos. I thought I was only going to buy a couple of lights but then again I wasn't actually sure. You see I know very little about taking photos but apparently I'm learning. What I've learned so far in silver smithing has been easier! Words like blown out mean something entirely different when you're torching...thoughts of running for cover come to mind. Then add expressions like "depth of field and shadow detail" and I'm really lost. Technically I understand the words just not completely in the context of photography. I took a product photography workshop a little over a year ago. It was great fun...okay I lied...I didn't understand a word the instructor was telling me. I was so frustrated...I mean how hard is it to take a photo?!? Apparently a little more involved than point and shoot if you want images of jewellery that are good enough to attract customer. Anne-Marie was a great instructor (check out her site) but it's the same when someone tries to explain my cell phone to me...my eyes glaze over and my brain freezes! She kept talking about something called exposure value...exposure what!! Everybody else in the class was clicking buttons and looking like they had a clue! I just pretended I did and couldn't wait until I returned home to figure it out when no one was watching.

One of the things that I learned from the workshop was that it didn't have to cost a fortune to have your own set-up for taking photos at home. All I needed was two whiteboards, some parchment paper and something as a background for the jewellery. I gathered the gear to do just that and it was fun...for awhile. I gathered shells, pieces of driftwood, kelp root balls, rocks and whatever else I could find to use as a background. It took forever to set up the stage!! I became more interested in how the background looked than I did the actual jewellery. Something was wrong with that picture...yes pun intended. But the first time I needed to take a photo on a really grey and cloudy day it just didn't work. It could be that I didn't know enough about what I was doing...nah...that couldn't be it! I had an idea and sometimes that can be a dangerous thing for this Bee.

If you know me or have read any of the previous posts you know that I love tools so why not better tools for taking photos. So back to the beginning of the post where I went on a mission. Why buy a couple of lights when they have this great kit that has everything you could need to take good photographs. Just one thing...they forgot to include the elves that would take the good photos...I mean really. I'm thinking a little tent with slightly translucent fabric, point the lights, aim the camera and shoot...right? Wrong, you actually still need to pay attention to the shadows, depth of field and all manner of other things. Obviously not the brilliant answer I thought I had to a problem. So now it's back to practice, practice, practice. On a brighter note the lights really made a difference...yes I know another pun...it's a talent.

So moral of this story...new tools aren't always the answer (gasp)! Sometimes patience is an underestimated virtue that needs to be taken seriously. Failing that...read the manual!

Lights, camera, and no action...that's the next photo.

    

Okay there's really no action...I'm just faking taking a photo!
Looks like I know what I doing though.

 

I did take some photos and while far from perfect they will do until I take the next workshop!

    

Check the photo album for more information on the rings.

This Bee made her own tools!

I'm a proud owner of four new chasing tools made with my own hands! Okay I did have some help...maybe a lot of help but the point is I made...part...of them. The big event took place during the silver smithing class where I am a student. Our instructor, Brian, was doing a demonstration on repousse...don't ask me what it is, I stopped listening right after I heard the tools could be made.

Okay I would be remiss if I didn't at least attempt to find a definition for you. Here's Wikipedia's take on it.

We were then treated to a demonstration of metal forging...specifically to make tools for repousse and chasing. I'm going to use the ones I helped make to texture silver. So several rods were put into the forge until the ends were red hot! I didn't remove them...too chicken...this time. You wouldn't believe the size of the hammers. They were heavy and huge! It kind of reminds of a fishing story when you told how you caught a whale size salmon and in reality it was too small to keep. :-) The hammers keep getting bigger with each telling of the story. The truth is they did feel twice the size after I had hit the rod on the anvil a few times...I'd better eat more wheaties if I want to do that very often.

I am so excited though...I want to make more in my next class. Actually I just want to make the blanks and then file them later to use for making patterns on silver. I don't know if I really want to make jewellery or just be a mad scientist in my workshop. <shivers> Just had a very scary image on myself...I think I'll stick to jewellery.

So it's time to unveil these pretties. Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Don't say I didn't warn you. :-)

Don't look so disappointed there's another photo.

Okay even though I'm blinded by the fact that they are my creations...I can see they need some work. I've only just begun. Life just never gets boring when you are curious and a little crazy!