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Post by connrock on Sept 26, 2007 17:33:39 GMT -5
I wasn't going to post any photo's of my first attempt at a sterling silver butterfly bracelet I made because it has a LOT of melt downs on it. Tonyterner asked me to send him a photo of it and told me he promised not to show it to anyone. That started me thinking about it and why should I be ashamed of it. It's NOT the best but you have to start somewhere and for now it's the best I can do! Laughter is acceptable! ;D ;D ;D connrock
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Post by stoner on Sept 26, 2007 18:16:40 GMT -5
Ain't nothing wrong with it as far as I'm concerned Tom. I think you did a great job in fact. What's the stone in the middle?
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Post by Cher on Sept 26, 2007 18:23:57 GMT -5
You are far far too hard on yourself Tom, I think it's beautiful!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2007 20:42:11 GMT -5
I don't know what your talking about, I think it looks terrific! Great job Connrock!
Nathaniel
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Post by larrywyland3 on Sept 26, 2007 21:27:38 GMT -5
That looks great. I personally like jewelry that looks hand crafted. There is so much stuff for sale that is produced with molds and machine cut. Yours looks like it would be comfortable to wear; well made (does not look like it will fall apart). My first piece was a ring made from half round wire. Your first attempt was very complicated and involved setting a stone. You should be proud; you have got some skills keep it up.
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Post by catmandewe on Sept 26, 2007 21:47:35 GMT -5
Heck if I made that I would hire a marching band and put it on every board on here!!!! Nice job......................Tony
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Post by stonesthatrock on Sept 26, 2007 22:12:23 GMT -5
looks great to me, i won't even try it. Keep up the good work.
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Post by cpdad on Sept 26, 2007 22:45:49 GMT -5
i thinks its fantastic....the band is what caught my eye first...very nice...kev.
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,636
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Post by darrad on Sept 26, 2007 22:51:24 GMT -5
It looks fine to me. Great job it looks custom made. Do you really want your work to like it was stamped out in Taiwan? Continue on artist.
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karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
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Post by karenfh on Sept 27, 2007 3:20:04 GMT -5
Yep, everything they said. And what you said: "That started me thinking about it and why should I be ashamed of it. It's NOT the best but you have to start somewhere and for now it's the best I can do!"
I think your 'start' is pretty darn amazing! I hope you are pretty proud of yourself. You should be! It's beautiful. And the stone is??
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mirkaba
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2006
Posts: 321
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Post by mirkaba on Sept 27, 2007 3:54:31 GMT -5
looks like a good start to me! I've been melting bugs out of silver scrap for about 3 weeks. The bugs are a hit! I would post pics but they are all gone. Now I am trying to get the bugs out of the good silver.I have made 3 pendants and one of them is gone. I will post pics in a few days as I like the bugs and think I should make one out of good silver just to have around. I am having a problem with my bezels. I think I am getting them too hard and they are not forming well. I spent the first hour or so with the torch melting bits of wire into silver beads. now I have beads to work with ;D KEEPAFTERIT Bob
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adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,789
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Post by adrian65 on Sept 27, 2007 5:34:08 GMT -5
Laughing? Maybe only about how severe you are to youresf! It's a great work! The band splits so natural, the whole design is great! Could you please post some tutorial, of course only if the technique is not top secret Adrian
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Post by connrock on Sept 27, 2007 6:26:09 GMT -5
You are all TOO kind!!! You sure know how to make a guy feel good though!! This should not have been a beginners project but my wife asked me to make it for our daughter's Birthday so off I went.For starters I can't even draw stick people so just the lay out of the butterflies was a project for me.If you notice the radius on each wing is different.I tried to get them right on paper which is not as costly as trying to "erase" them in silver.I came close but no cigar!! The 2 little thingies (antennas?) that "were" supposed to be sticking out of the butterfly's (nose) turned out to be those 2 globs of melted silver you see there. The "outline" on the big butterfly doesn't match the underlying piece.This part of the project was the most difficult for me.It took me almost 5 hrs to form it (the first timeLOL) and when I was almost finished sanding the bottom of it to get it flat for a good solder joint,,,,,BOING!!! Off it went,,,somewhere!!! I still haven't found it!I HAD to stop for that day because I couldn't see through my tears!! I got it made the next day and learned a big lesson.Work OVER the bench,NOT away from it! Setting the sapphire was another fiasco.It was the final part of the bracelet and almost the end of the project (headed for the round file)!!The setting is for a cab and I couldn't find a sapphire cab anywhere(DUH) so I had to buy a faceted one!I spent a LOT of time on the floor trying to find the 3mm x 5mm stone after dropping it several times! (STILL DIDN'T LEARN LESSON ONE).The sapphire was too high for the setting so I had to grind and file a hole through the back and let it stick out through the main body of the setting. (notice,,,no photo of the back??? LOL) This hole HAD to conform with the faceted edges of the stone because it was the only thing holding it in place for me to try to "roll" the bezel over it.You talk about a test of ones patience!! The sapphire was "airborne" several times so it was back on the floor on my tired knees with the flash light again!I spent so much time on the floor under the bench trying to hold the flash light that I went out and bought a light that goes around your head,like a miners lamp!! No kiddin!!!I had to keep swapping the Optivisor and the miners light! I finally got the stone to stay in place but as you can see there are several "hack marks" on the bezel. Going wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy back to the beginning of the project I had a lot of "fun" learning about annealing sterling silver and also how nasty a piece of silver looks when you use a pair of steel tweezers to put it in and take it out of the pickle solution!!Another fun part was sawing the bracelet frame with a jewelers hack saw which has a microscopic blade compared to what I'm used to! I annealed the double half round wire,,,,,,, I melted the first piece so I had to do another. Next was splitting it at the center of the wire with that microscopic saw blade to form the braces that hold the butterfly to the bracelet.It only took me 3 blades to cut it cock eyed!If you look you can see the difference in the size of that frame work.I filled as much as I dared to make them the same but it would have weakened it too much to get them symmetric.(again no back photo's) After a day or three I got that done along with forming them to meet the butterfly perfectly flat for a good solder joint! OK,,,I have now soldered the frame to the butterfly (base) and put into the pickle solution with my handy dandy steel tweezers to remove any flux and oxidation. To my surprise when I lifted the bracelet out of the pickle it was COPPER COLORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I went on line and found out you MUST use copper,brass or plastic tweezers or the silver WILL turn copper colored! I made a nice pair of copper tweezers immediately! I had a LOT of other problems but I think you get the idea of why I don't think I did a very good job on the bracelet,,,,and if you've read this far you've had enough of it! When my wife asked me to do this bracelet I told her it was like asking a house painter to re-coat the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel!! LOL I'm in the process of doing something MUCH easier and basic now that I've learned how to do the hard stuff!!!! LOL ;D ;D ;D Again,,,,Thanks to all for being so kind to me!! connrock Ps:I forgot to mention the hole I blew in my left thumb with the torch!!!OUCH!
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Post by docone31 on Sept 27, 2007 7:45:57 GMT -5
Heh, heh, heh. I know about that all too well. Especially the steel tongs in the pickle. For those who ponder, crawling around on the floor looking for a stone is called the "Jewelers Prayer" I do it all the time in the shop. If the rug is vaccumed, the stone will hop like tiddly winks, if it is allowed to fill with sediment from the shop, the stone hits the rug and just stops there. Looks good though, especially for a first. Too much solder on the twisted wire. With a faceted stone, make the setting, then take some wire, either flat, or square and lay it in the setting to support the girdle, then roll down the edge. You couldn't have picked an harder project to make, especially with the level of experience you have. Good for you though! Here is a trick for annealing. Mix charcoal in the flux then anneal. Also, do the annealing on a piece of framing lumber. Actually, do all the soldering on the wood. That cuts down on the firescale. It looks a lot better than some of my first pieces. The twisted wire was the hardest for me. It would either get real thin, or ball up, or pull away from the piece. The solder would flow completely around the wire and then act like acid and all the detail was lost.
And yeah, I started on the hardest stuff first also. Either way, as long as you keep at it, you will get there. Not too bad for a first, daughter will treasure it for a long time.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Sept 27, 2007 8:52:11 GMT -5
Nice- I'm not an expert- but I like it-
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Silver Lass
spending too much on rocks
diagonally parked in a parallel universe!
Member since March 2007
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Post by Silver Lass on Sept 27, 2007 8:54:28 GMT -5
Oh Connrock, I have never laughed so hard!!!!! You could be telling my story. Yes I love the jeweler"s prayer. It seems to happen a lot. I loose stuff all the time and it's right in front of me. Keep up the good work. I think things get better. I'll let you know when it happens to me. That bracelet is very good and I do agree, your daughter will cherish it forever. SilverLass
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Post by hermatite on Sept 27, 2007 10:05:02 GMT -5
You started like any good beginner...with a project that was too hard. I do that allll the time. And I think yours is pretty darned good! I'd be proud to wear that if my dad made it. Or heck...if anyone made it. Good job and now you know what to do...and I bet you learned some new curse words too! Congrats.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Sept 27, 2007 12:54:55 GMT -5
tom if you ever put something up that you think is perfect, i might be scared to look! you are definitely tooo hard on yourself. that bracelet is beautiful and i am betting your daughter will wear that with much pride.
now i can't wait to see the next one!
kim
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stonesnbones
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2007
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Post by stonesnbones on Sept 27, 2007 13:26:34 GMT -5
I havw a couple of suggestions to add.First,I would have soldered this project on a screen so one could heat from above and below.....ie;you antennas probably would have come out like you wanted. Second,I like you can'et draw a stick figure.What I do is down load free clip art off the net and but the books of clip art in stores.For example,a butterfly......I would have found the one I wanted to use.Then I go to the copy machine and reduce or enlarge the butterfly clip art to the size I wish.I the take the copy,trim it and glue it with a brush on glue to my metal to be used.Next I cut around the design with the snips or saw.Remove the paper and you spot on for a butterfly. Third,this is an old trick I picked up from a issue of Rock&Gem many years ago.To avoid doing the jewlers prayer its quite simple.Wear an apron.....I peronally wear a long lab apron......sew 2 strips of velcro to the bottom of the apron,glue 2 strips of velcro to the underside of your bench,attach apron to bench. I agree its not as bad as you think,like with all endeavors practice makes perfect. Brad
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Post by Tonyterner on Sept 27, 2007 13:41:06 GMT -5
Glad you posted it Tom. I don't know what you were worried about, its great. I can't believe its your first attempt at silversmithing. Now I might need to share a pic of my first woodturning with you. It is definitly laugh worthy.
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