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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 11, 2016 19:48:10 GMT -5
I went on a week long vacation so I have not had much time to mess with metal lately. I did work on these two pieces today though. These are officially my first two pieces done in silver. The ring was probably a little too advanced for what I should be trying but it is wearable as is so I am pretty happy with it. I spent so much time worrying about learning to solder that I guess I never knew how hard it would be to get the bezel wire pushed in around the stone. I have had no issues soldering but the bezel part is my hang up and really stinks when you get four solders all done and polished then screw up setting the stone. Sorry I could not find a better hand model
Thanks for looking Chuck
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Post by Garage Rocker on Jul 11, 2016 20:00:36 GMT -5
Looks like improvement to me. Maybe a week off helped, I don't know. Usually that's the case after a long stretch, but maybe your lessons learned got to really sink in before moving forward. At any rate, congrats on the solid work. Coming from a guy who's never soldered anything, that probably means a lot.
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Post by orrum on Jul 11, 2016 20:06:54 GMT -5
Lookin great Chuck, very neat clean work!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 11, 2016 20:16:14 GMT -5
Lookin great Chuck, very neat clean work! Thanks orrum. I am really excited just to have a couple pieces under my belt. I honestly thought the first 10 would be scrap but these both hold the stone good and are very wearable items. I have been ordering more supplies just about every day though. I think I am getting the supplies under control but now I want a dedicated metal work area .... Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jul 11, 2016 20:37:41 GMT -5
Looks good Chuck. Can a ring be resized, or will you make them to order? With necklaces, you don't have to worry about size.
I like the bail you chose for the pudding stone. It's light looking and stays out of the way.
By any chance does your wife collect cars? If so, maybe you could build her a garage and put a metal working shop in the back for yourself. Just an idea.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 20:40:30 GMT -5
Looks good Chuck. Can a ring be resized, or will you make them to order? With necklaces, you don't have to worry about size. I like the bail you chose for the pudding stone. It's light looking and stays out of the way. By any chance does your wife collect cars? If so, maybe you could build her a garage and put a metal working shop in the back for yourself. Just an idea. Haha.. meviva style! Plus we would get a thread of the building progress! Go for it Chuck!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 20:42:35 GMT -5
Hairy fingers, dainty ring.... Ughhh..... Chuck, those are really great. You are a natural. The traits a good jeweler needs are very similar to a good engineer. Tedious caution, patience, an eye for detail... Need I go in? Looking forward to your future works. Thank you.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 11, 2016 20:57:37 GMT -5
Looks good Chuck. Can a ring be resized, or will you make them to order? With necklaces, you don't have to worry about size. I like the bail you chose for the pudding stone. It's light looking and stays out of the way. By any chance does your wife collect cars? If so, maybe you could build her a garage and put a metal working shop in the back for yourself. Just an idea. Thanks Jugglerguy - I googled the most common ring size and for a woman it is a size seven so that is what I tried for (ended up 7.25). It was just a practice piece to see if I could do it so it will just sit on a shelf anyway. Could always make it smaller if needed but not bigger. I am not a big ring fan but I have never made a ring of any kind and already had that little cab made so I went for it. I was really happy with the pudding stone piece and it's a perfect example of what I want. I simple bezel and clean bail. Now if I can just make one in under 5 hours ... LOL Chuck
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 11, 2016 21:03:45 GMT -5
By any chance does your wife collect cars? If so, maybe you could build her a garage and put a metal working shop in the back for yourself. Just an idea. @shotgunner Jugglerguy I have the space I just need something dedicated and organized. I built my tumbler, genie stand and flat lap stand all to match each other so now its time for something along these lines. I think I can build one for a little less than $1350 (rio's price) Chuck
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 21:10:47 GMT -5
Skils to build that! Yes.
Tools too!
I am envious. I have neither!
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meviva
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Post by meviva on Jul 11, 2016 21:11:08 GMT -5
By any chance does your wife collect cars? If so, maybe you could build her a garage and put a metal working shop in the back for yourself. Just an idea. Lol......sounds like an awesome idea to me.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 21:13:58 GMT -5
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meviva
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Post by meviva on Jul 11, 2016 21:25:24 GMT -5
Haha.. meviva style! Plus we would get a thread of the building progress! Go for it Chuck! A new building thread would be good. Mine will be over soon. I'm so glad I documented everything here. I added a new update today....another one tomorrow. Andrea.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 11, 2016 21:26:53 GMT -5
Thanks Scott Nothing wrong with the functionality of that at all. My rock workshop is part of my finished basement though so I try to make it look as good as possible to keep the wife at bay. Woodworking was my hobby before rocks so it is always nice to get back to that once in awhile too. Chuck
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meviva
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Post by meviva on Jul 11, 2016 21:30:13 GMT -5
Wow! Looks like you are a pro already. Both pieces look great. I love the ring....I'll take one in a size 5.
Andrea
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 21:32:21 GMT -5
Thanks Scott Nothing wrong with the functionality of that at all. My rock workshop is part of my finished basement though so I try to make it look as good as possible to keep the wife at bay. Woodworking was my hobby before rocks so it is always nice to get back to that once in awhile too. Chuck Well, I figured a new one built by you, WOULD LOOK GOOD. www.ottofrei.com/Store/Benches/ For more designs.
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Post by Pat on Jul 11, 2016 21:55:22 GMT -5
Re setting the bezel: are you using a bezel pusher? Pushing in bezels should not be as hard as it is. I go north south east west. Turn a bit. Repeat.
You can enlarge a ring a little bit on a mandrel. There are also ring stretching gizmos.
If the ring shank is wide, you must go up several sizes. I learned this the hard way . My first ring was a band ring. I made it my size. My 4.5 size did not fit my finger! Had to hammer on a mandrel to get it bigger. I've seen ring sizers for wide shank rings.
Good looking work.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 11, 2016 22:04:10 GMT -5
Thanks PatI have the brass bezel rocker and tried the north east south west but these two both proved difficult. I also have the set of bezel burnishers and used those as well. It just seemed like I really had to use a ton of force to get it seated flush. The first copper one did not seem as difficult to push over. Chuck
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Post by Pat on Jul 11, 2016 22:09:41 GMT -5
Thanks PatI have the brass bezel rocker and tried the north east south west but these two both proved difficult. I also have the set of bezel burnishers and used those as well. It just seemed like I really had to use a ton of force to get it seated flush. The first copper one did not seem as difficult to push over. Chuck Yes, it is the ton of force that gets me, too. If you can go around the bottom nearest the backplate first, that helps. I like the curved burnisher for this.
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Post by radio on Jul 12, 2016 7:44:21 GMT -5
The pieces look great! Not many progress this quickly, and as they say, "If it was easy, everyone would do it" What gauge bezel are you using? I prefer 26-28 ga over the thinner 32 and have no difficulty rolling it over the edges of the stone. Many people use a hand held ring clamp when rolling the bezel, but I prefer to put the ring over the tip of my left index finger when setting the stone. There is no right or wrong way, just whatever works for the person doing the setting. wish you could spend a few days hanging out with me at the shop in Branson If you do build a bench, make it larger than the one you posted. front to back depth might be ok, but the more work area you can get on the top, the better. The desk mod Scott posted would be better, but I wouldn't make the cut so deep. 8 to 10 inches deep and 30 inches wide would be about right.
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