NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 8, 2020 15:24:40 GMT -5
Good day,
I need to see if I can get this post up quickly, as I would like to post a field trip, but keep getting my time taken away from me by other distractions. So, not many comments (which many will appreciate, I think).
I purchased some beads during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale (70% off from Jewelry Supply), and for the first time I tried to put some of those beads to use on new wraps. Also I have taken a queue from fellow RTH veteran miket , and decided to spice up my backgrounds, so that these pendants didn't look so much like mug shots. 
So here are some of them so far:
P082 - Holt Canyon Jasper Beads - A medium sized stone wrapped in 22 gauge I think. I wish I had a better picture of the rock. It is much brighter and colorful than this. Oh well.
P083 - Amethystine Tooth Beads - A small, thin, funny shaped rock, which is wrapped in 24 gauge. Very difficult to get this little guy to stay inside the wire, but he is good to go now.
P084 - Lavic Jasper Tiny Oval - The smallest rock Ive ever wrapped, likely, done in 26 gauge. No beads. I don't like the way I got the wire on there to hold it in place, but the person I gave it to still loves it and wears it. Tiny thing.
P085 - Lavic Jasper Elvis Beads - A medium sized stone that was complex. In the middle of this project, there was so much glam stuck on this rock that I called it "Elvis". From the same rock as P084. It is one of the more noticable pendants I've created.
P086 - Big Sur Jade Teardrop Beads - This rock is harder than a lot of the rocks I find. And the shine is more crazy that this picture appears. The color is a lot more dull than this, but I turned up the contrast to show more of the rock. Small pendant, done in 24 gauge.
P087 - Colorado River Chert Beads - A large rock, where I wanted to go crazy with beads on top. It is 22 guage, and the piece is a big, heavy thing that will never get worn. I like how the colors worked out though.
P088 - Goodsprings Malachite Christmas Beads - Another tiny little thing sone in 24 and 26 gauge. The rock is not polished (I couldn't figure out how to polish the soft rock at this time), but the beads remind me of Christmas. I was told that it would get worn at Christmas time! The pendant was created a week after Christmas. I guess that will be a while!
Well, that is it for now. I need to work on organizing some shots taken for another field trip to one of my new "bestie" locations. I find a lot of Malachite, Dioptase, Rosasite, and Chrysocolla at these locations so I wanted to share.
I am really liking the beads. Most of these beads are from Japan. I somehow got a store credit at the place I bought them, and used that to buy some Swarovski crystals. I didn't get more than a few dozen for the money though, so they are kind of expensive. Once I get a good rock to use them on, I will try them out.
As usual, thank you for stopping by!
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Post by miket on Jan 8, 2020 15:32:53 GMT -5
I like the backgrounds, very nice. But I really like your wraps and cabs- you're light years ahead of me in the wrapping department for sure! My favorite overall piece is the Holt Canyon. Thanks for sharing! |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Jan 8, 2020 17:01:55 GMT -5
Very nice work! My favorites are the first two. I like how the beads on the P083 Amethystine visually balance the offset cab on the left.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 8, 2020 17:15:01 GMT -5
I like 85 and 87 best. I like the way the beads are used. Loving your color choices and the cascade of beads on 87. Don't worry about big pendants. Plenty of people like them.
You're doing very well!
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 8, 2020 17:20:46 GMT -5
Don't know that you need my advice but in case you didn't know... when you are working with small wires, especially, it's a good idea to use a rawhide or rubber mallet to hammer the bail wires a little before you form the bail. It makes a much sturdier bail. Also, if your bead holes are small, you can just form a "paddle" on the ends of the wires to hold the beads on the wire. It only takes a few whacks with a hammer. It thickens up the end to where they can't fall off.
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Post by Pat on Jan 8, 2020 18:57:40 GMT -5
Nice designs. Prefer 83 offset, and 87 with bangs. Thanks!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 8, 2020 19:16:00 GMT -5
Beautiful wraps! 82 and 86 are my favorites. You're a wrapping machine!
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Post by MsAli on Jan 9, 2020 8:02:26 GMT -5
I love Elvis and his sideburns.
It is so cool to see how far youve come with this. Keep at it!
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 9, 2020 12:22:36 GMT -5
I like the backgrounds, very nice. But I really like your wraps and cabs- you're light years ahead of me in the wrapping department for sure! My favorite overall piece is the Holt Canyon. Thanks for sharing! Thank you for the compliment, miket . I actually like your style of wraps too. So much that I bought some square 21 gauge. I've just yet to find a rock as nice as yours to try out the "Mike Wrap" on it. Soon though!
[Edit] By the way, the background is a rock. Some on the RTH speculate that it might be Palm. It looks like wood, but also looks very unusual on the cross section. It is just a large piece. Thank you.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 9, 2020 12:26:53 GMT -5
Very nice work! My favorites are the first two. I like how the beads on the P083 Amethystine visually balance the offset cab on the left. Thank you opalpyrexia. This is my favorite too. It went right out in the mail to my sister for Christmas and she seems to like it also. |
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 9, 2020 12:38:06 GMT -5
I like 85 and 87 best. I like the way the beads are used. Loving your color choices and the cascade of beads on 87. Don't worry about big pendants. Plenty of people like them.
You're doing very well!
Thank you for liking the BiG ones too, Tela! I was worried about them. But Elvis actually did get worn the other day, on a long chain. I guess he ain't so bad after all.
I always appreciate any single tidbit of help you can give me. I have some leather around, and a little hammer too. I will try hardening the bails on some that have softer wire (the Parawire 1/2-hard is softer for example).
Also thank you for letting me know that you can hammer out a small section of wire to a more narrow profile to fit beads. The beads I initially bought vary in interior diameter from (.50 all the way up to 1.25". Some are smaller than the wire i would have liked to fit them over.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 9, 2020 12:45:44 GMT -5
Nice designs. Prefer 83 offset, and 87 with bangs. Thanks! Thank you! And another "like" for 87! That is a pleasant surprise, because I was all ready to give that one to Goodwill. |
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Post by RocksInNJ on Jan 9, 2020 13:42:44 GMT -5
Great use of the beads. They compliment the rocks very nicely. Amazing job!
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Post by fernwood on Jan 9, 2020 14:37:17 GMT -5
I like the beads too.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 9, 2020 23:00:20 GMT -5
I like 85 and 87 best. I like the way the beads are used. Loving your color choices and the cascade of beads on 87. Don't worry about big pendants. Plenty of people like them.
You're doing very well!
Thank you for liking the BiG ones too, Tela! I was worried about them. But Elvis actually did get worn the other day, on a long chain. I guess he ain't so bad after all.
I always appreciate any single tidbit of help you can give me. I have some leather around, and a little hammer too. I will try hardening the bails on some that have softer wire (the Parawire 1/2-hard is softer for example).
Also thank you for letting me know that you can hammer out a small section of wire to a more narrow profile to fit beads. The beads I initially bought vary in interior diameter from (.50 all the way up to 1.25". Some are smaller than the wire i would have liked to fit them over.
NevadaBill I think what Tela rockjunquie was saying is that you can hammer the ends of the wire to made them wider than the bead hole to hold them on the wire.
You can buy bead reamers very inexpensively to enlarge the holes in beads if they won't fit on your wire. They even make a set for the Dremel so you don't have to do it manually.
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Post by miket on Jan 10, 2020 10:22:30 GMT -5
I like the backgrounds, very nice. But I really like your wraps and cabs- you're light years ahead of me in the wrapping department for sure! My favorite overall piece is the Holt Canyon. Thanks for sharing! Thank you for the compliment, miket . I actually like your style of wraps too. So much that I bought some square 21 gauge. I've just yet to find a rock as nice as yours to try out the "Mike Wrap" on it. Soon though!
[Edit] By the way, the background is a rock. Some on the RTH speculate that it might be Palm. It looks like wood, but also looks very unusual on the cross section. It is just a large piece. Thank you.
I really do like the square wire for some reason- give it a shot and I'm sure you'll produce something fantastic! |
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 12, 2020 14:09:49 GMT -5
Thank you for liking the BiG ones too, Tela! I was worried about them. But Elvis actually did get worn the other day, on a long chain. I guess he ain't so bad after all.
I always appreciate any single tidbit of help you can give me. I have some leather around, and a little hammer too. I will try hardening the bails on some that have softer wire (the Parawire 1/2-hard is softer for example).
Also thank you for letting me know that you can hammer out a small section of wire to a more narrow profile to fit beads. The beads I initially bought vary in interior diameter from (.50 all the way up to 1.25". Some are smaller than the wire i would have liked to fit them over.
NevadaBill I think what Tela rockjunquie was saying is that you can hammer the ends of the wire to made them wider than the bead hole to hold them on the wire.
You can buy bead reamers very inexpensively to enlarge the holes in beads if they won't fit on your wire. They even make a set for the Dremel so you don't have to do it manually.
Ah, I see. That makes good sense. That is a technique I had not considered for sure. I appreciate you clarifying that for me, because obviously I misunderstood.
I have a chart which shows the Outside diameter of all gauges of wire (at least what they are supposed to be). And when buying the beads, I just try to make sure the Inside diameter is larger than the wire I'd be using.
So far I am sticking with mostly 2mm and 3mm sized beads.
Thanks for the tip on the bead reamer though, as that could come in handy some time. I have super small drill bits as well.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 12, 2020 14:11:34 GMT -5
Thank you for the compliment, miket . I actually like your style of wraps too. So much that I bought some square 21 gauge. I've just yet to find a rock as nice as yours to try out the "Mike Wrap" on it. Soon though!
[Edit] By the way, the background is a rock. Some on the RTH speculate that it might be Palm. It looks like wood, but also looks very unusual on the cross section. It is just a large piece. Thank you.
I really do like the square wire for some reason- give it a shot and I'm sure you'll produce something fantastic! Thanks Mike. I have 3-4 different types of wire in mostly 21 and 22 gauge square. I am going to give it a shot, and when I do, then I will make certain mention in the post that I am trying to mimic your design.
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Post by miket on Jan 12, 2020 15:24:36 GMT -5
I really do like the square wire for some reason- give it a shot and I'm sure you'll produce something fantastic! Thanks Mike. I have 3-4 different types of wire in mostly 21 and 22 gauge square. I am going to give it a shot, and when I do, then I will make certain mention in the post that I am trying to mimic your design.
Actually I don't need a name mention, sir- I would just like to see the finished product that you come up with! 😃 |
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