The new semester at Texas State began today, for me. It actually began yesterday. They changed up the calendar to give us a small break in October and so we started the semester a few days earlier than in past years. 

This semester I am taking Advanced Metals for the first time. The subject matter changes each semester so the class can concentrate on a single learning subject, thus I will be taking Advanced Metals at least two more times or even three if there is a subject I want but this requires special permission OR I could take it as independent study.

​In other news I will be a shop monitor for the studio, after hours. I will open/close the studio, turn on/off the lights, fans, kilns, and the tool cabinets. I am there to make sure other students can work without hurting or killing themselves (or me). I also have to take care not to "teach" if they are stuck on their project - I am to say, for example "You need to talk to your teacher about that". 

​AND! I am a Teaching assistant on Tuesday and Thursdays for the Beginning and Intermediate Metals classes.  I do get paid, which is not much but hey it's something. For me it is about helping and sharing and building my network. 
The picture below is of me in my new apron which is also a homage to MY shop elf.

Lastly, I am also the President of the Texas State Metals Guild. Membership has been falling over the past few years so I am hoping to revive it. May of the other art guild/clubs have disappeared thus I think it important we keep this alive. 


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I spent last week at the John C. Campbell Folk School, again. I was there over 5 years ago for a temari class. 
The school really is camp for adults. We sleep in 1, 2, 4, person rooms or a dorm. There is a dining hall for your 3 meals a day served family style; AND THE FOOD IS GOOD. There are soooo many different classes taught but there is a focus on Appalachian Crafts since that is why the school was created One Hundred Years ago, this year. Go follow the link above to see the variety of topics. Plus they are open year round. Another nice thing is that you don't need a car to get there, you can fly to an airport they suggest and then you get shuttled to and from the school - I did this the first time I came.

I came to the school this year for a week long class in Beginning Enamel and it was well worth it. I shall say that at the end of last semester, after I sign up for this class, I found out we were going to work on enamelling, next semester. Oh, well, that just gives me a better starting point. 

To start, we learned about what metals can and can't be used;  the 4 stages of basic enamel - sugar, orange peel, mature, and over fired. Then we moved onto using stencils, sgraffito, graphite, P4 ink, metallics, and basse-taille which is low relief in the base metal. For all of this we worked on small squares which were then glued to a wood block as a sample. This took 2-3 days depending on how much each of us focused on the task or made multiples.

Then we move into some other techniques to use our skills on. We wove a small dish out of 34 gauge copper strips which we enameled. Next was making a dish out of 32 gauge copper sheet (foil) and we learned a technique called Separation which is the application of at least 3 layers of enamel of which each is fired and then a special enamel is applied in a random pattern and allowed to dry and then fired. This last enamel "sinks" into the other layers and causes interesting effects and because the copper was so thin, it will expand and contract along with the enamels to warp the dish. This was so much fun, to see the results of everyone's.

The last 2 days was for us to make and play. Some bought pre-cut shapes to enamel for earrings or magnets, others did more stencils, graphite and ink. On the first free day I used 24 gauge copper sheet cut 6" square to make a bowl using the separation technique.  It took most of the day to layer and fire the enamels. In between all of this I took 2 small 18 gauge copper discs to make very small bowls and prep others for earrings. The last thing I did was apply the special enamel so it could dry overnight.  The next morning I fired my big piece and turned out amazzzzzzing! The teachers wanted to keep it as a classroom sample (or for themselves ?) because it was so beautiful.  After that I made the earrings and attached ear wires to sell at the last night craft display and show.   I sold 3 of the 4 pairs!
Here are all the pictures I took along with some nature pictures I took each morning as I walked from my room to breakfast and the classroom

When JoAnns was having it's clearance sale, prior to the shut down, I raided the place after the feeding frenzy was over. I picked up a lot of white fabric which is always good for quilts and along the way in the denuded craft area I found a set of Beadsmith plastic wire forming mandrels. I figured that I would use it for wire or bezels. The handle that fits into the base, shown in the lower right corner of the first picture, is a bit small for my hand so I decided to make a bigger, better, one that fits my hand. 
I opened up my CAD software and first drew the basic curves - a square for the inner and outer cube for the mandrels to fit on and then a circle for the handle. From there these curves because surfaces and from there I could make solid 3D objects by Extruding them to the correct heights. I then used the advanced command of Blend Curves to create a transition between the square base and the cylinder of the handle.  The last design task was to union them all together and export it to the Bambu Studio software so I could print it. 
I figured it make take 2 or 3 prints to tweak it but NOPE, the first print perfectly fit my hand and the base. I might modify the print to have flats so I can put in the vice and if I do that I would also increase the infill to 75% to give it a bit more strength but that's for another day.
My work here is done.  

I finally finished a task. 
Years ago I stumbled upon Dowd's Tools in Garland, Texas which is North of Dallas. The owner bought up vintage tool and every few months would have a flea market in the yard.  I eventually cleared a weekend to drive up to see if he had some things I could use in my shop and I drove up the day before so I could be there when the sale opened. That day was mostly wood working tools but I did find 2 old chisels and shoe makers hammer head.  The chisel edges were rather chewed up which I could easily fix with some filing and polishing. The hammer head, for me, was just a piece to collect considering I do have a hammer fetish. Note: Mr. Dowd has since passed away and even though the website is online, I haven't seen a sale since then.

The hammer head has sat on my hammer rack since then. I did polish up the faces at one point just to make them look a bit nicer but I never set a handle. I found a handle that would kinda fit but required some work due to the odd shape of the hole which to me indicated the hammer head was hand made - it was very rough and not a perfect oval.  I think I bought the handle before the shop elf passed, 3 years ago. 

Since school is over and the studio is a mess, it is time to do some cleaning. I started with the counter top nearest the sink and there I found the hammer head along with handle, it was time to finish this! I plugged in my belt sander and started to grind off wood so I could seat the handle in the head. Eventually I got it to fit such that the top of the handle protruded beyond the hammer head. I then took a wood wedge from the hammer handle storage box which has handles, wood and lead wedges. I used a lead filled leather mallet to seat the wood wedge then cut off all the extra wood.

The hammer is now in the rack with my other vintage hammers.

The final project for Intermediate Metals was finished this morning.  I now have an urn for Boots' ashes.

The last time I posted I was working on the chasing & repousse of the paw print for the lid. I finished it and put the hinge on and then decided that the 20 gauge brass I used was too thin for my liking. I then raided my metals store and found 18g bronze which I decided would be better for the lid and base. I also found 18 gauge copper which would allow me a deeper etch on the body.  Yes I did the chasing & repousse again... Since the copper was 12" x 6" I redid the calculations for the lid and base to make them the right size for the size of the copper (tube)

I also redid the art work for the body by removing some of the paw prints thus allowing me to make others larger. Once that was done I mirrored the art work so it read correctly when etched and I inverted the black and white so the text and paw prints would etch.

In class I set up the etching solution - ferric chloride, applied the masking to the copper and taped the back and edges. The timer was set for one hour and the etching began. At one hour, I decided I wanted slightly deeper etch so the time was reset for 30 minutes. When the copper came out of the solution I had to clean it and remove the tape. Then I neutralized and disposed of the ferric chloride.

Next up was forming the tube. Since the tube was longer than the diameter it was best to use a keyed seam, not a butt join. This required me to bevel each side of what would be the seam and then cut into one edge so I could bend every other section up or down to make the keys (see the picture from a book, below). The sheet was annealed and then put in the slip roller to form it to a "tube" of the approximate diameter. Then I wired it in place and prepared to solder the seam which required  me to flux the inside and out; place the solder chips inside, on the seam, and have a long stick of solder at the ready just in case I needed more. TWO torches with BIG tips were lit; one flame, held by the teacher, was used on the outside and the torch I was holding was used to heat the inside to get it up to temperature and for the hard solder to melt and flow into the seam. It went perfectly, no holes or gaps and only a little solder to clean up on the outside. After cooling, I cut the binding wire off and pickled it to remove the oxides.

The next task was to add the hinge to new lid which I did last weekend. Monday I went into to use some equipment I did not have at home - large stakes to planish the seam, to thin the overlapped seam area and to get the cylinder round, again. Tuesday, I went in early to get started on soldering the base on the tube which went well but I had one pin hold so after cleaning I then soldered that closed. 

To solder the top half of the lid on required some creative thinking since the top edge was angled. I removed the temporary pin holding the two haves together and using the tube, I traced the outside edge onto the underside of the lid. I cut some tab into the extra material to keep the lid in the right position while I then wired the top to the body. Using medium solder and just one torch with the biggest tip, I was able to get it soldered in place and there there were no gaps or pin holes.  After cleaning it, again, it was time to solder the base on, also with medium solder which also went perfectly.

Yesterday (Friday) was the final tasks: trim the base, trim both side of the lid, to a preliminary polish, set the hinge pin, and final polish. 

This morning I cleaned everything while wearing gloves to remove all dirt and oils. Then I put the urn on my hot plate and slowly heated it to get a heat patina - slighly gold at the bottom, then some blues, raspberry in the middle, and a gold-ish orange at the top. Once it cooled I was a able to use Jax Black to patina the paw prints and text black. After it drived I applied a good amount of wax and buffed it. 

I turn it in, to be graded, on Thursday. There is a max of 125 points to be given on this project and I hope to get ALL of them but if I loose a few I can accept it. I know I will get an A in the class as I have 5 extra credit points from the stone setting assignment(s).

The third and final project for the semester is to create a "container to hold something". That's not what the brief called it but that's what I am calling it. The brief was about reliquaries and since that does not sit well with me, I am calling it.

I decided to make an urn for Boots. I received her ashes in a cardboard box and it seems appropriate that she have an urn that I can place next to the Shop Elf's. 

The urn will have an angled hinged lid with a paw print that looks impressed which will be done using chasing & repousse. Then body will be etched with paw prints and her name and dates.  We had to start with 5 drawings/sketches and then make a prototype. I took on the challenge to make my prototype not in paper but as a 3D print!   I spent most of Friday rendering the design in Rhino and then printing it.  Next I worked up the art for the body so I can etch it - using a salt water bath.  Yesterday I started on the paw print. Today I will apply the resist to the metal for the body and with luck get it etched.

Before I tell you about the last part of the second assignment I want to share that the class was finally given their grades for the first module - and I received a 125 pts out of 100 because I did extra work that was for the advanced students and I am an *Intermediate* student. YIPEEEEE

Now on to this this assignment. We finally took our waxes, put them in investment plaster. For doing the plaster, everyone helped each other mix, pour, vacuum and clean up the casting area. We did this last Tuesday and the lab assistance took care of the wax burn out on Wednesday.  The class as a whole, on Thursday, helped each other and assisted the teacher in the casting process. There were two of us doing sterling silver and I was the only one also doing gold (18K) so we went last because the crucible had to be changed out.   After each casting, again we helped each other remove the cast by cooling the investment container and removing the paster from the container and our pieces. And of course the casting area was a mess so we had a lot to clean up and put away.

Then starting Friday, over the weekend, and on Monday, I removed the sprues by sawing them off and then grinding down the button joint left behind. After that it was grind/sand/polish/patina, and set the stones.  

The first pictures show the teacher demo-ing the casting process. Then the casting of my pieces. I worked on my gold ring first and the meteorite ring and earrings last. 

The assignment was due yesterday and so many students were NOT finished, they have until Tuesday to finish and for me, I get to start on the next module, more on that in the next post(s)

This week it has been Spring Break at school so no driving to campus 2 days and even though I can sleep in during the semester, this week I can stay in bed even more.

I have spent the week working with my 3D printer - finding a project to print a spool holder for a massive 5 Kg spool of filament I bought since it was such a good price per gram. I also needed to find a project file for a re-spooler so I can transfer the filament on that big spool to smaller spools that hold 1 Kg because I can't put that large spool on the spool holder for Babs (yes I named it) - my Bambu A1 mini printer. It should be noted that the print files have to be for Babs too as the print bed is the smallest of all the Bambu printers. I have printed the larger spool holder and before I print the respooler, I am going do a test to see I can get the filament to feed into the printer when the spool is on the spool holder while next to the printer. 

The next big project which has taken most of my time has been designing and printing a knock-off Skådis wall organization system - boards and containers to hold my JoolTool Wheels which have been residing in plastic ziplock bags in a drawer. Making containers to hold the wheels makes them easier to find and put back and frees up that drawer space. I have printed all the trays to hold the various wheels by type - polishing, grinding, sanding, etc. and now I am printing the pegboard(s). Again the size of the board, and the trays, is limited by the size of my print plate so I will have to print multiple board. I will then use those Command Strips to mount the boards on the wall behind my JoolTool, so I don't have to deal with screws or nails.  

Later today I will start mounting the board I have printed and putting the containers up and then figure out how many more boards I need to print.

The second, of three, project for Intermediate Metals is about lost wax casting and a continuation of stone settings. 
For the stone settings we are to do a tube or a flush setting. I have done tube settings before but again, I did both. The first pictures are of my flush settings in an eight gauge hunk of copper with 3 mm CZs. The tube setting is still at school so I dont have a picture of it.

The major part of this project is the wax carving. We have been tasked with carving a ring and another "object" and at least one will have a stone setting. 

I decided, for my ring, to make a big honk'n one that looks like a meteorite. The other object will actually be a pair of meteor earrings and each will have a tube set 5 mm peridot because sometimes they, and other gem stones, are found in meteorites.  

I first sliced a piece of wax of the block we were given and then went at it with various sized burrs to make the divots and holes. Next was the ring block. I used a wax ring sizer to make the hole just slightly smaller than my middle finger; this is so I can get a good fit during the refinement stage. Next up were those burrs to make the surface look like a hunk of meteorite. I even put divots on the bottom of the band and inside.  Before we put the waxes in the investment medium I will gently go over the waxes with a butane torch to give the surfaces a more "melted upon atmospheric entry" look 

Lastly is my bonus round. I really wanted to carve a ring that would be made from the gold from both of our (the Shop Elf's and mine) original wedding bands.  But the teacher felt that the two pieces for the project should be related and the gold ring can be a bonus project. After caving the band and casting it I will flush set three small round faceted topaz in the band. Two will be Imperial, brown, topaz - for our birthdays and then set in between the two will be a London Blue topaz. This will be for our wedding and the engagement ring that Erich gave me was a blue topaz.

Next week I will attach the sprues and then it's Spring Break. When school resumes the class will cast their pieces and finish them.

The last part of Module 1 was to make a brooch with a set stone and a pin back - building upon the two prior experiences.

We started by sketching and I had already gone through my stone collection and selected a large trillion cut cabochon of Mookaite Jasper, from Australia, that I had bought at the Tuscon show almost 10 years ago.  I also have a collection of deer bones - vertebra, jaws with teeth, scapula, tibia, fibula, and skulls with and without antlers which I have found in the woods (don't worry they were picked clean by the vultures and I washed them when I got home).

I sketched a large piece with the stone in a bezel setting with an pierced back, a vertebra would be prong set over it and I would place silver beads on wire around it all. I planned (note the tense) on using Shibuichi I had cast and rolled a long time ago. 

I cut out the back plate, made the bezel and cut the bead wires. Then I went to solder it all together and that's where it went wrong. The bezel setting soldered to the plate fine but those damn wires would not solder and then 2 broke off at the joint and I melted the bezel. FRACK.  I gave up as it was a Sunday and I did not want to do this all over plus I did not have more shibuichi. I emailed the teacher and said we needed to talk on Tuesday before class. 

On Monday, before my appointment, I selected a few other stones I liked and wanted to work with and did a quick layout of them. On Tuesday, during the meeting, the teacher and I discussed next steps and he liked my idea of NOT doing the same piece again but doing something else that was a new design.

I chose a large cab or Larimar from the Dominican Republic, Opalized Dendrite Agate from Wyoming, and a small Black Opal from Australia - again all purchased during the Tucson Gem & Mineral show, oh and a small torch fired enamel bead, on copper, that I made. I would put a pin back on the Larimar and join everything together with links, ending with the bead. I started on Friday and had all the components made by Sunday and attached the pin back. On Monday I polished all the settings and set the stones then added the pin wire.  I was ready to turn it in on Tuesday to find out that since everyone else was sooooooooo far behind, we were given a week's extension! I used the free time to make two more fish pins.

I am glad the first piece had issues because I like the second piece more