Saturday I completed Intro to Blacksmithing at the Vista Forge. I can now join the CBA and sign up for Blacksmithing 1.
I have a picture of my 3 items - Blacksmith Tongs, Steak Turner, and BBQ Tongs and I will add it to this post but later in the week.

Yesterday I had another session with Deb and sorry but no pictures as we got too busy and I did not take in process pictures, but I will try to post a picture or two of where I ended (again later). What I worked on is also on my ever shrinking and growing metals to-do list.

I did make major progress not only on making my canisters (to hold my chasing & repousse tools) but in learning how to solder big volumes of copper.

I have the top and bottom soldered on the two halves of the first canister. We also have all four rings decorative rings soldered on. There is a ring at each end of the two halves(lid and body of the canister) and we have the rings at the ends of each, where the two halves will meet and lock. We did not get to the locking mechanism (a peg and twisting ).I have to clean up the solder from all of this but I can take the first one with me to my class in 3 weeks.  Then when I go to Debs in June, we will finish the locking mechanism.

I also had the sheet and prepped to start another canister so we soldered the sheets (lid and body) into cylinders and have the top and bottom plates done as well. By June, I should have the 4 rings made and if possible soldered on each piece.

FYI the first canister has the lid slightly larger in diameter than the base section and it slides over part of the base wall. The pegs will be soldered to the inside the lid walls , 180 degrees apart and just above the ring at the bottom of the lid.  Then the slots  (L shaped) for the pegs will be cut in the base wall above the top ring on the base. The lid will be aligned in the upright part of the L and slide downward until the lid ring meets the (upper) base ring. Then the lid will be turned so the pegs move into the horizontal section of the L.

Because the lid is slightly larger in diameter than the base, it does not give a smooth transition along the body, It looks like a stacked pillar. This is why I started the second canister. The lid and the base ARE the same diameter and the rings where they meet will be flush when they meet with just a small groove between them.  It will have the same peg locking mechanism but we will solder a short (height) ring inside the lid and the pegs will be inside the base but work the same way.

When I post the pictures it might make more sense but I think this is a pretty good description.

The to-do list started with 16 items and then grew to 22 items, then 23, 24, and it now up to 25 no, 26 items. BUT I have since crossed off SIX - no, SEVEN items. I think the list will not grow much in the next few weeks but continue to go down.

Items I have finished:
 1) Weave Silver Bracelet
  7) Shape Delryn Tools
11) Make rings from Enameled Domes
14) Find enamel/glass threads for enameling (they got lost on the work bench and are now put away
17) Finish copper Four Corners Dish
23) Enter the Calamari Cuff in the Jewelry division of the San Diego County Fair (run from June to July)
24) Order stand for Calamari Cuff display.

Damn, I now have to add item #27... put together display for the fair including the display description/card.  FYI #26 on the list is to turn my new Tagane blanks into tools. 

Here are some pictures, of course.

This past week on Facebook I was looking at the pictures on Liza Nechamkin's page for her Nechamkin Silver Studios. One of the albums is titled "...hand forged custom tools".  Being one of the first people to get her 25 piece from Otto Frei and now I also have her matting tool set, I am always interested in seeing more tools from her (and getting them too).

There were a few pictures of some tools that are not part of either of these sets so off to her actual website I went. On one page I did find further images of these tools - they are available for custom order - COOL.

As I wandered around, not having been a visitor for a while I found the Testimonial page. And there, at the top of the page was quote/testimonial from Nancy Megan Corwin;  and to my surprise as I read it I realized that she was talking about ME in the third person!  OMG

I even remember when it happened. NMC was back in San Diego for another workshop (my second with her) and I had recently received my set of Nechamkin tools and had taken them to the workshop with me. During the discussion about the different tools used during the process Megan mentioned that a new set was available commercially and of course I chimed in that I had the set with me. So out they came and we all looked at them. Over the next three days I proceeded to make a texture wheel based upon the wheel on the Nechamkin website and here is mine below.   One night, during the workshop, I even left the tools with Megan so she could try them.  

Now, over a year later, I find a quote that mentions those events - way cool.  If you scroll down to the second picture below, you can read that quote.

I was wandering around the web today and just for the fun of it I Googled *Nancy Megan Corwin* just to see what images I could find.

I guess what, not only are there lots, I found a picture from when Megan was teaching at The Ranch back in March. There is a picture of her samples on a table; and GUESS WHAT, my bowl is in that picture!!

When I took my second workshop with Megan, I brought, to show, the swirl bowl that I had made. She liked it so much she asked if she could have it. So, I gave her the bowl and she made me a nice large tool known as a pusher or fuller. I treasure that tool very much. 

But I also am proud that I have a piece in Nancy Megan Corwin's PERSONAL COLLECTION - WOW

And I did see the bowl last month when I had my third workshop with Megan in San Diego. It is so nice to be reunited with something you made, if even for a little while - knowing that is being shown and treasured, *sigh*

Any way, here is my bowl, in the picture! You can tel