Follow Me On:
The Adventurous Silversmith
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Portfolio
    • Metal Work >
      • Chasing & Repousse
      • Holloware
      • Jewelry
      • Other Wonderful Items
    • Fiber Arts >
      • Temari
      • Yubinuki
  • Resources
    • Library
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Links
  • About
    • Artist Statement
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • How it is Made
    • Contact

Put the hammer down and walk away...

11/3/2010

 
I have been working on the hearth pot since September - there have been starts, stops,  side trips and other projects along the way,  but the pot and I were making progress. The pot was moving closer to completion and I was making strides in adding curves and necking the walls inward.

I did not do much work, on the pot, these past two weeks because I have been experiencing low energy, lack of focus, and there were other commitments. There was also the problem that I could not get the bowl onto the stake I had been using (a loaner from Deb). I needed a different stake to finish the final part of the curve and to create the final vertical neck.
On Saturday I drove down to Deb's and I gave her back the stake she had lent me and she then gave me a Dixon #13 stake to use.  Since I was making this trip down to the San Diego area, I ran other errands and thus I did not do any work on Saturday.


Sunday morning, I woke up early (for me, on a weekend) around 8:00 am; started the coffee; read my email; and then brought Erich a cuppa and woke him up. I am nice and I won't start banging on metal if he is still asleep. 

Somewhere around 10-ish I trimmed about a quarter inch off the "rim" - it was uneven and thinning and was adding to the issue of getting the pot on the stake at the correct angle. Why? - this was because the rim on the opposite side of the bowl was running up against the underside of the stake as well as the tang. Once the trimming was done, I decided to use my new stake as it was similar to the stake I had returned to Deb.  The pot fit on my new stake - not just because I had trimmed the rim, but I realized that the new stake had straight t-joint between the underside and the tang. The Dixon stake(s) have a stepped tang, and that was preventing me from getting the bowl positioned the way I wanted.  Having figured this out, I decided to do the next course of raising in my new stake and that I might not need the Dixon #13 until later.  I also decided to change from my big raising hammer which has a head of 400 grams and is rather large to my newest ebay win - a 175gram head hammer. This new hammer has the same weight as another Peddihaus hammer I have but the new one has a broader face than the same weighted Peddihaus hammer - see picture below.  There is no manufacturer's name on the head but it was the perfect shape for bringing the walls in toward a neck.

I completed two rounds and then went back to planish more of the body because when I brought in and up the neck, I would not be able to get inside even with the other stake.


And that is when my problems started...
My new stake, even though modeled on the Dixion #3 and Dixion #10 stakes, was not the same size as either of those, which is what I had been using at Deb's. I had requested that Kevin should make the two ends about 1/4" smaller than the dixions. And because of that size difference, the area I was going to planish, having been formed on that other stake, did not match the radius/curves and so I ended up re-shaping and eventually denting the body.


Did I stop then and there and think about it? Nooooooooooooooooooo
Did I put down the hammer and walk away? Nooooooooooooooooooooo
Was I mad at myself and feeling frustrated? Yessssssssssssssss

Did I think about what did next? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

And then I lost it. I actually lost it (my mind) -
I picked up that big honk'n 400 gram hammer and smashed it.
Yup, you can go back and read it again but the result with be the same.

                           I SMASHED MY WORK, 
                                                I think I hit it 3 or 4 times.

I could go on for several more thousands of words explaining how I felt during this event and even how I felt for the next FIVE hours but I won't.  Despite all of that, I know my skills have progressed so as opposed to trying to salvage the bowl, I wil keep it on my workbench as a reminder - When you are feeling fuzzy brained and have an attack of the crazies.... Just remember -  
Don't go near the hammers.
BTW, I feel better now. You can see the just before and the after picture below.


Picture
Two Hammer Heads
Before
Just Before the Crazies Hit
After
The Aftermath
Anna link
12/6/2010 04:21:05 am

wow, i totaly relate. one custom piece i made for my brother and i wanted to throw it against the wall. i refrained. but i know of the frustration you speak!


Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    How to Aquire Your Own Shop Elf

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Jan - Nov 2010 History
    File Size: 2272 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File

    Jan - Dec 2009 History
    File Size: 2332 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File

    Categories

    All
    42
    A Year Of Repousse
    Blacksmithing
    Blogoversary
    Box Project
    Business
    Chasing & Repousse
    Commission
    Education
    Embroidery
    Enamel
    Entries
    Entry
    Exhibition
    Facebook
    Filing
    Fold Forming
    Gold
    Holloware
    Hot Forging
    Hydraulic Press
    Jewelry
    Keum-boo
    Learning
    Leather
    Market
    Metal
    Patina
    Photography
    Polishing
    Publications
    Raising
    Sanding
    Santa Fe Symposium
    Shop Elf
    Sinking
    Social Media
    Soldering
    Store
    Studio Visits
    Superbowl Challenge
    Teaching
    Teapot Project
    Technique
    Temari
    Tin
    Tools
    Vessels
    Visiting Workshops
    Weaving
    Website
    Workshop
    Yubinuki

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.