Untidy mind.

 A rush of cash lead me to buy one of them newfangled tablet things,which can only lead to trouble. Anyway it took this picture so it spirit of experimentation here it is. Notice how horribly untidy the room is. How cute my feet are and all the various cap I've made hangs road like a bad smell. Things I've made , the robot marionette, the brocade teddy bear (wearing a copper spiked dog collar I made), hybrid barbie/scorpion (barely visible on to the marionette control), bird topped pegs around a bowl etc.....Oh and I see a hurdygirdy behind the coal scuttle. I didn't make the tuba,that was found in Oxfam for £39, I just couldn't resist it.... oh and a Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, Sherlock Holmes film on telly...

The ring O'doom (no idea why this post isnt showing right out in the open, maybe its shy, click on it and its got pictures and everything)

More ring piece

First thought was, make the silver shank soft. I'm used to copper, but apparently silver is slightly different, get it red hot and let it cool down,rather than quench it. However I found my torch is more suited to melting roof  pitch than delicate work and it sort of melted the surface so it looked like tree bark!  This tipped even me off that I was rather out of my depth. So I consulted with a local jeweler. This confirmed I was indeed in deep water. So off to Kernowcraft for supplies again.

This is the shank on a nifty soldering block they sold me

The nice girl also sold me two differing silver solders, I had thought my usual brazing rod would do, but heat wise,the silver would melt. Two solders one melts also a lower temperature  so in theory the shank could be fixed then the gallery then the two united. ..good theory ah.

This is the gallery attached to the base of silver,see how big t.he stone is!

The tale of the silver opal ring

Not three miles away lives an old lady, the mother in law. I take her shopping every week and out for an airing on Saturdays. On just such an innocent trip I happened to mention that I intended to visit Kernowcraft ( http://www.kernowcraft.com/) out Peranporth way, she expressed and interest in going along, so wife and old dear in tow, that's where we went, it was there the trouble started. The old dear loves opals, there were opals on the front counter, blithely she announced she wanted an opal, selected one (£98!) . I did wonder just where this was going but....well if you reach 90 years your sort of entitled to indulge yourself. She then announced that I would, and had agreed, to make her a silver opal ring...my eye met the wives and I raised an eyebrow,  I had no knowledge of agreeing to anything, but, hell,  I'm all about the quiet life so I nodded, shuffled about and wondered as she chose the stone, I did intervene to point out I needed a bit of silver for the back, some for the ring and a bit of 'gallery' to go round the edge. Thinking on my feet, I was already there planning.

Back soon

The Internet thought I'd got bored and wandered off, true, but I will be back with lots of pics and general things I have been up to, watch this space.

Rosebowl

 Here's the top, now all polished and dandy, i use ferric chloride from Maplins and it blacks it up very well!

 The side, came up well too, at least the roses look like roses ah!

More of it , i think it came out well..I posted it off to the good old U.S or A yesterday... flipinell post is expensive on anything over 2 Kg.. £43!

Never going to make any money out of bowls!

wax

 Sooooo.. here's the lovely wax, most of it melted in a double boiler and poured into the bowl. Beautiful colour isn't it....came in bars which me and the lad used in a sword fight!. Only one trouble is on i didn't consider. The dammed stuff shrinks as it cools, so its not in contact with the copper. Not a great deal but enough to make it tricky.

 A few taps and its falls out!.. Hum going to have to think about this, the original idea entailed beeswax and plaster of Paris.

So unable to get Plaster Of Paris but my reasoning builders plaster is a reasonable-ish substitution. Though a bit gritty it mixed well. And made the lovely red a putrid pink. Reasoning is that if the wax shrinks half and half with plaster it will shrink half as much as the plaster is just solid filler. good idea only it still dam well shrinks! Maybe ok though latter when the bowl is in it's proper shape i will try it anyway.

thinking on things its a rare thing that doesn't shrink as it cools, possibly only one thing grows as it cools and that ice!.....dam the laws of physics!