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Post by brad on Feb 20, 2023 8:28:59 GMT -6
I am presently working on a rather large bolo using one of the cabochon stones I bought in Santa Fe. The stone is "picture" jasper, that I am excited about as it looks like a SW landscape of rock and sky. I am again incorporating elements of the "Arts and Crafts" Period. But I will likely add elements of the SW Native American work onto the silver. I am not sure yet, but I am considering stamped lines and to curve the outer edge back starting near where the stone will be centered. Here is where I stall, deciding the art of the piece, as I work the silver? This learning process is giving fresh ideas about another bolo. The piece has a bronze back layer that I have textured to view through the cutouts of the silver front layer. And I have made to silver mount for the oval cabochon. All the remaining soldering will be tricky as to sequence. I need to solder layers together, solder clasp to back (the coiled silver wire will be my clasp after I cut it to length), and I need to solder the bezel mount to the front layer. not necessarily in this order. And a lot of polish work. Brad   |
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Post by michelle on Feb 20, 2023 9:35:04 GMT -6
Such a great start. I love where this is going, Brad! What a beautiful stone.
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Post by caeterle on Feb 20, 2023 11:52:10 GMT -6
The stone is awesome. I'm sure I drove through that landscape before!  That's the beauty about picture jasper. I really like the texture, nice start! |
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Post by brad on Feb 21, 2023 13:44:47 GMT -6
I realize my silver layer is quite thin. When I chose that sheet, I was not thinking about any think but the cut outs in the silver. Now I feel I need to add something more and have focused on stamping some lines that have meaning in cultures. However, I sample stamped some lines on a scrap of same sheet and realize I would have to be very careful not to cut through the silver. So I am going to mess around with my engraver and see if I can control straight shallow lines...using a straight edge guide. Brad
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Post by Irith-Rita on Feb 22, 2023 16:01:33 GMT -6
It is beautiful! This is one of your best from you that I've seen here.
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Post by brad on Feb 23, 2023 11:02:31 GMT -6
A big setback! I was suspect from the beginning that I may have used too thin a silver sheet for the top layer. This became a problem due to scale of piece. I just did not like all that blank space of silver-with no design work or further layering? All the time I worried about how I would get edges of each layer soldered together tightly without gaps. (I was considering using the steel wire) And I wanted to form the bolo a bit by curving it back from near the bezel mount. A bolo presents problems, as well as the layers. I need to use a fairly strong solder to solder the clasp on the back of the bronze layer-and I need to solder the mount for the cabochon on the silver layer...and get both layers sweat soldered together. Bottom line, is. I decided (with regret) to stamp lines of Navajo style on the silver. This hopelessly warped the thin metal beyond use. While I lick my wounds, I will work on something else, and decide if I can complete the bolo using the bronze layer and the mount already made. Perhaps cutout a much thicker piece of silver, that may take a bit of tooling??? We shall see...  brad |
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Post by caeterle on Feb 23, 2023 11:21:37 GMT -6
I am so sorry, but that's the learning curve. Fingers crossed that you come up with something to save the piece!
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Post by michelle on Feb 23, 2023 22:44:08 GMT -6
Ugh! I hate when I have those major setbacks. You’re wise to just step away for awhile. That always seems to help me.
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Post by Irith-Rita on Feb 24, 2023 2:26:27 GMT -6
I am so sorry this happened . I really loved the design.
What do you mean by stronger solder?
You are right to decide on thicker silver.
Which burner do you use to solder?
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Post by brad on Feb 24, 2023 8:57:09 GMT -6
I am so sorry this happened . I really loved the design. What do you mean by stronger solder? "harder" solder (for stronger weld. With the thick bolo braid there is a lot of tug on the clasp.)You are right to decide on thicker silver. a learning curve, thing for sureWhich burner do you use to solder? two things: Smith/Silver Smith Acetylene kit (4 sizes of tips), and a butane torch for small stuff.I did a lot of googling on recommended gauge of silver sheet for stamping, and for what I see I would want to go mostly thicker. when stamping sets of lines, to reduce metal warp) Many recommendations are 20-22 ga. I know that does not work for what I tried. I will try again with 18 ga - ish. (I have been wanting to buy more 16 ga in silver. I have stock in copper, and like working with it. Now I know why the Navajo makers tend to use silver 1/4" thick often times for deep stamping. or thick layered pieces. All suggestions, welcome. Thank you, brad |
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Post by DawninCal on Mar 9, 2023 19:13:14 GMT -6
I'm sorry about the setback you suffered, but I'm confident you will come up with a workable solution. We've all been there at one time or another, and while frustrating, it's also a great learning opportunity. I learn so much more from my mistakes than I do my successes. This is an engineering problem and you are just the person to tackle it.  That picture jasper is stunning. Jasper doesn't get enough respect; it comes in such a wide variety of patterns and colors and I never tire of looking at beautiful Jasper. Dawn |
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Post by Irith-Rita on Mar 11, 2023 3:08:04 GMT -6
Brad, where pendants are concerned, I prefer to use thicker silver. For earrings I usually use thin sheets of metal, to reduce the weight on the ears. But I still make mistakes, and try to learn from them.
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Post by brad on Apr 24, 2023 13:09:12 GMT -6
Speaking failure. Think of Elon Musk. makes a rocket for 2-3 billion dollars to shoot off...just learn how to do it better next time. Brad
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Post by michelle on Apr 24, 2023 21:54:24 GMT -6
Excellent point, Brad!
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That's the beauty about picture jasper.
