Craft Articles

• I start a new course next week.Im making a headband with a spray of swarovski stars, after I abandoned the idea of making a tiara with metal peacock feathers, way too much soldering!
  Ive worked out how much wire Il need and where to get the stars from.
• 2 days to go.I roped in my male boss to putting a paper crown on his head so I could work out dimensions and angles etc he looks very silly.
• Went to classes last night and got some help from the teacher.
  He looked at my design and suggested that I taper the prongy bits so I had great fun using the squishy wire thingy, to look more professional I will refer to it as a tapering machine..
  I cut a length of 2mm thick wire, placed it in a corresponding groove of the tapering machine, which looks like a mangle,reduced its height so it grabbed at the wire then turned the handle so it was drawn through, making it thinner and longer as I moved it down the groove sizes.
  Then it was hammered to get rid of any lumps n bumps, filed to try to get it more rounded then sandpapered for smoothness.
  I made 3 of those yesterday, they still need some work to them but its a good start.
  I thought Id plan ahead and weigh a section of metal Id thought of using for the headband.A smaller piece than I needed cost £17!!Add on the prong prices and the stars and it adds up to £50!! I think I need to rethink what I use!!

  Ordered some stars to add to my creation.Ive been parading infront of a mirror holding the wire bit and the star in place and seeing how it looks.

  Getting annoyed of filing these prongs, but it must be done.
  Finally they are done, all 5,hopefully they are smooth enough to use.I now need to discuss how Im going to attatch them to the headband.

• The first half hour  of this lesson consisted of  a few of us trying to get a bird out of a new bendy ventilation pipe, about 20 feet long, that was being installed.After fashioning a prodding device out of thick wire and a cushioned big yoghurt pot to ease it along the tubing it finally made its way out.It turned out to be a baby magpie.All together now, aaaaahhhhhhhh!

  At the end of the lesson I had 5 prongs soldered together.It was a 2 person job.I soldered while the teacher was holding the prongs together as the flux bubbles up and pushes the prongs apart.
  Today at work I attatched the stars I bought to see how it looks, quite pretty!
  I have to shape it next week and make the main head band.Hope I get it done, next week is the last week.

  Finally it is done.I made a simple loop crown.After alot of cerfuffle with solder cutters that didnt want to cut I finally got the prongs into place and positioned the solder and I soldered it into place, when i say ‘I’ I of course mean the teacher and me.
  I now have a prongy head dress.
  It cost me just under £15 for the metalwork, not too bad in the end.

Alas it is all over.  

We finished off the filing yesterday.

We used a shining machine which had spinning calico circles which helped clean the metal after adding products called Tripoli and rouge to the calico edges.

We then had to anneal and pickle it about 4 times although I can’t remember why, I’m a bad pupil that wasn’t paying attention. After the annealing it went into a barrel shaped cleaning machine which spun round like a tombola.

Inside it was cleaning solution and small metal pieces which looked like nails which helped with the cleaning process. We also learnt how to make an imprint on metal. Anneal a piece of metal, cut a design from special thick paper or even use something as delicate as a skeleton leaves, sandwich it between 2 pieces of metal then feed it through a press and voila!! the imprint is left on the metal!! After about half an hour (preferably leave it in the barrel for an hour but we were pushed for time)out came our lovely rings, I am wearing mine as I type.

Before I left I checked to see if I needed anything to start my next project. The teacher says they have enough of what I need to make a start then order more if necessary. Hopefully after the end of the next course I will be the proud owner of a tiara, which I shall wear whilst doing the hovering.

I signed up for more lessons today! 

I have an idea for a tiara so hopefully I can make that. Almost finished the ring last night.

We soldered it as soon as we got in, comparing notes with my friend to make sure we didn’t get it disastrously wrong.

The teacher was happy with our efforts , we then filed them with a fine metal file to start to make it smooth then we used a type of finer sand paper for metals. Time consuming but therapeutic. So next week we should finish and I will be the proud owner of a shiny smooth sterling silver ring.

3.04pm
Notes are all written up with accompanying diagrams, I may colour them in. Googled metal varnish and found a product which can work on brass copper silver and chrome so I may give that a go.

 
My canoe looks a lot more like a ring.
We did some more hammering to get it into shape. Hammering makes it eventually become unworkable so it has to be annealed again for it to bend easily.

I have a lot of notes to write up about soldering which we didn’t get the chance to do today as trains needed to be caught.
I took a slide pendant with me and the teacher suggested a product I need to google for today. Ring is still not finished, maybe next week. 

It’s the morning after the evening before.
It was great but not what I expected. I thought we’d all be starting from scratch, sat round a table while the teacher explains techniques to us. But it seemed only my friend and I were the only people who weren’t already in the middle of a project.

We were shown how to start making a ring, cutting the right amount and annealing it with an instrument I like to refer to as a flame thrower. Enameling was also shown to us which was surprisingly quick and easy.

We got chatting to some ladies there, one was making a Celtic headband for her friend who was some kind of priestess!!! It was very busy and noisy and with only 1 teacher it got a bit chaotic. It seems that we make and item, weigh it then pay, so I can keep most of my money!!

The ring we’ve started to make looks like a little canoe at the moment. Hopefully it will improve next week.

It’s the morning of the evening. I’ve got the £25 that the site has told us to bring. No idea what amount of metal that will buy. Designs may have to be limited.