I did my electrolytic etching this weekend. I was hesitant to get started, afraid it wouldn’t work, but I mixed my solution, hooked up the electrodes, plugged it in and bubbles immediately started forming on the piece of silver hooked up to the negative side. It was working. I did my happy dance. The resist was untouched through the process, the design was crisp and clean. A success all around. Just what I was looking for.
I’ve been working on a pair of custom cigar band rings. The picture below is a test of the design in copper. I wanted to see if the detail would show well. And it certainly does.
This one is just a test, the final work will be in silver. I want to use electrolytic etching to make sure that I get the level of detail that I want. I’ve used acid etching in the past, but it goes through the resist pretty fast and I don’t get the depth of etching that I want. I’m going to try a salt water etching system and see how that works. I’ve done it before, but it’s been a while so I’ll do another test run with a different design.
You learn things about different places when you look at a countries coins. This is one of my favorite coins. It was minted in Ireland in the 70’s. Ireland had some wonderful coins in the 70’s. That’s one thing that the Euro has done for sure. It’s made European coinage insipid.
So I make cigar band rings. I take the art from old cigar bands and translate it into something I can make a ring out of. I buy old cigar bands off of Ebay and use them as an initial source. I ordered some recently and got the batch yesterday. And they are the weirdest bunch of cigar bands I have ever seen. It’s like they were printed just for collectors. There were birds, bugs and flowers. Flags and airplanes. Traditional costumes from different countries. Country of origin markings from cruise ships.
Truly an odd collection. And, unfortunately, mostly unusable by my standards. I need strong graphic designs to be able to get it onto the metal at all and most of these really don’t fit the bill. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any weirder, I found these.
The Thunderbirds and street signs. Really? A kids show from the 1960’s made with puppets and street signs?
Long ago, in my distant and misspent youth, I used to embroider. I was one of those girls that ran around in jeans with flowers, etc. sewn all over them. I used to sit in front of the TV with my family at night and sew all night long. Shirts, jeans, jackets, nothing escaped the needle.
Recently I’ve been feeling nostalgic for it. It’s a very zen activity and gives me something to do with my hands when watching TV with the Spouse. I’ve wanted to do a shirt or jacket for a while, but couldn’t decide on what kind of design. I wanted it to be plants and flowers, but none of the designs I could think of appealed to me at all.
The a light bulb went on. I’ve been taking pictures of my own garden for years. Why not use that? I have hundreds of photographs for reference material. Use the flora and fauna of my own garden. Use the flowers, plants and vines. The birds and butterflies. With the cats and caterpillars, the tortoise and the fish. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Plenty of subject matter. The pieces of the design are filling themselves in in my head. Now I have to find the right garment. Heavy weight denim is a pain to sew through, and fabric that is too light weight puckers. If this actually gets made it’s going to be a once in a lifetime thing. It’ll take months, if not a couple of years. But the picture of it is building up so clearly in my head I want to start it right away.
I’ve added a lot of new garden links to my blog this year. It has been informative and inspiring.
Because of them I’ve joined a local cactus and succulent group. Gone to plant shows and sales. It’s wonderful when you find your own brand of nerd.
Now, following a link from one blog to another blog I have found a new obsession. I’ve been a fan of the Arts and Crafts movement for a long time, and I really like Frances Gearhart’s work. Now the trick is to find a piece that I can afford.
When Dad passed away we did a partial go through of the garage. He used make electronic things so I found a lot of resistors and other electronic bits and pieces. Rather than sell it all at a yard sale I decided to keep them and see what I could do with. I’ve made a couple of pieces, but I like this best so far. I know it’s not the usual thing, but I like the colors and numbers. It’s been sealed so the paint and the label won’t come off easily. The shape of the band makes it so that it can be bent to fit different sizes.
I’m having issues with technology. Specifically irons. Yeah, those irons. The ones you usually use for your clothes. I can honestly say that I haven’t ironed clothes in years. That’s what knits are for.
I’ve been working on a custom cigar band ring, (Hi Tam!). Got a message on my Etsy shop asking whether I had a ring for a specific brand of cigar (in Portugese, no less). I didn’t. There have been thousands of brands of cigars and while I have hundreds of different cigar bands, I didn’t have the one she was looking for. But I told her that if she could send me a good scan of it, I could probably make one for her.
She sent me the scan and I modified the picture so I could use to make an etched copper ring. However, I’ve been having trouble transferring the design to the copper. Instructions say to use an iron at 325 degrees. That would be great, except I can’t find an iron that will reach that temperature. I’m guessing that today’s irons just don’t reach as high a temperature, probably to prevent burns or fires.
So, after four incomplete transfers and several hours of wasted time, I decided to go low tech an use the stove top griddle with the gas at its lowest setting. The temperature turned out to be surprisingly controllable. I was able to reach the temperature needed to make the transfer without melting the plastic transfer paper. I got the best transfer I’ve done so far. While it’s certainly a method you have to be very careful with, it’s much less time consuming and has a much better outcome. Hooray for the low tech solution.
The door closed on me at work. They laid me off.
During the time before I left I tried to do the best I could. Moping and being angry would have helped no one, least of all myself. Making other people unhappy to see you is not a good way to leave a job, whether you’re leaving voluntarily or not.
I tried to leave things as in shape and with no pending work. Not possible, but I did the best I could. They’re going to be stretched pretty thin there as it is.
Now I’m hoping a door will open.
Initially I’d thought to go out to agencies right away. But Mom has a doctor’s appointment that I have to go to and the last time I applied at an agency I was working within a couple of days. I don’t want to have to take time off the first week I’m working someplace so I’ll wait until that’s over and then apply.
I have been taking the time to work on getting an Etsy shop set up to sell the jewelry I’ve been making for years. I’ve spent some time every day designing banners, taking photos of jewelry, or making jewelry. Usually some combination of all three. And I have a class in how to start a jewelry business this weekend. It seems like now is as good a times as any to get this going. I’ve been thinking of it for years.
I can’t stay home forever, but this little respite has been nice. With all that’s happened in the last year and Mom’s continuing problems, it’s nice to have a little less to handle for a while.
When we were on our way back from vacation I took some shots of the electrical towers in the central valley. I’ve always thought that they looked like metal giants marching across the landscape.
These guys had the same sort of idea, only geometrically more awesome.
Appropriately via The Awsomer
Blog of a geek with a garden 