Metalsmithing Class #4: So Close to Being Done!

OK, so lots of people, not enough tools, and a few snafus later and I'm not quite done with my ring yet. I really thought that myself and two or three other people were going to be able to finish them off last week, but it just didn't happen. Oh, well!

I finished getting the back of the ring face (which, coincidentally looks more like a watch face with that big ole spitball that I had to add) nice and shiny since this was the last opportunity I'd have to get at it without anything else in the way. Then, I took the band that I made in our very first class and sawed it open at the solder joint. Thank you to everyone who warned me to wear my safety glasses while sawing. A couple of people in class got a little giggle out of me, but I'd rather that than lose an eye! I did break the blade, by the way. It didn't snap back and get me, though! Oh, and I did saw into my thumb, just a little bit, too (it didn't even bleed). Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

It was after this part that I got into a little bit of trouble (well, more trouble). I was supposed to saw about a half an inch long up the center of either side so that it was a pretty V shape where it attached to the ring face. Well, for some reason when I sawed, I veered to the right and thus made one side of my V quite a bit skinnier on one side than the other. I saw that it didn't look good, but didn't truly realize my mistake until a couple of steps later.

I wrapped the wire around a ring mandrel and shaped it to my size, taking into account that the ring face would actually be a portion of it. Well, when I went to file down the ends to get a nice flush surface in order to solder it, is when I really realized the sawing mess I made. Once I started to file, one side of the V bent back. Oops. Susan said, "No problem. You'll just attach it with a V shape on one side and the other side will be soldered in the space in between." Cool, again, I'll be making a mistake into something unique and neat looking. So, I went back to filing and trying to get my nice flush surface. The same thing happens with the V on the other side of the band. Ggggrrrrrrrrrrr. I show Susan. "Well, it will work, it just won't look as cool." Insert sad face. Here it is after the soldering:

I needed to use a third hand in order keep the band from falling over: after I got through filing it, it was just a little too thin to stay upright on it's own.

Next step will be polishing and making it shine like a mirror. Then, I'll get down to business getting that shell in place. With any luck, I'll be able to finish it this week, but who knows what will happen next! Plus, this week's class is on the 4th of July, so we'll probably be a little bit more raucous than usual. Someone mentioned bringing in sparklers. I wonder if I should bring in a lighter so we don't have to use the torch to light them. . . =)

Metalsmithing Class #3: Ring Halfway Done

That's the black mother of pearl shell I chose (which is what was giving me problems that first night) instead of the cab like everyone else (silly me). You can also see the short (yet very pretty) decorative trim which was the result of the problems from choosing the shell.

In my last class, I did wind up adding a spitball to connect the trim, but now it looks like a watch face. Hmmm. I might file some of the ball away so it's not quite so big. After getting a nice smooth surface on the bottom of the trim, I put everything together: trim around the bezel and soldered the whole thing to the sheet metal. The next step will be to file the sheet metal so that it bevels nicely against everything else, it should be seamless.

In my next class, I'll get to play with a jeweler's saw as I make the band for the ring. Two people who had gotten that far in my last class snapped three blades and one of them sawed into her thumb! Oh boy.