Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Midi Rings Revisited

 Signs of improvement...

Coupler bolt and wire rings
I finally got the backs right.
Another view
 Alright, I bought a mandrel, some new wire, read a few tutorials and got back on the horse (I would rather imagine a unicorn).  I think it went better this time.  Things usually do go better after several hours of doing them wrong and then taking a break.  I used a pen and the ring mandrel for shaping and I used pliers to twist the ends and push them in place.  I tried to make it so they rings could be squeezed or widened around the finger.  I accidentally got the same gage of wire as I had used the time before, BUT... copper is much softer than brass.  I also realized that the key to a successful V shape is to pinch the end tight and bend over an even amount on each length of wire above the pinched spot.  Then I would open the wire slowly and place it on the mandrel.  The shapes aren't where I want them yet, but they are much, much closer.  Hooray for progress!
The clay gem trials
Soon we will talk about clay gems, precious metal finishes, and coupler bolts.  After that, I would like to dive into a long and thorough tutorial for mask making.

Yahoo!
b

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