Pulse bracelet update

I've put the reticulation silver through several rounds of depletion silvering in the kiln. The first time, a few Sundays back, I hauled it out with a goodly layer of nice, charcoal gray oxide coating it. Tried quenching it directly into the crockpot—experience is a great teacher. After I rinsed out my dress and mopped pickle off the floor, I moved the crock back to its usual spot. A bit of the oxide came off into the pickle and then the process seemed to stop. The sheet maintained a sooty, coppery look, very coppery. The pickle did not get particularly blue. After a bunch of time, I pulled the sheet out. Turned out the firescale was just sitting there loose on the surface and came off with some rather lackadaisical rubbing, most of it anyway. Since then, however, the sheet has only taken on a mild haze whenever I put it in the kiln. I have wondered if the oxygen level is too low to support good firescale production. What, then, explains the first time with the lovely charcoal gray? Could it be that the available oxygen was enough for the more surface copper molecules but not enough for anything deeper?

I can't believe that the initial pass would have created such a thick layer of fine silver so that no appreciable amount of copper can get through anymore.

Pat has suggested removing the thermocouple to allow more oxygen into the kiln. This scares me. I'm afraid the temperature will rise to dangerous levels and my silver will either turn into a worthless, molten mass or that some sort of heat hardened temper will make the thing unusable. (Since I'll only be cutting the sheet into strips, at least that's all I have planned for it so far, and won't be shaping it, does temper matter? Can reticulation silver reach a state of such brittleness that it would snap with any use? On reflection, that's a silly question. Duh! Of course it can but under what circumstances?) I could leave the thermocouple in and maintain a decent temperature until I'm ready to throw in the sheet, only removing the thermocouple when I'm there to monitor the process and for limited amounts of time. Temperature does not rise that quickly inside the kiln.

I'll use the big torch this Wednesday. If I go in on Monday to trouble the fabrication toddlers, I'll try the rosebud. Oxygen will not be an issue under those circumstances. I can even boost the O₂ to speed the process. Prepping metal for reticulation is just about the only instance I can think of when you want an oxidizing flame when working metal. (I wonder if enamels can react differently to reducing and oxidizing environments? That would be something interesting to explore.)

It's highly unlikely I'll manage to get in this weekend to work; temps are supposed to reach an easy ninety degrees. With the A/C turned off on the weekends, there's no way I could work in there except for an hour or two, and that's if I get there smack-dab at eight in the morning. Read More!

We need to boost enrollment

The powers that be have told Pat that we will need to boost enrollment in the jewelry classes to the max. Federal funds have been cut, so the only way SFC will allow the classes to continue is if they fill all the seats every term. Pat and I are planning a brainstorming session.

I have threatened in the past to take over the display window for ad hoc, guerrilla shows when class is in session. Maybe that would be one little way to increase our visibility, especially if we could get a few large pictures made to put up in the display as well as pieces of actual jewelry. And how about that window right next to Jayne's office? It's had the same three pieces in it for months and months. Why not some jewelry instead? Or in the window at the other end of the art building? Are there other display windows/spaces we could use on campus? Or places we could get our pieces in around town? I will need to ponder and to keep my eyes open.

It's hard to get back into gear this term. I did get some work done yesterday. I have discovered that I am lousy at rivets. There must be some secret that I haven't figured out yet. I still have fourteen more rivets to make, I think, for this collar. And then I need to figure out how to attach the square wire to the ends of each copper piece. I suppose I will drill the copper and will probably need to taper the ends of the wire to get it into the copper.

I am very unhappy--no, that's too strong an emotion--I'm very blah with how the clasp pieces are turning out. I need to do something with them to give them some sizzle. I'm thinking of carving on them a little bit with files to give them some shape. Silly, really, when you consider that the clasp will be largely unseen. And the rivets are really lousy. I don't want to drill them out and start over.

It looks like the studio is open this Sunday. Sandi and I are meeting for breakfast and thought we'd try the studio if it's available. The temperature is unlikely to get to the mid-eighties.

Karen has begun working on the prototype of the bracelet for Aspen. It seems like she is intent on replicating the design from the magazine. I don't see what the point of that is. I don't think much of the design to begin with, but that's just a taste thing. But why go to all that effort to reproduce someone else's vision? I can understand doing it for Aspen, she wants to make the bracelet her daughter desires. But to make two of them? I wouldn't make the same thing twice if it were my own design, not without trying to improve it, or explore it further. I was joking with her--you can reticulate it! you can hammer it! you can...do something, anything!

More pictures this weekend. I'm making a promise to myself to put the tripod in the car with the light tent, camera and the spare batteries and memory card. Read More!