Pendant Project No. 2

Here is another project that I am working on for a friend. She liked the blue dichro pendant that is featured in the Plum Wild Glassworks+ slide show -- upper right corner of this blog. That pendant sold a couple of months ago. It is hard to duplicate a pendant made several months ago, but I happened to have another one that was made the same day. I did not like the look of the pendant after doing a wire bail. At last, there was a good reason to rework the entire pendant.



Since I drilled a hole in the glass, I had to come up with a new idea to use the same pendant for my friend while at the same time satisfying myself.



I decided to break it up. One problem, though, it was so thick that it was next to impossible to break along the score line. As you can see, out of desperation, I put the glass in a workshop vice, tightened until I thought the pliers would break, held my breath, kept tightening, and the glass finally broke as shown in the photo below.


My friend not only wanted a pendant but also wanted earrings, and if possible, a ring. I used the grinder to shape all the pieces; you'll notice the dull edges. One of the nice things about glass is you can do what is called a fire polish at a temperature lower than a full fuse and the grinding marks go away.
Viola! This is what you get after doing a fire polish. The sides are rounded, smooth and "glassy." :D Pay no attention to the dark spots in the pendant; it is just the way the light hits some of the dichro. I tried editing the dark spots, but it looked weird. The spots are not there when looking directly at the pendant. It is quite a challenge photographing pendants, and I haven't yet gotten it down nor have I become accomplished on my photo editing software.

The earrings are done with only the ring to be finished. I'll use the single piece of glass as a cabochon. I have the plan. It has been three or four years since I've done any silversmithing, so the ring is taking a little longer to finish. I just hope the plan works as I see it in my brain!

My friend is quite pleased with the pendant and earrings which is what matters. :D She is patiently waiting for the ring.

Until next time, God bless.

The Glass Fusing Process

Finally, I've gotten around to putting together the pendants for eight friends. Each one gave me the dominate colors in her wardrobe and I assembled geometric pendants for each combination.


After cutting the glass, I use a grinder to smooth the edges. You might notice some red in the plastic grill as well as a dot or so on the face shield.


Sometimes grinding is hazardous. A piece slipped and sliced my finger. Yikes!















After a short interruption and a band aid, I cleaned the glass with isopropyl alcohol, added a drop of clear glue, stacked the pieces together, and placed in the kiln.















I use five segments in the kiln program to ramp up to 1415 degrees, hold, and cool to 100 degrees. On small fusing projects such as this one, it takes about 13 hours before safely removing the pendants from the kiln. The photo on the right shows the pendants in the process of cooling from the 1415 degree fusing temperature. By lifting the top, I flash cool the kiln to 1100 degrees from 1415 degrees. I, then, close the kiln top for the pendants to slowly cool to 100 degrees after a 30 minute hold at 960 degrees. The slow annealing process prevents the glass from cracking several months or even years later.

A closeup of the fused pendants are in the photo on the left. The next step is to cap each pendant with clear glass, and return to the kiln for a second firing. After this firing, I'll sign the pendant back, make and polish silver bails, and attach by placing a couple drops of an epoxy glue to the back of the pendant.

Until next time, God bless.

Safety First

As I've mentioned several times, it has been three-four years since I've picked up a torch to fabricate a piece of jewelry. It is, therefore, understandable that I ran into problems with the equipment from an empty oxygen tank to a split oxygen hose to a leaking propane tank. All malfunctioning equipment is replaced and/or repaired and in good working condition. After connecting the propane and oxygen hoses, a soapy leak detector is swabbed on all connections - the gauge connection, the hose connection and even the opening and closing valve connection on the tanks. When the tanks are opened, bubbles will quickly form if there is a leak. If there is no leak, the next step is placement of the tanks.


Fuel tanks need to be securely anchored when placed under the work surface so the fuel hoses come from below, preventing an
accidental torching of a hose which, of course, can cause an explosion.

It is now a matter of getting your solutions ready. There is a solution of boric acid and denatured alcohol which is used as a pre-flux and offers some protection to the metal during the soldering process. There is another light acid solution in a crock pot that removes some of the gunk and oxidation on the metal after soldering. There is a solution of baking soda and water which neutralizes the acid solution in the crock pot, and then there is a simple water bowl for final rinsing.

This may appear involved, but after a few times, it comes naturally to dip, flux, solder, dip, dip and dip. lol Next up is the soldering process.

Until next time, God bless you.

The Ring

I have not fabricated jewelry for several years, so when a friend mentioned that she wanted a ring to go with a fused glass pendant and a pair of earrings, I got excited at the prospect. She lives in another part of Texas; therefore, I decided to do an adjustable ring. When one's silversmith skills are rusty, you look for ways to do a piece where you do not have to be exact!

I envy those that can at an instant visualize a finished design; I am not one of those. I came up with the first step, picture to the left about three or four weeks ago. The past few weeks I've been mulling over how to finish the ends and mount the cabochon because normally the ends would be soldered together. I wish I could post a drawing, but alas, I'm not one of those people that can draw -- the idea exists in my mind which ultimately is transferred to the finished product, but no way can I draw it out. I think I made a D in Art when last in school.

There have been several roadblocks to even begin working on the ring from sawing into my finger when cutting the ring stock, blood dripped everywhere, to running out of oxygen within ten minutes of lighting the torch, to a split oxygen hose after connecting the oxygen refill tank. I am ready to work, I hope! Surely, nothing can stop me now, can it?

You know what is truly wonderful about retirement? Nothing has to be done on schedule because there is none. :D

Until next time, God bless.

Work in Progress

This pendant in the picture to the left was a tad too large and since the bail did not turn out the way I envisioned I decided to re-do it. About the same time, a friend wanted a pendant from this piece along with some earrings and possibly a ring. The second picture on the right shows the pieces after cutting the original pendant.

Cutting a 6mm+ piece of glass is not easy. In order to get the smaller pieces, I finally wrapped the glass in a shop towel and put it in a workbench vice. I thought I'd never get it to break where it was scored. The piece in the upper right corner should be enough to fashion a cabochon for a ring. After grinding to shape the various pieces, I'll put them in the kiln, ramp up the temperature to about 1325 degrees to fire polish and smooth edges so the grinding will not show.

It has been several years since I've fabricated a ring but found some half-round, sterling silver ring wire in my stash of various materials. I will make an adjustable-size ring and solder on a silver pad mounting to which the glass cabochon can be attached. I am excited about the project because I very much enjoy fabricating jewelry. I'll post pictures of the completed projects, i.e., the finished pendant, the earrings, and the ring.

Here is ring I did when taking lost wax casting classes at Austin Community College. I love the ring but thought I'd never get the four tubes soldered inside the recessed area. I may enroll in another lost wax class in the Fall, 2009 session. The campus is about 40 to 45 miles from my house, so if gasoline is in the $3.50-4.00 per gallon range, I doubt I'll enroll. :D

Until next time, God bless.