Soldering versus pasting

 In my last post, I talked about soldering earring backs versus pasting the backs.  Here are the photos of those earrings.

My very first (and I do mean first) pair of metal clay earrings were made following directions in CeCe Wire's book, Creative Metal Clay Jewelry.  I was starting to teach myself metal clay, this was the first and only book I had and this was the very first project in the book.  ( That's a lot of firsts!)  The directions said to use a dab of syringe to attach a sterling silver earring post to the back of the fired snail shape.  She also said to paint the posts with silver clay slip prior to firing so they won't oxidize and turn black.   (I used fine silver posts so I didn't have to do that.)  The firing time was stepped down, (due to the use of sterling.)  I still followed her temperature and time though; 1, 110 degrees and two hours.

My second pair of post earrings, actually began as a ring.  This was the second ring I made (before I started to use ring pellets) and it did not shrink as much as I thought it would.  (You know, it's that Murphy's Law thing.)

Anyway, it didn't look much like a man's ring, so I got out the old jeweler's saw from my college days. (I was surprised that I still had it.... let alone find it.) and cut it in half to make semi-hoop earrings.  I broke it in the process, but thanks to Art Clay oil paste I was able to repair it.  (That was before I knew about making lavender paste.)   Once again, I used CeCe's recommendation and used syringe to attach my posts.

My last pair of earrings was made at Arrowmont.  Linda Kline had us solder sterling silver posts to the fired earrings.  The earrings were decorated with a Photo Polymer plate and fired flat.  They were bent around a ring mandrel to create the hoop after firing.  As I said before, I was pretty nervous about soldering   Metal clay is very porous and sucks up solder, so the area had to be burnished heavily to keep the solder from soaking into the clay.  Also, since the posts were sterling, they had to be pickled after firing to remove the fire scale.  

   The posts in all three earrings look pretty much the same.  The only difference I found was that the fine silver posts have a bigger pad area.  This gives more area for the paste (or syringe) to adhere to.  The sterling silver posts we used in class, had a rather small pad.  

   Now I know that the title is...  soldering versus pasting.  And I know that I didn't use paste to attach the posts,but syringe.  But now I use lavender paste for all my pasting jobs and that will go for any future post earrings.  I also would fire at 1470 degrees F for 30 minutes instead of the two hours.  I don't feel that I'll have any problems with that.

Solder or not

      My earring extravaganza class at Arrowmont was chockfull of techniques; one of which was soldering.  Up until that week, it had been 40 years since I had done any soldering.  (Oh my word I feel old!!)    I really did get pretty good at soldering way back then (as my students use to say.... when the dinosaurs roamed.)    But, all these years later I was really nervous when we had to solder during the earring class.  It was surprisingly easy and the nerves weren't really warranted.  

   Metal clay can be soldered, but for the most part I don't think I will be soldering very often.  The metal clay paste with lavendar oil added, works just as well (without the nerves.)  As long as there is a flat surface to attach the paste I'll be pasting instead of soldering.  

     This is a fabricated piece (made during my college years) that I sawed out of sheet metal, filed, domed  and soldered the domed front piece to the domed back piece.   Then I soldered a pin to the back........ in the middle.  Wrong thing to do.  It flops down when worn. (Which means it hasn't been worn in years.)  But I like the way it looks.  Someday I plan on duplicating the design in metal clay. 

    I've soldered posts on earrings and pasted them on too.  Both methods achieve the goal.   I'll post some photos of both sets of earrings as soon as I get some good photos.  (Still battling that demon.)

Submarine Rock

    This is the third out of four of my rock pendants (the fourth one isn't done yet.  It is one of those that is still speaking to me..... been doing that for three months now!)  While working on this piece, I was drilling a hole with a bur setting bit (creates a conical hole for the stone to set in), when I pushed a little too hard.  (There I go again!)  So, time to be creative.  I had a red CZ already set in a metal clay bezel that fit perfectly over the hole.  (Actually it was rather cavernous.)

    The piece also makes use of the same texture as "Mother Earth" but for some reason this piece reminded me of a submarine, hence the title.  All three rock pendants also have syringe work on them.  (I've come a long way baby with that syringe.  Now I control it.... somewhat.)  The fourth pendant does not, (so far.  Only time will tell.)

   I had a strand of garnet beads that seemed to go well with the CZ.  I also made some end caps to finish off the strand of beads and tie in with the texture on the bead. Okay, I just took a second look and I guess they aren't end caps but beads.  (Another mental lapse.) The picture didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to, but it still shows what it looks like.  Still working on the picture taking so I can start posting things on Etsy again.  

Mother Earth

    Here is another one of the rock pendants.  I still may change how I hang the pendant as I don't really like the plain black rubber cord. 

    All of these pendants start out plain and get textured and embellished after they are cut apart and pasted together.  That way there is contrast between the smoothness of the rock shape and the texture.  This particular texture is one that I originally didn't like.  But for some reason it now appeals to me and I have used it in three of the rock pieces.  It's probably because it has a very "earthy" feel to it.

   This particular piece reminds me of the strata of the earth, hence the name "Mother Earth".  Usually my pieces are tumbled and receive a patina, but this piece told me that it wouldn't look right.  (Yes my pieces talk to me.... don't yours?)  I've made four rock pieces so far and only one of them was tumbled and darkened.   They tell me they look best with a matte finish.

   Most of my work isn't finished in one sitting.  It has to sit and "simmer" while I look at it and decide what it wants me to do.  Often it takes a big journey before it becomes it's final self.  (Occasionally it goes back and takes another journey or two, changing as my perspective of it changes over time.)

 

     

 

Aquarius

  A while back I taught a class using Hadar Jacobson's technique of using a rock to form the metal clay.  A two card thickness of clay is wrapped around a rock and the edges are smoothed together.  When the clay is totally dry, the clay is cut all the way around the rock, removed and pasted back together.  

   This was my demonstration piece during the class.  During the process of sanding the piece, I broke off one end into several pieces.  As I was getting ready to piece them in, I decided to just seal the end up.  The piece looked more interesting to me this way as it suggested a water pitcher.  (See I broke it as a learning experience for my students........ right!)  

   I added a swarovski crystal drop for the water droplet.  Originally I was going to add crystal beads for the necklace, but decided a more earthy stone would work better so I used tiger eye beads instead.  There are a few crystals spread out through the beading to tie in the drop.

   Nothing ever goes smoothly.  Every creation is a challenge and often, that is a good thing.  (Now I  sound like Martha Stewart again!) 

Hand me the remote!

   Took my two oldest grandsons to see "UP" the other day.  When the movie had just started, my grandson Ethan (use to be the middle one) said he had to pee so I told him I would take him to the bathroom.   But, he declined as he didn't want to miss anything.  About halfway through the movie he asked me if I could pause it so he could go pee.  Of course, we all know the answer to that one.  (And he still didn't go until it was over).  It was that good! 

Underwire

  NO I'm not talking about bras in this post.  (Although I did just buy a new one with underwire support.  It's obvious I need one.)

   I'm talking about wire under the metal clay to help form it.  The book PMC Technic and Barbara Becker Simons new book both demonstrate the technique.  The first one I tried is rather large and is not yet done.  At first it looked very sculptural to me and I thought about turning it into a sculpture until my friend Carol said she could see it as a piece of jewelry with tubes in it.  So, last week I bought some brass and some copper tubing.  Will share when it finally gets done (don't think that will be any time soon though as the old brain is sometimes slow.)

   The third charm on my bracelet was created with a much shorter (not smaller) piece of copper wire.  The wire was bent into a shape with twists and turns (so far I find it is impossible to predict what the finished clay piece will look like.)  It is important to make sure that the wire sits on the table and that there are no sharp points to tear through the clay.  Then a sheet of clay, 2 cards thick, is rolled out and draped over the wire.  At this point the clay can be formed into the recesses of the wire with the fingers.  Dry the clay and carefully remove the wire.  I thought it would be difficult to take the wire out, but it wasn't.  When the form is totally dry, lay the piece on another 2 card slab of clay (to form the back)and cut around it with a needle tool.  Then paste the back piece to the front piece, smooth the edges together  and fill in any gaps with extra clay or paste.

   Before I joined the back to the front on this piece, I made a wire loop, twisted the ends of the wire and inserted it between the front and back piece.  What I thought was fine silver wire (that's what it said when I bought it), turned out to be sterling silver wire which turned black during the firing process.  As an after thought I decided to add the peridot, so I refired the piece with a readymade bezel cup (and covered the black wire with metal clay paste.)