Etsymetal Blog Carnival - Tool Nerds

at 9:19 PM | Posted by Nodeform |
EtsyMetal's Blog Carnival for April explores the tool topic:

Most coveted tool. Why? How would you utilize it if you got it?

I am a tool addict. Seriously! I do love tools. There is always something out there that can make a task easier, faster or just more fun to do. The joy of feeling a nice, beautiful, well crafted tool in your hand is just enormous. Well, most task in metal smithing can be accomplished by tools our ancestors already used. Nobody really needs more than a file, saw, torch and maybe some simple casting equipment like a self-built brick oven and a sling shot.  But hey, live is too short to waste time with simple tools if it can be done faster some other way. 

The last tool splurge I did brought me my casting equipment with a vacuum caster and a kiln. So thats covered. Next on the list would be a bench mate system to be able to hold those rings while giving me both hands free for the stone setting. 

If I really dream high I would love a 3d printer. One of those high resolution printers that built a wax or resin model that were designed and modeled in a 3d software. Those are still expensive. I would have to make 3d modeling my specialty to ever justify such a splurge. Until then I will stay with my hand tools and send out the 3d models to a printing house. 

One more affordable printer would be the Thing-O-Matic from Makerbot. It's definitely not a high resolution printer but it just looks nerdy enough to be a great addition to my studio.  But since I am short on space and have no time to figure out how to set it up and get a good use out of it,  I just keep dreaming.  I wonder if the cute blue bunny comes with the kit, hmmm...

Please check out what others have on their dream list:

Labels: ,

Wedding Ring Prototypes

at 12:45 PM | Posted by Nodeform |
Wedding season is here and I am starting to get request from customers for wedding ring designs. I will  give it a priority over the next few weeks to come up with a couple option and new designs.

Here the first prototypes playing with a couple different textures that I made yesterday in wax. They are being cast right now.


1. Sponge Rings, 2. Dimple Rings, 3. Saw Cut Rings, 4. Chiseled Rings

The Sponge and Dimpled rings use textures I already made for other rings. Here I am using those same texture techniques to create narrower and less heavy rings suitable for everyday wear as a wedding ring.
The Saw Cut rings and Chiseled rings use new techniques that I am curious to see how they look in metal.
I will also concentrate my RAW designs on making wedding rings for the next few weeks. I hope by May I have a few wedding rings listed in my shop. I will offer them in silver, white and yellow gold options and in Palladium. Stay tuned.

.
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Related Posts with Thumbnails