ScrapHappy – May 2023

This month I’m sharing the things #MrG created from some broken dining chairs he scavenged from his bestie last year who’d asked for help to take them to the tip. Discard some quality cabinet grade oak? Not on his watch!

The most exciting thing he made is this swift for me. It’s his second attempt; the first used an old curtain pole, floorboard, random bolts and decking screws, but it was wobbly and unwieldy. This one is far more refined.

He dismantled the chairs with the assistance of the Pearce mallet* and then drilled some holes for dowels left over from the kitchen build in 2001 into a lazy susy (this wasn’t scrap, I’m already using our knackered one for my soldering station). He hasn’t actually had to do any sawing for this project – he was able to line all the bars up on the disc without any effort.

The other things he made are a collapsible (on demand, not just collapsing!) potting bench for his new greenhouse and then he used the other lengths as risers to keep the logs up from the floor. See below for photos of the process

video over on YouTube to save space

*My grandparents were keen founder members of the Wembly scouting and guiding group – this mallet has seen much use over the past 70 years

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials.

It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month?

Email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy on occasion.

KateGun, EvaSue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
JanMoira, SandraChrisAlys,
ClaireJeanJon, DawnGwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue LVera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti, DebbieroseNóilinViv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

We also have a special one-time guest appearance by Kym’s blog, The Byrd and the Bees, featuring creative scrappy recycling by her husband, The Engineer. You’ll find it here, so do pay a visit.

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Introducing – Idris – Part Two – Firing! (Silver Clay Jewellery with Texture Sheets)

After the pieces of Art Clay Silver are fully dry* they need refining. I use 3M branded sanding pads for this, finishing up with 1200 micron

Many people love to use a wetwipe. Depending on the quality of the texture applied, a dried metal clay component may or may not need a light sand / wipe over the texture – I was delighted that these sheets from The Jewellers Bench needed no such cleaning; the only refining I needed to do was at the edges where I had cut them.

Usually I would make holes before firing – if only so that I can keep the dust and reconstitute it back into clay but this week I was on a tight self-imposed deadline, and needed them all ready by a specific date so I could maximise the use of Idris and minimise the electric cost of heating him up.

I stacked them all on one kiln shelf with the second shelf being filled with pieces made by our niece the week before. The sun was out, so I set Idris off, firing at 800oC, smug in the knowledge we were both generating the eletricity to heat him and that the residual heat would warm the house on a parky January morning.

Unlike his namesake, Idris stayed surprisingly cool to the touch and was almost silent. The pieces took 55 minutes from switch on to switch off – ramping to the 800 degrees very quickly and holding evenly at that temperature for the full 45 minutes. There also wasn’t the same waft of smoke I usually see if firing on the hob or the Ultralite when the binder burns off. Such a joy to use, and so very easy.

See above for photos of the ACS once dry, but before refinement.

And left are photos of the clay in Idris’s belly and after firing but before final polishing

Finally, see below and my website for some of the jewellery I’ve made with the beautifully textured components. I’ve achieved the golden colour on some of the pieces using liver of sulphur, diluted in cold water and leaving it on only briefly before washing and fixing.

*It’s possible to speed up the drying of the clay, and if I have to, I will do so, but I find that it is much better to let it dry naturally as there is less warpage and distortion. Drying usually takes 2-3 days, here in Devon.

Tools used in the making of these pieces:

The Jeweller’s Bench texture mats

Art Clay Silver, 3M sanding sponges, XL Gel (liver of sulphur) and Idris-The-Kiln: https://www.metalclay.co.uk

Posted in Idris, Prometheus, Kiln, processes, resources, Stuff I love, Tech Tip, tutorial, UltraLite, Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Introducing – Idris – Part One – Making Silver Clay Jewellery with Texture Sheets

I’ve had a kiln on my wish list since at least 2013. I’ve not really been able to justify one for work, but I had a go at some glass fusing in Mr Tumnus (my ultralight) and realised that unless I wanted to burn out the element, I needed something a tad more firey. So, I’ve bought a Prometheus Pro 7 kiln. I’ve named him Idris, because he’s a friendly (I hope!) dragon, like #SmeltyMelty is a dragon. For those of you younger than me, and not in the UK, Idris is the dragon in Ivor The Engine.

My first proper project has coincided with the testing of some new texture sheets, from my favourite supplier – The Jeweller’s Bench

I’ve been buying my texture resources from Joanne Tinley aka The Jeweller’s Bench ever since she started creating them – ( I started by buying her e-book tutorials, then had a 2 day one-to-one training package in her workshop which was phenomenal – I can’t recommend her highly enough).

Up to now, her textures have been aimed predominantly at rolling mill use, though I’ve used them really successfully on Art Clay Silver – they give a wonderfully tactile texture because they are laser cut from card. I love them – I love that they are compostable when I’m finished with them in Morris-The-Mill and I love that they are reusable for clay.

These new ones are rubber, and as a result have a much crisper and cleaner look and feel to the texture. I love these just as much – it’s like comparing velvet with silk – each has it’s place and use, and both are gorgeous.

Because I’m testing these for Joanne, I wrote up some notes for her to include with the sheets, and thought it might be interesting for those of you who follow my blog to share here too. So, here’s how I made these:

Before use, I ensure all my tools are out, and my mini humidifier is ready. I also try to make sure I have a drink, am not expecting anyone to call and have been to the loo. Art Clay Silver is a costly product and it’s time sensitive when opened, so, prep is everything 😉

I then lubricate the texture mats and my rolling surface (teflon mats). My favourite lubricant for this is a blended essential oil.

Then I condition my clay (by rolling and compressing, to make sure that there will be no bubbles to pop when it’s fired) and roll it out.

I like to use a texture mat either side of the clay to get the clay to the same thickness as the mat,then I place a 3 card bundle on either side of the texture I’m going to use, and place the pre-rolled clay between.

Rolling from the centre out, in one fluid stroke each way gives the best impression and a 3 card thickness will allow for refinement after it’s dry and also for shrinkage when firing.

I find this gives a reassuringly sturdy feel to the piece after it’s been fired, and is my preferred thickness for earrings. I tend to use a 4 card thickness for pendants

Because The Jeweller’s Bench Texture Mats are such good quality and so flexible, I’ve found the best way to remove the clay from them is simply to peel the mat from the clay, rather than the clay from the mat. This isn’t always possible with other brands of rubber / silicone mats. These also give an exceptionally crisp and smooth finish to the impression; even better than most of the silicone textures I own, aimed at stampers. The other bonus with these is that there’s a positive and negative of each of the textures on the one sheet – zoom in on the photo collage of the clay after rolling to see this in action

Set the mat to one side and cut out your form – I use sugar-craft cutters, bits of pipe, shrink plastic templates I’ve made and now The Jeweller’s Bench fabulous stencils with my needle-tool

I found the best way to achieve a crisp line the exact shape of the stencil is to move from the inside to the outer point of each shape, and to do that at each edge individually, rather than ‘draw’ round the shape as one would with a pencil.

I like to cut all the shapes I want from that piece of rolled clay, before I lift the excess clay, squish it quickly and pop it under the lid of my humidifier. This ensures it gathers a little moisture from the more humid atmosphere that’s within that, and gives me more time to play with the shapes.

I usually place the cut out pieces on a former, so that they are more dimensional. If using a sugar craft cutter, it can often be challenging to get the piece out – I’ve found that adding some of the essential oil to the surface of the form will effectively ‘suck’ the cut piece from the cutter

Leave all these to dry before refining – sand / file / drill / add any embellishments at this stage to ensure that there’s no smudging of the gorgeous textures

When you are finished using the texture sheets, remove the remaining lubricant using an old soft toothbrush and regular washing up liquid. I don’t get any clay left behind using this method, but if you do have some, then retrieve that first – don’t wash it down the sink!

Tools used in the making of these pieces:

The Jeweller’s Bench texture mats, top to bottom:

Scattered Seeds

Scattered Daisies sm

Tree Branches 1 med

Watercolour Vines sm

Swirls

Watercolour Ribbons sm

The Jeweller’s Bench Stencils:

Leaves and Petals

6 and 8 Pointed Petal Flowers

Hexagonal cutters and micro dot cutters: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Elsilversupplies

Sugarcraft cutters – I bought mine from the lovely Natalie who used to run BAKE!, and is now :http://www.floralcrafting.co.uk

Art Clay Silver, teflon rolling mats and Idris-The-Kiln: https://www.metalclay.co.uk

Pergamano papercraft tool (I picked mine up at a local craft fair): https://pergamano.com

Tools I’ve scavenged/repurposed:

Mini humidifier – an old plastic deodorant cap, filled with water** then emptied, so that there’s a minimal amount remaining inside, then placed upside down on one on my teflon mats. The residual liquid will slip down the sides, and help create a vacuum when the lid’s on the mat, and the humidity will be higher inside the pot. I can usually get 3 or 4 rolls out of the clay before I need to wipe it across the damp teflon and recondition, using this method.

**if you live in an area that you know has impurities in your water, you might wish to use distilled when working with ACS

Drying forms – anything that has a profile you like, and is non-absorbent works here. I’m using these glass paperweights, because they fit beneath my cover and they were my grandad’s, and a large plastic ball that was discarded by a great nephew once he’d retrieved the rubbishy toy from within it. I also often use the little dishes that contact lenses come in for smaller pieces

My drying station is packaging from a family sized box of supermarket profiteroles – it keeps the dust off (it gets very dusty in a jeweller’s workshop, even before you factor in the Quentin Crisp level of housekeeping we employ!) and allows the clay to dry at an even pace because it has it’s own little environment. I find there’s less warping than if I leave it uncovered, or try and hurry the process.

Playing card set – any cheap playing cards; these were won in an amusement arcade, and I taped them into bundles, with the top card designating the thickness. Ie the 3 of hearts has 2 cards below it.

These texture mats are 2.21mm thick which equates to 7 of my playing cards

Essential oil – I have a fabulous blend from my reflexologist that I keep in a roller ball for when I need calming, and it works brilliantly for both keeping the clay conditioned and for stopping it sticking. I’ve used Art Clay Silver Balm, and Slick, but I have found they can go mouldy and have damaged some of the rubber stamps I used to use for this.

Posted in #SmeltyMelty, Aquaflame,, Idris, Prometheus, Kiln, Meet The Maker, processes, resources, silver, Stuff I love, Tech Tip, tutorial, UltraLite | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

ScrapHappy March 2023

This is a bit of a cheat, as it’s not all scraps, but it is another way I use up some of the silver that I can’t easily smelt in an open crucible. I do have to buy the copper sheet, but the pieces I buy are usually sold as offcuts, and have already been recycled from old copper waste

I fuse it to copper for rings. Initially I made some of these back after my first fair in 2018 when I was asked to make some copper spinner rings for fellow stall holders who live with arthritis*. Since then, I’ve taken them along to the fairs I do and they’ve been surprisingly popular. As you know, I collect all the dust that results from sawing and filing my makes in the apron that hangs below my bench, and eventually that all goes away to my bullion dealer for refining, but the lemel there includes the excess solder filed away from joins.

When I’m doing a lot of sawing or filing of ‘clean’ silver I like to sweep it into a little pot, to reserve it for this process. The pot I’m using here is an old deodorant cap 😉 I always run a super strong magnet over the collected dust to remove any residual steel that’s transferred from my tools, and then I apply the clean dust and tiny bits of silver wire / sheet to super clean and lightly sanded copper sheet, just as I would dust icing sugar over a cake – very generously!

I also add a mixture of borax and gum traganth (I picked that up from my favourite baking supply shop in Exeter, BAKE). The gum traganth acts as a natural adhesive and the borax is a flux, both of which help the bonding process. You can just see in the photo above how I stand some kiln bricks on their edges to create a little cave around the piece. Put on my PPE, light #SmeltyMelty with the fattest of her tips and heat the copper from below.

The silver will melt and fuse to the top surface of the copper. I then have to quench and pickle it, and occasionally repeat the process with a little more silver. Once I’ve done that I like to run the strip of silvery copper through Morris-The-Mill, between some cards (I repurpose the parts of birthday and Christmas cards that I can’t reuse as notes for this) and usually include something to add texture.

The advantage of this part of the process is that it both smooths the surface quickly and also means any bits that haven’t fused tend to chip off, enabling me to decide if I should add more.

I then cut, file, solder and finish the copper as I would silver, to make the pieces.

Here you can see a wrap style ring that I’ll be able to adjust to fit as there’s no soldering and a selection of copper / silver spinner rings. These are all reserved for a customer to try in the next couple of weeks, and then I’ll put the ones that don’t fit / she doesn’t choose on my website and take them with me to my next fair – my first really big one which is Stitching4All at Westpoint on 30th, 31st March and 1st April. I’m quite nervous about it, but also starting to get excited. I’m sharing a pitch with my chum Kosy Kitchen Fibres, so if it’s quiet, we will have fun together, and if it’s busy we’ll be able to cover each other for comfort breaks and answer questions from the visitors. Well. That’s the plan anyway!

*It’s a very old folk remedy, wearing a copper cuff to ease the discomfort of arthritis, and the feedback I’ve had from people is that it’s really very effective. Information here

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials.

It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month?

Email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy on occasion.

KateGun, EvaSue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
JanMoira, SandraChrisAlys,
ClaireJeanJon, DawnGwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue LVera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti, DebbieroseNóilinViv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

We also have a special one-time guest appearance by Kym’s blog, The Byrd and the Bees, featuring creative scrappy recycling by her husband, The Engineer. You’ll find it here, so do pay a visit.

Posted in #SmeltyMelty, Aquaflame,, Arthritis, folk remedy, processes, ScrapHappy, silver, Uncategorized | 28 Comments

ScrapHappy February 2023

Back to silver scrap this month

One of the things that happens with me more often that I would like, is soldering fail.

I prefer to make many of my items in small batches; I find that it is a benefit in that it speeds up the process and makes sure that I get in the zone and creates some useful muscle memory. And of course, when I have an item that needs to be consistent, then making all the elements in one go is always sensible.

I sold my oyster necklace in one of my pre-Christmas fairs, and as it’s a piece I love I made another and also a variant – the broad bean 😉

Both begin life as recycled sterling silver wire that I coil into loops before soldering closed into rings. Soldering fails occur for me when a) the joint isn’t tightly closed before heating or b) I burn the solder, by either having insufficient flux or by missing the Goldilocks zone and heating it too long and slow / or too fast and hot.

This usually leaves me with a small piece of wire that’s been contaminated with solder at either end, and often a bit melty. I always trim off the part with the solder and put that into my dirty scrap box to send off for refining, and the clean bit of wire goes in my personal scrap pot for me to melt down for use elsewhere. But, because these loops are larger than usual I had enough within them to create these raindrop earrings for one of my regulars.

Here’s the process:

Curving the wire round my bail making pliers to a pleasing teardrop shape, I then saw through the point and replace.

I was able to make 10 of these from 4 failed links.

I line them up on my solder block (see that tiny bit of red below the points? that’s a chip of my hard solder. I colour each solder type differently, so that I can see it clearly on the block and also identify which solder it is when I drop it 😉 )

Then I pickle them to remove the oxides, and file the points smooth with my teeny needle files.

Finally I curve them with my doming punches and send them for a tumble in Betty-The-Barrel before sorting into pairs and making these earrings, which have cherry quartz – a form of dyed glass bead – left over from a batch I ordered at a different customer’s request for a specific commission. I shared these over on my instagram account, where they gained some love, so I’ve listed them in my shop . I enjoyed making them and will add a few to the range in different gemstones – I think labradorite will look particularly fabulous with the link to raindrops

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials.

It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month?

Email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy on occasion.

KateGun, EvaSue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
JanMoira, SandraChrisAlys,
ClaireJeanJon, DawnGwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue LVera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti, DebbieroseNóilinViv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

We also have a special one-time guest appearance by Kym’s blog, The Byrd and the Bees, featuring creative scrappy recycling by her husband, The Engineer. You’ll find it here, so do pay a visit.

Posted in #HandmadeHour, #SmeltyMelty, Aquaflame,, Gems, Other Blogs, processes, resources, ScrapHappy, silver, tutorial, Uncategorized | 22 Comments