at the bench

Teen Smithing

Sat, 7 Apr 2012 14:49:09 -0400

What do you get when you mix 6 teenagers with fire?

Teen Smithing at SilverWorks.

What fun we had as these teens kept me on my toes. It always surprises me how much faster they learn the craft than their adult counterparts. And what creativity! One of them even made a fork! This group was especially nice and I ended up adding a copper enameling component on the last day just to mix it up a bit.

Rock show

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:28:22 -0400

Took a few hours this sunday to visit the rock show in Gaithersburg. Mostly a giant science fair for rock hounds, a few “gems” were to be found.

And in a true child at heart spirit, Bryan thought it a great idea to participate in the “grind your own cabochon” activity.

I felt a little embarrassed that we were the only adults doing what seemed to be set up only for children, we had a great time being “kids”. It was really informative gaining an understanding of how the lapidary art is done.

Spring crazy early

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:23:29 -0400

The scene outside my studio window.

Yea, I know.

It is pretty great.

People Pleeeezzz!

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:44:34 -0400

Open studio is a great way to get some practice in, and for me it is fun to see my students improve, collaborate, and just have fun.

But it is still my studio and my creative home, and so even though I share it, I do have a few rules.

Most of them are common sense, like taking care of the tools and cleaning up after yourself. Stuff like drill bits and sawblades get broken and that is ok, it is part of the general use of the studio.

But one rule that may not be so clear, even though you find it here, and I explain it in your first open studio, somehow people forget or miss it.

It is about the silver resources.

Most studios don’t have resources on hand for purchase. Typically you get your own from a supplier. But I know how nice it is to have access to different gauges in case you get an inspiration while in the studio. This means I share my silver.

What it doesn’t mean is I pay for your scrap.

I know that may sound snarky. But due to the price of silver you understand.

When using silver sheet everybody generates a certain amount of their own scrap. It could be from cutting discs, or other shapes, or melting, but there are always some scraps.

I buy my silver in 6x12” sheets. When you cut from my stock please always cut a strip from the sheet using the bench shear, and then you can cut a square from this using your hand shear (and then put the remaining square back). This ensures there are no unusable pinched edges (scrap) left for me to try to use. And please do not cut triangles or circles and put scrap back for me to find. You pay for your own scrap.

Setting Up Your Studio

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:38:38 -0400

A rare photo of this side of the studio with students crammed in for my Setting Up Your Studio class. Mostly visual presentation that walks through the basics of the things one needs to consider to set up a studio, I also did a quick demo of neutralizing pickle, and included Bryan connecting a torch to a tank. We also encouraged students to try connecting themselves. It is not as scary after you do it once.