Brooch Commission.

[ShinyLauren]

Love the resin cabs - can't wait to see the finished piece!

[FloWolF]

Lydia, Lauren - thanks ',;~}~

Shaun/FloWolF

[FloWolF]

Dennis - I needed it to sit flat to keep the wire in place flush with the base of the rest of it - it didn't want to hold as it was - I just dug a channel out of the soldering block for that though.

The pin mount went on well enough, but the soldering was messy, as for the rest, well it didn't work out - I lost 2 of the loops, and cracked one of the ones in the centre, plus I came to see I was actually lacking crucial retention points for some of the cabs - I may well have to start the whole shebang over again, with a different approach. I'll post some photos.

Cheers Dennis,

Shaun/FloWolF

[FloWolF]

I tried to add in new wire loops to replace those I'd 'lost' to heat fatigue but it didn't take at all - I'd used heat paste on the surrounding areas, and not only did that suck away a lot of heat but it also seemed to contaminate every surface it was near to and no solder would run near it at all even after a cleaning up.

Next job I'll try and strip all the looped wire work off and if that process 'works', then I'll start again on that same base but differently somehow, but if the whole lot goes to crap in the process then I'll start shaping new silver 'tear-drops' to match the cabs all over again, and then rebuild the whole thing from the ground up!

',;~{~

[Dennis]

You're so nearly there Shaun. After all you only need four loops well placed to hold each stone.

Personally I would re-assess the design, remove some surplus loops with a saw, or cutters and add others where needed, if necessary one by one.

If more you find it more convenient to have the piece flat for this, cut a groove in the block with a screw driver, to accommodate the brooch fitting.

Individual loops can be held in place for soldering with balanced self closing tweezers, but ditch the heat paste. Simply warm the whole piece without melting anything and then switch to the soldering area.

My favourite way to do this is with torch in each hand. Have a large torch to keep the piece hot but not glowing, using a bushy flame (left hand) and move in to solder with a mini-torch and a sharper flame (right hand). Dennis.

[FloWolF]

You're so nearly there Shaun. After all you only need four loops well placed to hold each stone.

Personally I would re-assess the design, remove some surplus loops with a saw, or cutters and add others where needed, if necessary one by one.

If more you find it more convenient to have the piece flat for this, cut a groove in the block with a screw driver, to accommodate the brooch fitting.

Individual loops can be held in place for soldering with balanced self closing tweezers, but ditch the heat paste. Simply warm the whole piece without melting anything and then switch to the soldering area.

My favourite way to do this is with torch in each hand. Have a large torch to keep the piece hot but not glowing, using a bushy flame (left hand) and move in to solder with a mini-torch and a sharper flame (right hand). Dennis.

I may need to remove all the looping and start again from fresh as the bits left behind between loops will be an out of place looking unsightly mess.

The reason I went for multiple loops in the first place was for aesthetics - I wanted to give the piece a bit more of that 'paisley' look with looping detail all around the edges, but I just hadn't thought it through properly at all. My intent was to also tweak the shapes into more of a squat shark's tooth shape before setting the cabs but I can see now that wasn't going to work either, and that I should have done that shaping when I first made the wire retaining piece.

As for the groove in the block that's exactly what I did earlier today - I took a flat blade screwdriver and gouged a channel out for the pin fitting, and soldered the whole thing flat against the block. I also used 2 torches, a larger and a smaller one, I just didn't exercise enough care or think any of it through well enough.

I will definitely not be using the paste again on this project - it was messy, awful stuff to work with in this way and I only used it when I came to try and repair anyway, because some of the remaining loops had already taken more than enough heating and I didn't want to crack any more of them away.

I just need to approach this fresh and calmly and actually employ my faculties I think! - I arrived at the workshop rattled to start with as there'd been a nasty accident in the village closing the road off between home and workshop, so what should have been a 2 minute journey on my little scooter turned into a prolonged detour that I really wasn't dressed for so I arrived freezing cold and somewhat irritated as it was. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! ',;~}~

Also I will be ordering some of the easy-flo flux you suggested for future work, but for now I'm just going to see if I can press on with this using the borax I have to hand and see how I fare.

Cheers Dennis, I'm off to bed!

Shaun/FloWolF

[Dennis]

Well, I know it's a cliché, but you have learned a hell of a lot from this, Shaun. Good luck, Dennis.

[ajda]

I like the "paisley" design concept - reminds me of henna designs on skin - good luck with the next take...
Alan

[FloWolF]

Well, I know it's a cliché, but you have learned a hell of a lot from this, Shaun. Good luck, Dennis.

Cheers Dennis; it's one of the reasons I tend to throw myself in at the deep end and take on complicated sets of tasks I've little to no experience of. However I'm more used to getting things to work first time regardless, even if with a bit of 'faffing about' to pull it together, so I do get a little disheartened if it doesn't work and I then have to back-track. Nature of the beast I suppose lol!

',;~}~

Shaun.

[FloWolF]

I like the "paisley" design concept - reminds me of henna designs on skin - good luck with the next take...
Alan

Cheers Alan! This commission is for an Indian lady and I hear she's fond of the old 'Persian Pickle' designs, so hopefully when it's done it'll go down well with her.

I'll be tackling it again later today, see what I can come up with to bring this idea finally to fruition - if I can save the back plate assembly and clean it up to my satisfaction, things will go a lot quicker, but if not I'll just build another and be done with it!

',;~}~

Shaun.