Adding casting to my line

After 15 years of fabricating every little thing that I produce, I
have had to rethink my working procedures. I had always resisted the
possibility of casting, in part because I had heard horror stories
of people trying out caster after caster before finding someone who
could get everything just right. And so I plodded along. But then
one day I discovered Ganoksin on my computer, and thus Orchid, and
soon noted frequest posts by Dan Grandi of Racecar Jewelry describing
what could be done with casting. So I tiptoed in and sent Dan one of
my best selling low-end pieces that I have done a begillion of and
really don’t want to do any more…but it puts gas in the car. Dan
sent the batch back in time for the holiday season. Woweeeeeee!!!
Great job! No firescale, no pits, pin findings in place, perfect
finish, good price, prompt delivery. With that sure-selling base
covered, I could devote more time to pieces with gold and special
stones which fetch a far better price and are lots more fun and
challenging to make.

On a trip thru RI, I stopped by to see Dan and show him a handful of
possibilities. And seeing his operation really opened up a whole new
realm of ideas and ways of using casting. Not only can I have complete
designs made, but better yet, I can have Dan cast an element that
appears repeatedly in my work, and use the resulting casting as a
finding to embellish my pieces, rather than have to measure, hammer
and bend those same 3/4" pieces over and over again. Now I can stop
being a slave to my production work, have time to do the more splashy
and better paying pieces–and even have more time to enjoy my
grandson!

Do I have an interest in Racecar Jewelry? You bet I do! I’m
interested in seeing Dan Grandi get lots of business so he can stay
in business, and then I won’t ever have to look for another caster
again. Thanks and g’day, Dan!

Linda Sorensen

Dear Linda, please don’t blow it and tell every one about Daniel
Grandi and Racecar casters. They are our secret so don’t tell how
good they are. Another production secret I don’t want ANY ONE to know
about is Sheltech. If you have repetitive parts which Racecar for
some damn fool reason (like metal doesn’t like to cast in 22G sheet)
then Dar at Sheltech can cut ,for an unreasonably reasonable price, a
pancake die to take all the work out of it. AND he contributes to
ORCHID! What kill joys these two are, taking all the production
worries away from those of us who are fabricators at heart and think
machinery and casting are cheating. Sam Patania, Tucson

Linda:

Dan totally rocks… I have been using him for almost two years now-
this summer I plan on making the trip to Rhode Island to check out
his operation- out of all the casters I have used he is the only one
who has taken the time to educate me and his idea actually made my
designs better!

Thank you Dan!!!
DeDe Sullivan
dedemetal jewelry
www.dedemetal.com
Five One Seven Gallery
517 East 12th Street
NYC NY 10009