that’s a beautiful ring Bruce! Are you on instagram? Would love to see your work 
Cheers
Gillian
Thanks Gillian! My inventory keeps growing because I just like making it more than selling it…lol! Instagram is in my plans but I just recently semi-retired and haven’t got around to it yet. All my sales have been local shows and by word of mouth which has allowed me to continue buying supplies, tools, etc. but I’m definitely in need of getting more into the sales side of things. If you’re interested in seeing more of my ever increasing inventory 
I’d be happy to share some pictures with you. Feel free to email me at bruaher@gmail.com
Thanks for the reply and your kind words!
Bruce
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No worries Bruce! It’s an amazing hobby isn’t it…so addictive! I wish i had time to make more…but young family, work, you know, all those other things that get in the way 
That’s good that you are making a little along the way to keep it all going. Instagram is a fantastic place to follow other artists, and lots of people make a lot of sales through there, definitely get on to it asap. My IG is https://www.instagram.com/_gilliankdesign_/
I’ll shoot you through an email, would like to see some of your work
Cheers
Gillian
Thanks Gillian! It is indeed a fun hobby with tons of learning opportunities. In fact, I just ordered the Bonney Doon press and about 15 pounds of tufa. I’ll be pressing and casting…lol. I love bringing all the learning into a single project as much as possible. I’m looking forward to checking out your instagram page!
Kind regards,
Bruce
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Hi Bruce,
woohoo! sounds like you are going to have fun!
I was thinking that you might also like making cool little elements for your pieces with what i “think” are called…shot plates”…?…”shot dies”…?…
…like these type of things:
julie
Hi Julie! Yep…lots of fun I do like using shot plates. I have a couple from Tucker Tools and a couple from Etsy vendors. I wanted a couple from Buffalo Rutland but they were always out of the ones I wanted…someday! Here’s an example of an amethyst bracelet I made with two diamond shaped shot.
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If you haven’t already, take a look at Chris Pruitt’s work. He is on ETSY and you can follow him on FB…Rob
Now you’ve gone and done it Rob…and the coveting begins! Really nice stuff. After that Bonny Doon press purchase I just made, I gotta make some sales so I can buy more stuff…haha. I already make some of my own stamps and now I’m starting to make some of my own die sets. Since I still have all my forging tools I’m well equipped to make tooling, and it’s rewarding! But, not nearly as refined as Chris Pruitt’s. Maybe I should invest in a CNC machine, but I’m a crappy machinist…I just like fire and beating on things 
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The only reason I sell my jewelry is to buy more tools and I already have a lot of tools…Rob
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Hahahaha…the perfect reason!
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The gear heads excuses is always the same. Buying tools or guitars or fishing tackle. The old Wobblie’s chant “…we work to earn the money to buy the food to make us strong so we can work to earn…” How silly we are.
Now I have to wait till Wednesday for my new press to show up from Rio. Meanwhile I am searching DC music shops for a Guild F-30 with a short scale.
Merry Christmas
Don Meixner.
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Will you be home in time to receive your press or should I go by and get it out of the cold?
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Hey Don, I think Rob is volunteering to break your press in for you 
I got mine and it’s all bolted down but no tooling to play with. I ordered some stuff from Potter but I don’t think he’s shipping till january 
The press is on the bench and bolted down. The fixtures from Kevin Potter showed up a day later. And two weeks on I am still dealing with jet lag. Research continues into shot plates. As a pretty solid steel worker in an earlier life I know I can make shot plates. I also know I will just buy them. Pruitt seems to have the stuff I want for now.
March is coming on and this is busy times for an old guy in an Irish Band but I’ll post some photos as the work is done.
Thank you all for the advice and interest. Thanks for the help Rob.
Don Meixner
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Owning a press is a lot of fun and you will wonder how you got along without it very quickly. I am learning how to use impression dies and have decided that Kevin Potter really sells drugs. Good luck…Rob
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I remembered this discussion from February. Several posters wanted to know how to keep everything straight while you soldered it together. Attached should be a picture of a bracelet that I just made. The half round is rolled from an ingot that was forged and rolled to 4 gauge. I had a local machinist add the half round groove to an old economy mill that I use to roll other shapes.The edge wires are 14 gauge. You need to anneal both the half round and 14 gauge wire then pull it straight on your draw bench. Lacking a draw bench, take your time and use your anvil and hammer. Coat with boric acid and alcohol and set everything on a flat soldering pad, flux and solder one end. Pickle and inspect for alignment and adjust as needed. More boric acid and alcohol, add lots of flux and then carefully go from one end to the other. For me the key is using solder that is in wire form. It will follow the groove once it flows. The stone is a picture stone that I cut from a larger slab and the bezel is castellated. I have made this style for years in various forms and people seem to like it…Rob
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Beautiful work Rob! Now for the questions! I assume that you soldered on a flat soldering surface of some sort (not wire screen) and heated from above? And you applied the solder to the top (visible) side of the bracelet? Did you cut pieces of wire solder and lay them spaced at various points between the wire/half-round joints? Or apply it like stick solder; or lay the wire solder the whole length of the joints?
The wire solder pieces were applied at intervals along the length of the bracelet. The wire pieces were very small, maybe 1/8" long and 5 pieces per side. Once the solder flows, I try to pull it along with heat and stop when it stops. Pickle, add more boric acid and alcohol, add flow flux and solder if needed and then pull more solder. This was repeated three times. Then I usually go back after pickling and boric acid and alcohol and try to even the solder out over the length of the bracelet. Then pickle and clean. I have used this method over the years on several different designs and it works for me. The soldering surface was a 6X6 piece of hard solderite. When I solder twisted wire to a piece of 2X2 square wire, I presolder the flat surface of the square wile with small pallions and then solder the twisted wire to the solid 2X2 square wire. In all cases, I use a pair of heavy tweezers to carefully keep everything aligned and going together. If you squeeze the tweezers too much, you can deform the wire. Thanks…Rob
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Many thanks for the response Rob 
If you zoom in to the top bracelet you can see the back where it is 3 pieces joined together.
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