hello ganoksin family!!! belated happy holidays!!! it is i sabra
super novice - yet again i address the wonderful world of ganoksin
for who else can i turn to for questions and get informed - prompt
happy responses. i hope everyone is doing well.
well i’m just ready to kick myself. i’ve been taking individual
silversmithing classes my last one was on december 8, at cecila
bauer. i still have a long way to go. my sticking point is soldering
and fusion. on the acetelyne i’m pretty good fusing.999 jump rings.
i finally purchased the book by ms. bauer’s teacher: classical loop
in loop chains/jewelry making/jewelery author:jean reist stark &
metalsmith’s book of boxes & lockets jewelry i plan on keeping busy
during my down time. i will get some 18 gage and fuse fuse and fuse,
practice practice – practice, it’s the butane torch it’s difficult
to gage i have to pull back on going full burn on.
december 4 and 5th i was in brooklyn getting introduction to
enameling contemporary practice at liloeve — on facebook liloeve
posted gorgeous pictures. i’m the one with the butterflies and lotus
flower with cz stone (hey i used the hand saw like a student
possessed!)
i would love a used abi or any fairly user friendly tac fusion
welder because i’m alittle intimidated with soldering right now let
me know people i’ll be ready to purchase in summer 2011 so if you
come accross a tac fusion or pulse arc used in good condition tell
somebody.
i found out. the school of visual arts which most
people know is private and exclusive & usually expensive offers
fantastic continuing education jewelry courses all year round for
$470.00 + $30.00 (talk to emily in the continuing ed. office) the
instructors: lori hollander and victoria p. tillotson the wax class
is instructor: arthur kutcher sva jewelery making classes teach –
alot more in their 12 week course including — you choose your
projects, as opposed to an pre-assigned curriculm but — they do
give you the option of doing either. ms. hollander does enamelling
cloisonne, repousse, granulation for starters in designing your own
jewelry i and ii so i’m starting over summer 2011. ms. tillotson
does advanced courses. all their classes are equiped you don’t have
to purchase anything unless you have preference if you like to use
different metals. i am floored i didn’t do my research, could have
saved some cash but i don’t regret i learned alot. i hope this
helps anyone wanting to learn in nyc. my daughter’s
friend natasha graduated from sva and states they get instructors
that teach in other schools so they are pretty in demand.
the reason i am writing ganoksin brethren you would figure in new
york city someone would be teaching electroforming/metalforming
jewelry other than sherri haab who does not live in nyc. but, alas,
major jewelry manufacturers i guess don’t want you to know the
following. at shor international jewlery supplier - mr. john scott
informed me (for example) a small investment $2,500.00 for a
"rectifier,& precious metals plating bath & precious metal anodes &
solutions – they also sell educational tapes you can create hollow
jewelry that has a copper/nickel core that can be removed by a
copper acid like the ones they use to etch copper. so you can have
strong enough jewelry to use an arc pulse welder if you need to
granulate or attach small findings to.
it’s like this you carve a wax form: in the electroforming world
they call the wax a mandrel you can use other things to make a form
also but that’s all i know right now. first it is painted with
copper paint to make it conduct electricity - placed in chemical
bath with solutions that have silver, copper, gold, palladium
whatever. i know it’s a learning curve in about a few hours you can
have copper or silver. gold takes much longer, what i read so far:
charles lewis brain talked about this at length
gold electroform is taking a mandrel which can be made of various
materials (i like wax because i can melt it out) coat the mandrel in
copper/silver conductor paint, dry it, dip it in a “tin” solution for
60 seconds, clean it in water to further aid conductivity. next you
place it in a cold copper plating bath first, once the copper
electroplating is finished (about five hours) then it is placed in a
warm nickel plating bath so you need a unit which has a thermostat
and heater on one of the baths. furthermore, the bath equipment must
have agitation to remove bubbles which occur & may cause the precious
metal plating to be uneven. the next bath to adhere to the mandrel is
the most difficult & yet the most rewarding the cost point is the
draw for me. the gold bath which you need to electrify with a low
amperage for a long long long time it has to have anodes which are to
me the layperson little sticks with pure precious metal which will
electrically be removed from the anode & deposited on your
mandrel/jewlery. for a 18k or 24k gold bath you can use a stainless
steel anode or pure gold anode i’m not certain how much you have to
use. but the high point is you don’t have to go out and purchase a
avoirdupois ounce for $1,300.00 bucks!!! to electroform anything
less than 18k or 24k gold is a very very difficult thing to do
without help because 14k is greatly alloyed you would have to plate
it in so many different baths. for example what i’ve
gleaned: . — an eight inch bangle would take a gallon bath,. so i’m
looking for a teacher. shor won’t let me purchase equipment until i
get some learning under my belt. any takers? i learn fast help me
ganoksin.
thanks people luv ya!