Confidence in one's intellect, and perhaps some luck. When I put that bowl in my palm I hope that the cook made Vichysoisse that morning.
Actually, the students were suppose to close hole with a finger from
outside. Soup was served viciously hot. In addition to everything, it
was also pain tolerance test.
Leonid Surpin
Leonid, Obviously you worship perfection. However, your views
certainly run counter to those of John Ruskin, who in his comments
On Perfection said âNo good work whatever can be perfect, and the
demand for perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the
ends of art.â
Alma
... then placed the piece on my firing rack and heated it from below. The filings melted, and filled the gap nicely.
Alma: Sterling melting point is 893 C and fine silver melts at 961
C. Where is the trick?
However, lets continue on this trend. Should all the MS70 grade coins
be mistakenly melted down in a vat of other silver or gold, then the
"lower quality" MS67 move up the scale to a higher price despite
their dings and nicks caused by being ejected from the die merely
because of rarity⌠How much of a value is placed on them is
determined by the marketplace. And might in fact go even above the
former value of the MS70 coins in an open auction. Leonid really is
concerned not so much with value as with excellence â sometimes
they are the same thing and sometimes they are not. Leonid might want
to produce something that is so excellent that someone cannot afford
to buy it. So does it have any value if it sits in his studio unsold
forever?
No trick. All I know is that it worked. The tiny filings melted
without any harm to the reticulated silver. Had I used a solid piece
of fine silver to fill the gaps, I might have had a problem, but the
filings were so tiny that they just melted and fused together. The
gaps were very very small caused by the dimpled surface of the
reticulationâmore like little pin holes. Perhaps it was the flux
that helped the process. I used Batterns self pickling flux.
Alma
Alma,
Please allow me to comment on this topic. Leonid has a way to get
under a lot of peoples skin, but thatâs like listening to Howard
Stern. You either take away something you might be able to use, or
donât even give it another thought. Leonid is a perfectionist and he
makes great looking jewelry because he was taught from the beginning
to slow down and do it right. This post is not suppose to be about
finding easier ways to go around our mistakes, but to learn that any
artist/ jeweler should never be satisfied with good enough, nobody
will see it. If a part weâre going to solder doesnât fit flush, then
donât go forward until it does.
Mark
However, your views certainly run counter to those of John Ruskin, who in his comments On Perfection said "No good work whatever can be perfect, and the demand for perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art."
I fully subscribe to the above expression. However, to understand
it, we must look past the actual words.
Search for perfection is like a search for Philosopher Stone, for
that state, when one knows everything. Every scientist knows that it
is impossible. The expression which is attributed to Socrates âscio
me nescireâ holds. But, that does not stop them from pursuing the
knowledge, and likewise it should not stop us from attempts to
achieve perfection, fully realizing that it is not possible. John
Ruskinâs expression simply tells us that it is not the destination,
but the trip, which is the goal.
The second part of the expression is quite interesting as well.
Notice how carefully Ruskin uses the language. He knows that he is
stepping on treacherous ground. He does not talks of The Art, but the
âends of artâ. In his time, as well as now, the debate of the purpose
of art is still going on. If art is only about beauty, than paining
depicting something which is not beautiful, is not an art. We know it
is not the case, but than what is the definition of art⌠So Ruskin
uses âends of artâ to a avoid the conflict.
To borrow from Ruskin, I can ask - what are the ends of Goldsmithing
? What else could it be, but to celebrate perfection. And now we have
come a full circle again, and round, and round it goes.
Leonid Surpin
However, lets continue on this trend. Should all the MS70 grade coins be mistakenly melted down in a vat of other silver or gold, then the "lower quality" MS67 move up the scale to a higher price despite their dings and nicks caused by being ejected from the die merely because of rarity..
I want to congratulate you on your insight. That is exactly what the
industry wants to accomplish. By introducing âinnovationsâ like
lasers, mechanical this and that, they lowering overall quality, so
mass produced junk can look good in comparison. To paraphrase you -
they melting down all MS70, 67, 65, and etc. So if the highest
grade, that one can get is may AU40, than what used to be scrap,
becomes the product. I can hear numismatists chuckle.
How much of a value is placed on them is determined by the marketplace.
Marketplace only determines the price. The value of any piece is in
efforts expended on itâs creation.
Leonid might want to produce something that is so excellent that someone cannot afford to buy it. So does it have any value if it sits in his studio unsold forever?
In modern society we have a separation of labour, duties,
responsibilities, and etc⌠If we all do our part, the society
functions well. I am only concern with how to make something as best
as I can. It is the clientâs problem to figure out how to afford it.
Leonid Surpin
⌠then placed the piece on my firing rack and heated it from
below. The filings melted, and filled the gap nicely.
Alma: Sterling melting point is 893 C and fine silver melts at 961C. Where is the trick?
On top of that, reticulation is typically done using an alloy with
more copper even lower melting point. Hard to see how this could
work, unless, as was suggested to me long ago (I only ever tried it
once or twice, with poor results) the filings are used to give more
âfillâ to solder. I.e., if you pack the gaps with filings, add
paillions of solder at the base and melt it, the fine silver filings
might hold the solder in the gaps.
Noel
Excellence is a virtue unto itself. It does not matter one little bit
whether a finely crafted piece of work sells or not. The point here
is that ALL of us should strive to perfect our craftsmanship. Itâs
not a bad goal, for anyone. Difficult to achieve, but a great goal,
never-the-less.
Jay Whaley
Just a point of clarification. I do my reticulation on sterling as I
donât like the yellowish color of the reticulation silver. Also the
"gaps," are not really gaps, but tiny pinholes caused by the dimpled
surface of the reticulated piece. They are only visible if one holds
the piece up to the light. I use a minimum of the fine silver
filings,and although I heat the piece from below, I do bring the
torch to the surface at the last minuteto assure the fusing.
Even though the melting points between the sterling and the fine
silver are different, it does work for me. It was the way I was
taught. My teacher had us use fine silver filings. Were they real
gaps, I certainly would not be trying to fill them, but would shape
the bottom of the bezel so that it would sit perfectly on the base
plate.
No trick. All I know is that it worked..... Perhaps it was the flux that helped the process.
You suggest that flux lowers the melting point of fine silver?
Leonid has a way to get under a lot of peoples skin, but that's like listening to Howard Stern. You either take away something you might be able to use, or don't even give it another thought.
I will try not to get under anybodyâs skin in this post. I do not
know, if I am going to succeed though.
Nothing annoys me more than mental sloth. So called âintractable
problemsâ in goldsmithing is the direct result of it. Letâs take the
issue at hand. The problem before us is soldering a bezel to uneven
surface, which may result from processes like texturing, raising,
reticulation, and etcâŚ
I am going to run through couple of options, which by no means are
exhaustive of all available.
Cut an opening in your textured background, and solder. Outside of
bezel is smooth, inside of opening is smooth, the problem is solved.
No gaps, no fillers.
Using tracer punch, chase a groove, corresponding to bezel shape,
and solder. The punch will smooth out the surface, and bezel will fit
without any gaps. If chasing is not an option, than engrave the
groove.
Make lemonade out of lemons. Instead of soldering flush, solder
small tubing slices to bezel, and solder slices to textured
background. Instead of ugly gaps, you will have a decorative element;
and if stone is transparent, it would benefit from additional light.
If you still insist on having it exactly your way - having bezel
against textured background, and no openings. Make copy of your bezel
in wax, (wax bezel should fit inside your metal one). Warm you
textured metal and place wax bezel on. In short order, you will have
wax bezel with exact imprint of the surface. Place wax bezel inside
metal one, and secure with crazy glue. Now, you can file exact
contour, using wax bezel as guide.
You see, it is easy to use a label, like perfectionist, which is a
polite abbreviation for âthat man is crazyâ. I am far from
perfectionist, but I am a goldsmith, and I must work within the
constrains imposed by the profession. If one starts with
acknowledging certain standards, than one finds the way to uphold
them. As simply as that.
Leonid Surpin
Leonid, a crutial test. There is much pain to be overcome in this
game same as other games worth playing! What if the student covered
his/her finger with a fold of napkin, or a spit of bubblegum?
Sorry, I fully agree with your principles but the original topic is
soldering a bezel onto a textured base and there will be small gaps
to fill, and the silversmiths know of a suitable answer. This is not
Faberge but plain ordinary silverwork where an acceptable result with
the least outlay is the goal.
Regards, Alastair
Mystery solved. I asked a knowledable friend to explain what was
going on that enabled the fine silver to fuse. He said that there
probably was enough solder at the seam of the bezel which when heated
had flowed and mingled with the fine silver. Perhaps that is what
happened.
Alma
Hi Leonid
Often your emails are critical of what people are doing but vague as
to achieve a better result. This one, however, Is different and
downright useful!
Iâve done #1, and it can work. #2 is less clear but seems like it
could be a very cool idea. #3 is the prize, to me-- a practical way
to transfer the irregularities from the horizontal plane to the
vertical edge of the bezel.
I agree that this kind of creative problem solving is the challenge
and the joy of refusing to settle for âgood enoughâ.
Thanks for the practical solution to a problem I donât yet have!
Noel
George, I can only tell you what I did with the help and advice of
Don Dietz. I wanted to put a bezel on hammered sheet of metal. After
getting the texture I wanted and making the bezel, Don suggested a
technique for getting the bezel to sit flat. I traced the bezel onto
the textured silver with a sharpie and used the flex shaft to add a
flat channel that the bezel can âsitâ in. Not being the best with
power hand tools just yet, I made sure that I worked only on the
inside of the traced line so any slips would be under the stone.
This worked pretty well and I was able to get the bezel to sit
almost completely flat on the sheet without any gaps. Soldering from
there was a breeze. It just took time and a lot of patience. This
first one came out okay. Not perfect, but okay. The next was better
and I imagine, the more I work do it, the better Iâll get.
But it can be done without needing filler at all, even though Don
said a .005mm gap can be filled with solder without loss of
integrity. Frankly, I believe him. But you all seem to think he means
large gaps and he doesnât. He has always insisted that you do your
best to make your joins as best you can, but teeny tiny gaps happen
when youâre first learning and solder will fill them. Now, whether
or not theyâre good enough for resale, I wouldnât say. But I do know
that when I sell something Iâve made, I tell them I am a novice
fabricator and, as always when buying from a novice with no Master
to approve their works, you gets what you pays for.
While a Master might toss my pieces back into the scrap pile and
tell me to make it again, I canât afford that. So I keep them, wear
them myself, give them as gifts and/or sell them with the caveat that
they are from a beginner.
Thanks, Don. Wish I could take your class again. I learned soooooo
much!
Michele