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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 23 6:57 pm Post subject: ages ago....

.... might have mentioned backyard alchemy and gold refining

several years ago i gave tt a 11 gram blob beaten into a rather cute pendant

short version , i cant be bothered to get it assayed, tis almost close to fine so who cares, if weighed in after x ray refraction there is about £500 of metal in it

so it has been pending, the mount to take a chain will be practical and easy, bend a bit of wire and weld it in is crude, silk and two tiny jet beads, with a few wraps of fine silver wire for strength and light resistance

the gold is makume gane gold with a white red and yellow mix
very pretty metal
i have not tried to photo that sort of thing, but as a scrapbag challenge it seems to be something i should share the how to do

tis oddly easy once the method is understood, it took me a while to refine the method

if the wt/volume/density is a rough measure, this went from 325 to well over 900

it is a bit of a nasty process, getting zinc out is horrid and needs a good breeze, copper ends up oxidizing and soaking into the dish or getting dissolved in acid by dropping a just solid blob into 35% hcl:roll:

metal is ace, bit hard to justify environmentally, probably unhealthy

i will admit to liking shiny, tis nice to work with, silver is a bit moody, shiny forgives with more grace

beating a blob of good stuff is a pleasure that i am probably too late in life to learn properly, turning low grade scrap into good shiny is possible at small scale with basic kit

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 23 8:31 am Post subject:

Metal working is something I have never done, although I have done quite a lot of plating over the years.

I set up a plating line which did copper and gold. Although it is supposed to be scientific these days, there is a great deal of 'feel' to it and I soon got the feel of the copper line. The gold I was never quite so happy with.
Most people wouldn't come near one of the baths; the electroless copper as it was thick, black and had copper coloured bubbles on it and looked rather as if the creature from the black swamp was going to appear any minute.

On another craft note, a thatcher came round to buy one of my besoms yesterday evening. He uses them to sweep down the thatch and he finds them ideal as he either uses the side for a good hard sweep or the end for a gentle one. One craft as a tool for another craft.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 23 8:31 am Post subject:

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 23 12:57 pm Post subject:

i started metal as soon as i could hold a saw and file, stood on a box at a choice of fitter's or smith's vice

metal is nice as a material and as bits of a thing

i got arty/artisany with small metal after quite a bit of working with big bits and machines and making stuff the shops do not stock

metals are a mixed bunch and then alloys add to the fun

it might have been best if humans had not got beyond bashing a few bits of shiny from alluvial nuggets to keep the dreadlocks in place

we are where we are, metal is nice to work with(most of the time) and very useful as well as pretty, useful bits can be pretty as well

i am not a metal expert, im not even expert in the metals i can use, i can often make some of them do what i want, sometimes they surprise me

every time is a learning experience, be it polishing cloud hamon steel or putting the correct labels on sodium that was mostly sodium azide

that last mention could include a mention of "if you did not read the paperwork it is not my problem you destroyed your hazchem facility"

some metals are moody, a part used can of sodium that was 30yrs old was at the top end of moody, having found it in my stores at work i waved it off in a bomb truck with a plastic roof and the right paperwork
when it arrived, they threw it in the incinerator, nobody was killed and i was not going to even contemplate them trying to avoid and deflect blame for a 6 month closure and a new incinerator

some metals are moody, metal compounds can be very moody as well

i am more cautious about casting after i had a bit of a mould volcano with a kilo of aluminium

another not my fault, i told the "experts" the mould needed at least two more days in the kiln to dry it and burn out the wax
at college, "the experts" were about a quarter of those in the job and less in metal manipulation

metal is magical even if you read technical stuff about it or play at using it

as a historical experiment, i rather fancy at the top of a beach with cassiterite sand, scraped azurite and blackthorn charcoal
25 yrs too late for me, i recon bronze bloom is possible with a mixed smelt

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 23 8:06 am Post subject:
My material of choice is wool or other yarn. I spin and have woven wool, knitted with it, used it to make rugs, crocheted and even made simple sprang etc. I also enjoy sewing and embroidery. I find it a lot easier to manipulate than metal or wood, although I do use wood to make besoms and spoons.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 23 12:53 pm Post subject:

metal, plants and animals are all ace materials that i have a few useful skills with to make stuff
all have multi uses most of which i am clueless about, at best i part know a few things they can be used for and how to do it

for example i can weld elderly cast iron to mend a fracture or glue rather thin bits of steel together, i have no idea how to weld aluminium, mig and tig are a mystery but if i could use a gas axe i reckoned a plasma torch or thermic lance would be ok (when i was a lot younger)

using a dremel on a flexi shaft is at my physical limit of power tool use

creating and dipping a couple of bits of neatly trimmed paper in ink and shellac to make them stealth black as "gaskets" to get the handle to fit is a challenge at times

if nowt else at least i have the means and how of fettling a rather work stained fenn that has been dangling until needed for several years

warm water, a bit of ecover detergent and as long as it takes in the ultrasonic bath beats more active stuff with brushes etc

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