I had a lot of fun with this week’s SRAJD jewelry design challenge. The theme for the month is Fairy Tales and this week was Little Red Riding Hood.
I decided to make the menacing forest out of steel and then added a spot of resin to represent Red herself.
If you’d like to see all the challenge designs for this week, click here.
I LEARN TO WELD
Welding class is coming along. I welded for the first time this week. It was scary because I don't do well with things that pop or explode, and I had to contend with not only my own torch loudly backfiring and showering me with sparks but all the people who were near me (especially directly behind me) whose torches were popping and sparking. I smelled more than my fair share of burnt hair.
I don’t think acetylene/oxygen welding is for me but I know it’s good experience.
I did have to get past the two things I’ve hammered into my muscle memory when soldering because it’s the opposite when welding.
In soldering, the metal has to be flush as solder does not fill the gap. But in welding, the rod DOES fill the gap… and then some.
In soldering, you must pull your torch back prior to melting the metal. In welding, you must keep the torch there until the metal becomes a molten puddle. For steel anyway… haven’t welded copper yet.
So our first exercise was to just work on making the molten puddle then moving it across the steel. Second exercise was adding welding rod to the puddle as we moved. After that, I got to experiment with joins. Tried butt join first (end to end). Then I did a corner join. Then I figured I’d better try some edge joins since the first thing I’ll be welding is my pyramid.
Just before the five hour mark my nerves were getting frayed so I called it a day. Here’s my lovely experimenting.
ETSY UPDATE
Etsy is attempting to get us to calculated shipping. Click here to read the story.
Your necklace is incredible. Stark yet the bit of red makes it approachable.
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