Author Topic: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost  (Read 14811 times)

SwordGuy

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Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« on: March 05, 2014, 10:24:20 PM »

If you've read my journal you know I'm learning to make jewelry.

It's an expensive hobby but I'm hoping to be able to retire early and switch careers to one I'll enjoy more. 

I need more practice but copper, bronze, silver and gold (especially gold!) is expensive!

I'm looking for a way to practice on someone else's nickel and I know that all of you want to save a buck, too!

So, if you need rings, pendants, brooches, etc., I'm willing to make them for the cost of the materials and the shipping.

Here's the deal.

1. You tell me what kind of item you want and approximately what size you want it to be.   I'll work with you on that, particularly for ring sizes.

2. You tell me things you like or anything else you think is pertinent to helping me get inspired with a design you'll love and cherish.

3. I'll figure out what the cost of the materials will be and we'll agree on that.  If it's too rich for my blood, I'll decline to continue, because I've got most of the risk.

4. I'll buy the materials, make the item to my satisfaction, and send you a photo of it.

5. If you like it, you'll pay by paypal and I'll mail it to you.    Paypal gives you plenty of protection, probably more than me.

6. If you don't like the item in the photo, you can tell me to forget about it, or ask me to try again.  If I don't think you're a pita, I'll probably do so.  If I do think you're a pita, or I'm just too darn busy to try again, I'll tell you I'm too darn busy to try again.  Unless you're a rude pita, in which case I'll tell you to get lost.

7. The item will be done when it's done.  I have a day job and an ailing mom and a loving family.  This is an unpaid hobby, it comes after all that.  Plus I'm a student.  It might take me a dozen tries before I get it done to a level of quality that satisfies me.   If you've got to get something by a particular date this is the wrong way to go about meeting that need.

8. If you don't like the quality of my work, you can pay shipping and insurance and send it back for a full refund.

9. You acknowledge that I've been forthright and stated that I'm a student, not a master jeweler.  You acknowledge that you accept the terms and timelines listed here. 

10. That means you can't hold me to a master jeweler's standard.  If my work isn't to the level of quality that you wanted and that gives you some emotional trauma, you acknowledge that it's your fucking problem you're a wuss.  If it gives someone you care about some emotional trauma, you acknowledge your a fucking moron for hanging out with someone like that and that makes it your problem, too.  Either way, you agree that returning the item via an insured common carrier, signature required; and receiving a full refund is your only redress for not liking the work I did for you.    Since this is an audience that doesn't mind a bit of cursing and plain talking, I thought it best to just be blunt and plain spoken.

11. You agree you'll never divulge the price you paid for the item, just that you got a student and MMM discount.  I'll supply you with a proper retail price that you can divulge.  And yes, that price will be a lot more than you paid for it because you won't be paying for my labor, or my profit, or my overhead, or the markup to cover the cost of paying for expensive materials before I get any money to reimburse me.

PS - Designs with diamonds, rubies, sapphires or large sized items out of gold will almost certainly be too expensive for me to sell this way.

dragoncar

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2014, 10:43:58 PM »
Any pictures of your work?  I'm interested.

lifejoy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2014, 10:47:35 PM »
Pics would be cool

HappierAtHome

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2014, 12:36:28 AM »
Where do you source your materials? Only asking because you state that sapphires are too expensive, but I've been looking at sapphires online recently to buy and have set by a local jeweller, and they're actually pretty cheap. As in, a big, expensive sapphire is still only ~$200. (Would post the link to the site I've been looking at, but then this post would totally look like spam. Which it is not).

Very cool, anyway. Kudos for an awesome hobby.

meadow lark

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2014, 04:47:02 PM »
Very cool!  Unfortunately I am not letting myself buy any jewelry - but I think this is a really cool idea.

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2014, 06:24:46 PM »

Here are a few photos of work I've made:


SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #6 on: March 06, 2014, 06:28:15 PM »
A few more samples:

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2014, 06:29:39 PM »
And two more pieces (in 3 photos):

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #8 on: March 06, 2014, 06:32:46 PM »
Where do you source your materials? Only asking because you state that sapphires are too expensive, but I've been looking at sapphires online recently to buy and have set by a local jeweller, and they're actually pretty cheap. As in, a big, expensive sapphire is still only ~$200. (Would post the link to the site I've been looking at, but then this post would totally look like spam. Which it is not).

Very cool, anyway. Kudos for an awesome hobby.

They are cheap if you're selling them for a profit...   But I'm not, I'm eating the opportunity cost of the materials -- which might be over a goodly time period if I struggle to get the piece done to my satisfaction.

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2014, 07:31:14 PM »
Very cool!  Unfortunately I am not letting myself buy any jewelry - but I think this is a really cool idea.

I quite understand!   The MMM forum is probably the worst possible venue for marketing jewelry! :)

It is the kind of craft that takes lots of practice to get good at.  I'm hoping to spread a bit of sunshine and cut down my learning costs by reducing my material costs.

grantmeaname

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2014, 02:52:15 PM »
Sword Guy, have you gotten many takers yet? I may be interested in commissioning something, but I'd have to check with the recipient.

CommonCents

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2014, 03:22:57 PM »
Very cool!  Unfortunately I am not letting myself buy any jewelry - but I think this is a really cool idea.

I quite understand!   The MMM forum is probably the worst possible venue for marketing jewelry! :)

It is the kind of craft that takes lots of practice to get good at.  I'm hoping to spread a bit of sunshine and cut down my learning costs by reducing my material costs.

I dunno, it's an intriguing idea.  Can you give us an idea of what the materials might cost for some of the projects you've done (maybe a ballpark* on a few of the pics you provided, or say a few items like "simple gold earrings usually around X, complicated big three strand copper necklace about Y)?  I just have no idea what say, a copper versus gold necklace would be, and it seems that would be useful to know if it fits within a discretionary budget before you spend lots of time discussing speccing out a specific design.

*I totally get it'd be ballpark and not exact.

James

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2014, 03:31:34 PM »
I'm interested in a frog pendant for my daughter, I will send a PM.

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2014, 05:33:36 PM »
I dunno, it's an intriguing idea.  Can you give us an idea of what the materials might cost for some of the projects you've done (maybe a ballpark* on a few of the pics you provided, or say a few items like "simple gold earrings usually around X, complicated big three strand copper necklace about Y)?  I just have no idea what say, a copper versus gold necklace would be, and it seems that would be useful to know if it fits within a discretionary budget before you spend lots of time discussing speccing out a specific design.

*I totally get it'd be ballpark and not exact.

Sure, let's take earrings_2.jpg as an example, but make the Escher-like salamander imprints an applique out of fine silver. 

There are a number of materials I might use for the main metal, which would be 22g, or a smidge over 1mm thick.  We'll focus on these four:

Bronze
Sterling Silver
14K Gold-Filled
18K Gold.

Classic bronze is a beautiful metal, with a reddish-gold color.  My material cost for bronze earrings with sterling earring wires would be about $11.  Classic bronze is 90-92% copper and the rest is tin.  It is hard and durable.

(I don't make fine jewelry in brass because, well, it looks brassy.  Brass is circa 90-95% copper and the rest is zinc.  Brass is often labeled as bronze, which should be illegal, but apparently it isn't, more's the pity.)

Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and the rest is "other metals", traditionally copper.  There are some modern variants that don't tarnish as much and they run a bit higher.  It's relatively hard and durable, though less so than bronze.  Materials in sterling silver would run about 25 dollars.

(Fine silver is too soft for the earrings under discussion and too soft for jewelry that gets worn or handled a lot.  It is prettier though, and  (usually) barely tarnishes.)

14K gold is 14/24ths gold.  14K Gold-Filled has a layer of 14K Gold on both sides and is filled with other metal, typically brass.  5% of the weight of the metal is 14K Gold, the rest is brass.  Of course, only 14/24ths of the gold layer is gold, but hey, it's pretty.   This is much thicker than gold plating, so it wears better.  Material cost is about $50 and includes 22k plated earring wires.

18K gold is hard enough for the earrings, but I'm not sure about the earring wires, as I haven't made any. :(  Material cost for  these would be in the $800 range. 

Hope that helps.   I have little experience with gemstones, they aren't usually to my taste, so I haven't done much with them.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2014, 05:35:10 PM by SwordGuy »

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #14 on: March 07, 2014, 05:36:34 PM »
Material cost for the enameled silver bracelet would be about $125.


(Edited 'cause I forgot the enamel and wire costs.)
« Last Edit: March 07, 2014, 05:38:30 PM by SwordGuy »

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #15 on: March 07, 2014, 05:40:32 PM »
Sword Guy, have you gotten many takers yet? I may be interested in commissioning something, but I'd have to check with the recipient.

Important life lesson I learned about dating.  If I worried about whether the girl was dating someone else before I asked her out, she was always dating someone else by the time I asked.

I finally wised up and decided it was her problem to keep track of that, and mine to just go ahead and ask for the date. :)

grantmeaname

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #16 on: March 07, 2014, 10:04:43 PM »
Which thing, not whether to get something at all.

kkbmustang

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #17 on: March 29, 2014, 11:22:39 AM »
I like your jewelry. It's pretty. I'd be interested. I will PM you.

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #18 on: March 29, 2014, 03:32:16 PM »
Thanks!

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #19 on: April 03, 2014, 09:56:35 PM »
Here are some prototype earrings based upon a medieval Persian flower design.  Sterling silver, with green and pink enamel. 

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #20 on: April 03, 2014, 10:04:26 PM »
31st Anniversary present for my lovely bride, to match the necklace I made last year.  Based upon a medieval Turkish book cover design.

iris lily

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #21 on: April 03, 2014, 11:19:26 PM »
Here are some prototype earrings based upon a medieval Persian flower design.  Sterling silver, with green and pink enamel.
That immediately looked like a Persian motiff to me!

So that I understand: are you making the entire piece? Or are you buying--in this case the Persian flower piece--and drilling a hole and threading wire?
 
Thesephotos all look like different artistic visions to me.

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #22 on: April 04, 2014, 04:56:53 AM »
I start from plain manufactured sheet and wire, and lumps of glass that I grind up, and go from there. 
 

iris lily

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #23 on: April 04, 2014, 10:09:37 PM »
Ah, that Persian flower design is really lovely! Congrats on your originality!

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #24 on: May 03, 2021, 12:18:28 PM »
After many years of many failures, I think I'm on the cusp of being able to make this stuff.   Finally.    Because it's sure been frustrating for me to fail over and over.  :(

Wish me luck!

And the folks who sent me PMs all those years ago, too. :)

Metalcat

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #25 on: May 04, 2021, 07:07:08 PM »
Well I just linked this thread for another poster talking about lusting after a $3000 simple enameled pendant

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #26 on: May 04, 2021, 07:11:06 PM »
Well I just linked this thread for another poster talking about lusting after a $3000 simple enameled pendant

I might know the person who made it!   I hope they post here, I would like to ask them.  (Or you could for me...  hint ... hint...)


SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #27 on: May 04, 2021, 07:13:21 PM »
I had 20 earrings being 3d printed (6 designs, multiple copies of each) printing today in a castable wax resin.  16 hour job.  Had a huge thunderstorm go thru and the printer lost power with only a few hours to go.

So I'm starting up the print job again.  :(

I'm really excited because now I think I'll be able to make the things I've been wanting to make!


ender

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #28 on: May 04, 2021, 07:21:31 PM »
The fact that there are threads here closing in on 10 years old that the OP responds to is mind blowing.

I love this thread though :)

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #29 on: May 04, 2021, 07:26:32 PM »
Actually, @ender ,  I re-opened the thread.   

I've always felt bad about getting people's hopes up and then not being able to follow thru.    But I just kept failing at making things and, of course, life got in the way, too.

Now I'm retired and I've upped my skills and tools and I've found a way that I believe is within my skillset.

Lord knows I'm hoping it is!

Metalcat

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #30 on: May 04, 2021, 07:42:37 PM »
Well I just linked this thread for another poster talking about lusting after a $3000 simple enameled pendant

I might know the person who made it!   I hope they post here, I would like to ask them.  (Or you could for me...  hint ... hint...)

No, it's a designer brand, like an ultra expensive version of Tiffany. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Cleef_%26_Arpels

Thousands of dollars for simple enamel pendants.

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #31 on: May 04, 2021, 08:25:57 PM »
If they want to spend big money for a piece done by someone with real talent, they should check out  Ilgiz Fazulzyanov.    He's a modern master of Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles in enamel.

I know a lot of really good enamellers who don't charge anywhere near that much.    Ricky Frank, Merry-Lee Rae,   Sandra McEwen, Ruth Ball,  and a host more.

dragoncar

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #32 on: May 05, 2021, 02:38:49 AM »
Any rings of binding?

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #33 on: May 05, 2021, 07:33:53 AM »
Any rings of binding?

@dragoncar , I have an STL file for the one ring if that's what your asking...


Dancin'Dog

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #34 on: May 05, 2021, 07:45:40 AM »
SwordGuy,


I didn't realize that you make jewelry.  Enameling is such a beautiful craft.  I met a jeweler at an art show years ago that specialized in an enameling technique called "plique-a'-jour" which I was really impressed with.  It was similar to stained glass on a very detailed miniature scale. 


I look forward to seeing more of your work. 



SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #35 on: May 05, 2021, 08:42:44 AM »
SwordGuy,


I didn't realize that you make jewelry.  Enameling is such a beautiful craft.  I met a jeweler at an art show years ago that specialized in an enameling technique called "plique-a'-jour" which I was really impressed with.  It was similar to stained glass on a very detailed miniature scale. 


I look forward to seeing more of your work.

I do, but it's been a dry spell for the last decade.   Focusing on too many other things like getting rental properties done so we could retire.   That and aiming higher than my skills could handle...

Last several pages of my journal show up-and-coming work that I'm in the process of 3D printing so I can cast it and enamel it.  I have several plique-a-jour pieces designed and two designs are printing out as I write this (with 3 copies of each design).   I learned how to do that years ago but didn't pursue it because making the metal components was too hard and too time consuming.   Now I think that problem will disappear shortly.   

Dancin'Dog

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #36 on: May 05, 2021, 09:17:14 AM »
The 3D printer will really free up the time that you'd have had to spend on the metalworking & allow you to concentrate on your enameling skills and design work.  Experimentation and technical failures won't be nearly as frustrating since you'll have an endless supply of metal blanks to work with.  I'm sure you're very excited about the possibilities. 








SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #37 on: May 05, 2021, 10:25:25 AM »
The 3D printer will really free up the time that you'd have had to spend on the metalworking & allow you to concentrate on your enameling skills and design work.  Experimentation and technical failures won't be nearly as frustrating since you'll have an endless supply of metal blanks to work with.  I'm sure you're very excited about the possibilities.

You got it in one!   Plus I can print things I could never hope to do by hand.   

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #38 on: June 24, 2021, 08:04:41 PM »
Successfully cast 3 pieces earlier in the week (out of 9).   I'll be doing another cast on Saturday, I think I'll be able to up my percentage on this cast to 75% or better.  :)

grantmeaname

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #39 on: July 15, 2021, 12:56:38 PM »
I'm still interested if you are...

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #40 on: July 15, 2021, 05:37:05 PM »
I'm still interested if you are...

I'm working hard at it!   I've done more casting in the last two months than I did in the prior 10 years.   Most of my cast pieces now have minor flaws instead of being complete failures.   A few series are still complete failures and I'm working to understand how to fix them.

I've learned a fair bit out the 3D design software but maybe only 5% of what it's capable of.   I'm taking a class in August that will hopefully get me to the 10% level, which should get me to where I need to be to make the rest of the designs I'm already working on.

Just figured out how to add texture to a piece based on a photograph of the texture.  That's going to let me finish a piece for Zaga, hopefully next week.

I have about 30 pieces to put into flasks in the morning so I can cast them the next day.   (There's an 18-20 hour lag between when I put the models into the flasks and when they are ready to be used as molds.)

As soon as they come out I'm going to try my hand at silver plating them -- they're being cast in bronze.   Then I'll be able to enamel them but I'll need to work on my color palettes.

So I've still got several more months of work to do, but I'm making steady progress!

This is the latest piece I designed.   You can see the measurements in millimeters on the picture.   It has to be cast in two pieces due to technical limitations of my casting equipment.

I'll add you to the list!




grantmeaname

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #41 on: July 16, 2021, 06:56:01 AM »
that's incredible! I'm really glad you're back at it as I've really enjoyed following your work through the forum over the years.

Dicey

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #42 on: September 14, 2021, 10:02:32 AM »
Apparently my post count puts me in the Top 5 around here and I never knew this topic existed until today. So when I read your 2014 post, I was confused. Funny that you've just refreshed the thread. So much has changed since then!

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #43 on: September 14, 2021, 10:36:15 AM »
Took a casting class a couple of weeks ago and really upped my skill level. :)

I have a new piece of equipment to finish setting up (have to build a metal floor to fit with the metal wall around it).  It's a centrifugal casting machine.   I pinched a nerve in my neck and back and so it's slow going for another week or two.    I'm really sold on the advantages of centrifugal casting over vacuum casting!

I have a box full of 3d printed wax models to cast once the equipment is ready, including a couple of pendants I designed for @Zaga.   Had some air-bubble issues with the last cast of his piece but I think I can fix that this time around.   Then a bit of enameling and those will be done!

Then I'll need to start at the top of this list and try again.   But at least now I have a construction method that's working for me!

Moonwaves

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #44 on: September 15, 2021, 03:24:21 AM »
I must add my name to the list. I'm on a bit of a journey at the moment and have been thinking that something to celebrate the end of it (end of July 2022) might be a good idea.

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #45 on: September 15, 2021, 11:20:21 AM »
I must add my name to the list. I'm on a bit of a journey at the moment and have been thinking that something to celebrate the end of it (end of July 2022) might be a good idea.

You got lucky 'cause I meant to write a post saying, "The list is closed."

The list is now closed.

Moonwaves

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #46 on: September 16, 2021, 02:22:13 AM »
I must add my name to the list. I'm on a bit of a journey at the moment and have been thinking that something to celebrate the end of it (end of July 2022) might be a good idea.

You got lucky 'cause I meant to write a post saying, "The list is closed."

Woohoo! :-) Thank you.

Zaga

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #47 on: September 26, 2021, 09:03:24 AM »
I'm very excited to see what this pendant looks like!

SwordGuy

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #48 on: September 26, 2021, 02:03:28 PM »
I am too!

I haven't been able to cast with my new equipment because my back hurt too much to finish setting it up. :(

But it's a whole lot better as of yesterday.  If all goes well, I'll be ready in a few more days to set it up.

And the taxes are out of the way so I can focus on more fun things!

Your wax models are already printed and just waiting to be cast.

M2 pilot

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Re: Hand made Jewelry at material, shipping and insurance cost
« Reply #49 on: May 25, 2022, 08:11:02 PM »
Took a casting class a couple of weeks ago and really upped my skill level. :)

I have a new piece of equipment to finish setting up (have to build a metal floor to fit with the metal wall around it).  It's a centrifugal casting machine.   I pinched a nerve in my neck and back and so it's slow going for another week or two.    I'm really sold on the advantages of centrifugal casting over vacuum casting!

I have a box full of 3d printed wax models to cast once the equipment is ready, including a couple of pendants I designed for @Zaga.   Had some air-bubble issues with the last cast of his piece but I think I can fix that this time around.   Then a bit of enameling and those will be done!

Then I'll need to start at the top of this list and try again.   But at least now I have a construction method that's working for me!
This suggestion is sort of late, but 40 years or so ago, when I was making jewelry, I used a galvanized washtub  around the centrifugal casting machine.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!