Damascus protea ring

Walking past yet another ad for the Browns protea ring




got me thinking what it could actually be. I have made many based on that model at work but this btech is about pushing further than the commercial work I normally do.

I've been mulling over what to do with the other damascus piece I have, now I'm thinking protea inspired inlay




More to come on this one

Finishing the Enzo moon plate

The contrasts in carving only become properly evident after a patina or some other method of colouring is applied to the metal.

Today I added a black finish to the steel by heating it and quenching it in cooking (sunflower) oil.




It took several goes to get it looking good. It seems to build up in layers. I brass brushed the whole thing first time round, then selectively sanded it. Then back in the quench, then selectively sanding again.

The results are fairly pleasing although next time I inlay I will be much lighter on the hammer, trying the clean up the marks around the inlay is tricky.



I'm going to mount this one in wood, or possibly slate, not sure yet.

Sumi study of birds in the hedge

I got some new ink from a friend who went to China.




So to try it out I did a short study of the birds I'm planning to paint on silk.

One of the aims of sumi-e is to use different shades of ink across the composition. In order to achieve this, 5 bowls of lighter shades are mixed before hand. I only used three here.




The darkest shade is in the ink stone itself and I diluted it in varying quantities to get the light shades. Then it's a case of loading your brush correctly to get the best mix of shades in one stroke.

Enzo 94

Angloplat competition part 2

There is a plant with a little white flower in my garden which I thought was perfect for this project.

After shaping the ring, I tried to grind the top cavity for the inlay with a ball burr on the pendant motor. Two ball burrs later, I realised that actually chisels are the right tool for the job.

I set up the ring in my pitch bowl and started carving the cavity, about 1mm deep. I undercut the side walls and sanded the small metal burrs off in preparation for the platinum.

Using masking tape and a pencil, I marked the size and shape of the cavity, sticking it onto a piece of platinum I had rolled to 1.3mm thick. I cut out the shape and carved a small recess into the back of the platinum to increase the surface area so when I hammer it down it spreads further into the undercut.

 Next up was drawing the flower and stem, carving the background away and using a punch to flatten and texture it.

Carving the petals and stem to a formed and bright finish.

Lastly, I shaped little scallops into the damascus rim and finish sanded it to 800.
I used ferric chloride to etch the damascus to show it's patterned nature. The ferric chloride has no effect on the platinum.

My thanks to Dewet Vanzyl for providing me with the damascus and Tiaan Burger for technical information during the process, as well as Angloplat for providing the platinum and the platform.

The final product:

Enzo 90

Enzo 88

Enzo 83

Enzo 80

Enzo 75

Enzo 70

Enzo 69

Enzo 66

Enzo 64

Enzo 63

I'm thinking of using hummingbirds as a motif in the next project so I gave it a bash. Learning from the sparrow I copied. This one doesn't have enough flow but I'll practice when I've got some time.

Enzo 62

I took this opportunity to practice some grass. I'm planning to make a scarf with sumi painting and a carved metal component. The composition is not locked in yet but I'm thinking swampy grasses and possibly weaver birds.

Reed beads

Whilst collecting rocks for my garden at the local stream, I was moving these dried reeds out the way when I suddenly saw that they were in fact the source of those grey beads used in traditional beading.

Intellectually, I was aware that they are seeds and come from some plant but I've not seen them in situ as it were.

I've gathered some up and may use them, although beading is not my current focus, sometimes we are given things to work with by accident. Or perhaps it's by design we can't see yet.