Sadly, I seem to start lots of projects, and then put them down for months at a time. Seeing as it might get a little difficult to follow what is going on if I am skipping from one thing to another on here. I have decided to try to show projects from conception to delivery in one post. It will not be a true depiction of my process - but it should be better than bits here and bits there.
So, my first "project post": Sharks.
The idea for this came from some pictures I took while diving the Blue Hole in Belize. Now, before my skills as a photographer are disparaged, I would like to point out that these were taken at about 130' down.
It's the silhouettes that I love - they remind me of the experience, but there is more to it than that. Everyone who has watched Shark Week or Jaws or Planet Earth can't help but be amazed by these animals. I would eventually like the sale of my shark pieces to go towards preservation efforts - that is a bit down the road though.
Step 1: Attempt to draw what is floating about in my head. This is where I usually start to think about how to actually put the components together. For this project that is not as much of an issue, but for rings, necklaces etc.. it is best to have a game plan from the start.
Step 2: I am better at working in wax then metal. In order to create something replicable I chose to carve the shark model out of Wolf Wax. The wax was then put in silicone to make a mold. With that mold I can make as many identical metal castings as needed in any kind of metal (the mold is used to make wax copies which are then used to make the actual castings). When making a model it is important to make sure that it is exactly as you want it, every little imperfection WILL get transferred to every casting - thus, one little imperfection will become hundreds.
I start with a flat piece of Wolf Wax and then draw the shape I want. I then cut out the shape with a saw and start to do some basic contouring.
Once the basic shape is correct I start to add detail.
Step 3: Cleanup of the castings. These can be in any metal, in this case they are silver. Some caster will deliver the castings with the sprues attached. Sprues are metal "stems" that are left over from the casting process. If the caster removed them then great. If not then there is a bit of cutting and filing to do. Good casters will put the base where they put the sprues as much on quality of the casting as ease of cleanup. In this case, the sprues were located on the flattish area just behind the gills. Once the sprues are removed, the casting needs to be sanded and touched up, either by hand, or in a mass finishing system.
Below are both sides of a casting. These were sanded using 3M Bristle Discs and a flexshaft. The Bristle Discs are probably the coolest new invention of recent years. They allow even sanding of odd shapes with even coverage of detail I.E. inside the gill slits and mouth on this casting.
Step 4: What do I want to do with all these sharks? Yes, amazingly, my process is totally backwards. Below is one idea I was playing with. I am also kicking around ideas for earings (with help from a friend).
(it is clearly time I leave a dedicated camera on my workbench and stop reaching for the blackberry)
Step 5: As the head decider at my bench I decided to make a set of cufflinks. I am currently playing with a couple different types of cufflink backs - the one I used here is not my favorite. Attaching this type of finding is pretty easy. Plug in the pickle pot (acid that cleans the metal of oxides so that solder flows better) and file a flat spot on one side of a shark. Soldering works best if both sides of metal touch with no spaces in between. Once the pieces match up well you put a little borax on the joint and a solder chip and light up the torch. Once the solder flows take the torch away, quench and then put in the pickle.
This shows one soldered cufflink. I don't do a final polish until after the torch work - usually stopping at 400 or 600 grit - this picture shows the shark sanded up to a 400 grit level.
Step 6: Finish soldering work and then polish and buff. I generally use all the Bristle Discs, stopping at the 1 micron level and then buff using rouge and the flexshaft.
Voila! a set of shark cufflinks. I made these a while back and wear them quite a bit. From the pictures of my bench in older posts you can see lots of sharks swimming across the surface. They are awaiting the next project, not sure what that will be. Suggestions are welcome.