Large Bowl

I've finally managed to finish the assembly of the large bowl. The size of this piece made soldering a challenge, but I made a breakthrough last night and here is the result....

Now the finishing process begins....

Kiln - Some Experiments

Finally got around to playing with the kiln again this weekend and here are the results.

The first experiment was to see if I could fill a silver frame with some transparent enamel. I decided on the following frame shape which I cut from an offcut of silver left over from another piece;

 

I'm not sure if the shape is more leaf like or if I'm trying to go for a flame motif in keeping with the kiln...

I then made up an enamel paste and filled the space, placing it on a wire support to go into the kiln. this, admittedly after a couple of attempts is what I've ended up with;

Unfortunately a couple of small specks of what I think is firestain got into the enamel just as I was taking it out of the kiln, but I actually quite like the effect...

Anyway...my daughter has taken quite a bit of interest in the kiln and has been looking for an excuse to use it. She came across this clip on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddk_YaNXhfc

and we decided that we'd like to have a go at making 'Shattered' Marbles as well.

Here are our results;

 

 

Kiln

One of the perils of the internet is that it allows you to make impulse purchases at the press of a mouse key...
...so that's how I ended up with this...my new kiln which arrived this week.

Today, I tried it out for the first time;

As it gets rather warm, I've set it up on firebricks both as protection and to stop it from moving around on the surface.

This shot shows it just after I took out my first experiment in enameling. Keeping it simple I put a thin layer of green enamel onto an offcut of silver. And here it is;

Not very impressive I suspect to you guys, but I'm rather pleased with it. Now the experiments in enameling can begin in earnest... :)

Piece in a Day Pt 2

Coffee break over, the following photos are of the piece with a preliminary finish and polish.

I think this means that I've 'technically' finished the piece in a day. However, I'm sure I'll keep fiddling with the finish over the next couple of days.....

Piece in a Day pt 1

Happy 2015 everybody. Today, I though I'd try to make a piece in a day, just to usher in the New Year and to stop myself from slobbing on the sofa...

I decided to make another copper bowl using an inner and outer skin to give the illusion of a much more substantial structure... Here's where I've got to so far...

The inner skin is attached to the rim. As you can probably see, it took me a couple of tries to get a smooth solder around the full circumference.

This picture shows the outer skin placed on top of the inner, awaiting soldering. You can see the borax flux (the white stuff) which is used to ensure the solder flows in roughly the right direction.

Th preceding three pictures show  the piece after the outer skin had been soldered. The final one shows the piece with much of the excess copper trimmed away. This also helped in the soldering.

 

So...after a fair bit of grinding and filing, the piece now looks like this. 

Time for a coffee break I think - I know some of you prefer tea, but for me it's coffee...then on to part 2......finishing and polishing...