Crafts / Craftsmen / craftswomen (craftspeople, I suppose)

Thought I'd share my 'craftsy' project,
Hit 40 this year, been a messenger since I was 18 and now not really sure what to do so been trying different stuff.
Had a drunken conversation last year with a good friend about the value of jewelry, he was trying to get some stuff made and was being charged a lot of cash. So obviously after a few drinks I said I could do a better job than that and for a lot cheaper, his reply was ok then do it.
So the project was to make a choker type necklace that looked different for his new 'hippy' girlfriend.
I started with some steel rods, cut them up and welded them together to make a circle...

Next welded the 2 circles together one on top of the other.....

then started the long process of grinding and sanding (broke it so many times...)

When finished I cut it in half....

then drilled out the centre of rod 2mm and stuck in neodymium magnets I found off amazon so it looks pretty much seamless and then powdercoated clear and done.....

you can just about see the joins on both sides top and bottom

Overall he was really happy with it so this week I've been working on a new choker but this time he wants it to match this Elsa Peretti Tiffany bracelet....

I found out its made of copper and coated in ruthenium... so started by bending a big chunk of copper into a circle...

yesterday got it really well shaped, going to use the magnets again as an invisible join, will post a few more pics if anyones interested, cheers J

Nice work Jay! I'd certainly be interested in seeing more.

^ That bending machine is awesome!

Can I borrow it to use on one of my neighbours ;-)

Thanks Bare, ^the machine is my neighbours, he's a metal fabricator so helps out a lot with problems and has some nice old machinery....
My problem from yesterday was buffing through the necklace, I've got a tiny crack and it feels as thin as tin foil in one spot. My neighbour is going to tig weld it (copper rod) on Monday so it should solve the problem and give me enough new material to work with. I reckon if I tried it it would blow the piece apart knowing my luck. Overall got it shaped nicely so far, copper all over the place, pretty happy how it came along except for the crack....



^that's the crack, top piece, inch left of the 'V' bit (looks like an indent)

I had an unexpected evening off work tonight, so I spent it on the lathe. I've got a very limited selection of tools at the moment, and no chuck, so I'm pretty limited on what I can do. Will be investing in more soon. I made this little box from an off-cut of spalted beech. Wish I spent more time finishing it properly. I need to re-learn patience, after not doing any turning for a long time.

Nicely done Sam. That spalted beech has a lovely pattern to it.

The landlord at the pub commissioned a house-name plaque, for a christmas present. It's my first attempt at letter carving. I used an off-cut of elm I had lying around. Pretty happy with the finished product, but definitely room for improvement.

Looks good to me Sam!

I only done letter carving a couple of times now; This was one I made for my Uncle. It's done in reverse to the traditional style, by cutting away the background instead, leaving the letters in relief by about 3-4mm.

Very nice. What's the wood?

That was lime. I had to smother it in yacht varnish to ensure it would survive the weather for a few years :-)

I couldn't use a more brittle timber, for fear of the letters snapping off!

Nice sign, shame about the face fixings

Nice sign, shame about the face fixings

Can't remember why I did them like that now?

This is the other one. It was my 2nd attempt at carving ( about 5-6 years ago ) & was a present for my cat mad Mum. The cat's not meant to be realistic btw ;-)

Seems very quiet in here! Anybody got any new tools for Christmas?! I'm leaving the country at the weekend, and have finished work already, so I'm making the most of having the time off, and being at home, with the lathe. Made this for my Grandmother's Birthday. It's about 11" across, and the wood comes from an Oak tree, which fell across our road, when we had the really heavy snow a couple of years ago.

I was supposed to receive a dewalt track saw today but only the track arrived, no making for me yet.

Nice- I've made my own tracks and use them with my Makita circular saw, but of a hassle compared to the real thing though!

I considered doing that but after research thought I'd just bite the bullet and go for it, I tried to justify the Festool one but it was just too pricey.

Just started to play around with leatherwork, want to start doing wallets, cases etc. done a few wallets so far, very simple stuff but really nice to work with my hands after a whole day in front of a computer

What happened to the rest of the tree? :)

Are you off sailing the seas?

Seems very quiet in here! Anybody got any new tools for Christmas?! I'm leaving the country at the weekend, and have finished work already, so I'm making the most of having the time off, and being at home, with the lathe. Made this for my Grandmother's Birthday. It's about 11" across, and the wood comes from an Oak tree, which fell across our road, when we had the really heavy snow a couple of years ago.

Just started to play around with leatherwork, want to start doing wallets, cases etc. done a few wallets so far, very simple stuff but really nice to work with my hands after a whole day in front of a computer

Yeah I've been trying my hand at it, it's great fun.

I couldn't find any nice real sheepskin mittens for a sensible price so I just bought a bit of merino lambskin so I can make some:
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/DARK-BROWN-MERINO-LAMBSKIN-3-5-sq-ft-TOYS-TEDDIES-COLLARS-CUFFS-2001-/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/$(KGrHqZ,!nsE63V3Y3VvBO303JpEFg~~60_12.JPG
My partner suffers with Reynaud's so hopefully they'll keep her hands warm without resorting to skiing gloves.

What happened to the rest of the tree? :)

Are you off sailing the seas?

It was quite a big tree. lots of firewood, and kept the good stuff for turning etc:

And yes, I'm going to Australia and NZ for a few months, then going sailing again, across the Pacific to Chile, and beyond!

That's a big fucking tree. I'm moving to Dunedin in May, PM me if you want to come on a ride.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to be based in Auckland while I'm there, so that would be one hell of a ride!