[Ganoksin] [Issue #96] Tips From The Jeweler's Bench

The Ganoksin Project
S i n c e 1 9 9 6
Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Techniques
http://www.ganoksin.com

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Ganoksin is run by a group of people who believe in and love what
they're doing. If you enjoy our efforts, then please feel free to
show your support! purchase the official Orchid Pin.

http://www.ganoksin.com/shop

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In This Edition:

1. Cut Loose - Wax Carving Basics: Part 1
2. Working With Niobium - A Primer in the Semiprecious
3. Reticulation - Ridges and Ripples
4. Ornamental Chasing and Repousse
5. Enameling, Then and Now
6. Alloys - Look on the White Side
7. Casting Gold to Platinum
8. Sprues, Feed Sprues and Gates
9. Judith Hoyt - The human figure in metal and mixed media
10. Keith Lewis - From Propagandist to Humanist
11. Book Review - Art and Design in Modern Custom Folding Knives
12. Studio Visit - Garry Noffke
13. The Silicates - An Introduction
14. Uncommon Sorosilicate Gemstones - The Epidote group

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Dr. Sumner Silverman; A master sculpture of wax and gold repousse,
offers ten exquisite orchid pins / pendents, recreated in perfect
detail. Sumner's recent travels to Brazil, offered a real life look
at exotic and rarely seen species. He is on the faculty of Metalwerx
and a regular contributor to the Orchid Forum.

Sumner's exotic orchids are "epiphytse", which exist by clinging to
branches and trunks of host trees. They thrive on the humidity
rising from the jungle floor and on the meager nourishment
obtainable from old leaves and other debris collected in the
branches of the trees.

Wear it proudly, proclaim your support and membership in our global
community of committed jewelers and metal artists.

All the profits for these items goes right to support the Ganoksin
projects ongoing costs and development.

Purchase the official Orchid Pins and Pendents....

http://www.ganoksin.com/shop

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Join the most popular online community for jewelers, The Orchid
forums at http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid

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In This Edition of Tips From The Jeweler's Bench
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm

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1. Cut Loose - Wax Carving Basics: Part 1

If you are accustomed to working in this additive fashion, the
subtractive process of carving wax may be daunting to you at first.
It challenges you to find a form, such as a ring, that is trapped in
a block of wax. You must get an image of the piece in your mind's
eye, and then remove excess material until you have created that
image. Sound tricky? Well, it doesn't have to be.....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...ing-basics.htm

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2. Working With Niobium - A Primer in the Semiprecious

Niobium has many properties that make it an excellent candidate for
fabricated parts. Of particular interest to jewelry manufacturers and
designers are niobium's hypoallergenic nature, formability, and the
broad range of anodized colors that can be rendered on its surface.
It is considered hypoallergenic and safe to wear for even those most
sensitive to metal allergies.....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...um-working.htm

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3. Reticulation - Ridges and Ripples

Reticulation is not difficult, but it does take practice,
concentration, and a deft torch hand. Also, the pattern and
appearance of a reticulated piece is not predictable; you probably
won't get the same results twice....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...ticulation.htm

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4. Ornamental Chasing and Repousse

Working on the front of the piece only is called chasing. Repousse is
the combination of tracing the design on the front of the piece using
liners (tracers), raising a relief by pushing from the back using
different punches, and finally working the details on the front of
the piece. This method is the classical repousse technique. There is
also a "direct" repousse in which the design is drawn or transferred
on the back of the piece, and the relief is raised directly from
there, thus eliminating the initial tracing of the design....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...d_repousse.htm

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5. Enameling, Then and Now

Through the years, a variety of enameling techniques has been
developed. Some involve how the metal is prepared and some involve
how the enamel is applied. The following defines the most prevalent,
but by no means all, techniques....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...an-and-now.htm

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6. Alloys - Look on the White Side

In the jewelry industry, it's rare to have an alloy without
drawbacks, particularly when the alloy is not yellow. When designing
alloys, there are a number of hurdles to jump. First, color is
absolutely critical. Unfortunately, we alloy designers have a
relatively limited palette to work with. Gold and copper are the
only two metals that are truly "colored;" all others are varying
shades of gray. So when we design a white alloy, we don’t make it
"whiter," we make it "less yellow." ....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/white-alloys.htm

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7. Casting Gold to Platinum

The principle of bi-metal casting is really very simple: A wax model
is invested, cast and finished. A secondary wax is created, which is
going to become part of this piece. The wax is attached to the first
casting, re-invested and the metal is cast on, thus creating a piece
that is made with two metals. It is recommended that mechanical
fastening devices, such as plugs, tracks etc. be worked into the
design. The piece is then finished as usual....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...o-platinum.htm

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8. Sprues, Feed Sprues and Gates

A very high percentage of investment casting defects can be directly
or indirectly attributed to the design of the sprue system feeding
metal to the pattern. Defects such as incomplete pattern filling and
shrinkage porosity are easily identified as directly related to poor
sprue design. Gas porosit y might be caused by a poor burnout but it
could also be caused by casting at a higher than necessary
temperature. And the elevated temperature could be necessary for
complete pattern filling through an inadequate sprue system; this is
an example of the sprue system indirectly causing a defective
casting....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/wgc-sprues.htm

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9. Judith Hoyt - The human figure in metal and mixed media

For more than 20 years Judith Hoyt has parsed the human figure in
metal and mixed media. Beginning with a salvaged scrap of metal,
wood, a book, or other material with a history, she fashions solitary
or paired figures, often with a surprised or pensive mien, She is a
metallist to the extent that fabricated metal forms provide a ghostly
surface on which opaque paint is sparingly applied.....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/judith-hoyt.htm

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10. Keith Lewis - From Propagandist to Humanist

Possibly the most controversial jewelry artist now working in the
United States, Keith Lewis Is undergoing a transition from
propagandist to post activist artist. Defiantly 'out,' queer, gay,
and male, Lewis has spent the past decade or more dividing his time
between teaching, lecturing, and making art....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/Keith-Lewis.htm

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11. Book Review - Art and Design in Modern Custom Folding Knives

This book is not only very good, it is important. In the
introduction, author David Darom, who is a marine biologist,
photographer and collector of knives, describes becoming aware of a
gap between the exquisite work he saw in shows and a general
perception of folding knives primarily as practical tools. As a
successful author of 20 books on a wide range of subjects, Darom took
what was for him a logical route to close this gap; he made a
showcase book to exhibit what he calls a Hall of Fame of leading
knifemakers.....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...ing-knives.htm

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12. Studio Visit - Garry Noffke

Remote by design, the home and studio of Gary Noffke do indeed take
you to that 'other place.' Once you have cleared the formidable
driveway, you are on a rise that resonates with the echoes of the
active creek below. The smell of fresh ginger in the garden,
combined with the cool provided by the numerous shade trees of all
varieties, almost makes you believe you are not in....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...sit-noffke.htm

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13. The Silicates - An Introduction

Silicates comprise about a quarter of the known minerals and almost
40% of the common ones. The basic unit of structure of all silicate
crystals is the tetrahedron. There are four oxygen atoms, one located
at each apex of a regular tetrahedron. A single silicon atom is
located at the center of the tetrahedron. This silicon atom has a
valence charge of 4, meaning that it is looking to acquire four
electrons through sharing with other atoms to complete its outermost
energy shell, known as the valence shell.....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/silicates.htm

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14. Uncommon Sorosilicate Gemstones - The Epidote group

With the exception of orthorhombic zoisite (tanzanite and thulite),
discussed in the first article on the sorosilicate class of minerals,
the members of the epidote group form in the monoclinic crystal
system. Allanite, clinozoisite (the dimorph of zoisite), epidote,
hancockite, mukhinite, and piedmontite are members of this group....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/Sorosilicate.htm

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forums at http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid

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gemstones.

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Enjoy
Hanuman