March 2014 - Fold Forming Metal

Our March meeting will be lead by Cecilia Rosales and we'll be fold-forming 24gauge copper

Everyone will get a couple small pieces of 24ga copper. Foil is too thin, heavier gauges are difficult to work with.

We will need to have:

Annealing stations (at least one or two)

fire brick

torch

surface protection

quenching bowl or bucket

Tools:

ear plugs

safety glasses

anvil or tree stump

bench block

hammer (raising or forging hammers if you have them)

leather mallet

anvils and stakes

large vise

pliers, both chain nose, flat and wide jawed

prying tools (like a bench knife, butter knife)

We are planning to set up a hammering board (using a couple wooden stools, a large heavy board and come C-clamps.) If you have a sturdy stool that stands 29", please contact Lynette.

Learn Viking Knit in April

In April 2010 we'll have a Viking Knit Class given by Pat Kuehn. Viking knit looks complex but is not complicated - according to Pat! Once you've "knit" the wire around a mandrel, you pull it through a draw plate to gradually reduce the chain, work hardening in the process. Great for making bracelets or necklaces from which to hang your PMC pendants. 


You've likely seen Viking knit in projects many places. Now you'll know how to do it!

Materials list:

• 24 gauge wire  A spool of copper wire, purchased at any craft store, is perfect. Any artistic wire will do-any color(other gauges of wire can be used-24, 26 or 28 are easiest for beginners)  
  

• chainnose pliers
• roundnose pliers
• nylon-jaw pliers (if you have them - don't buy just for this)
• flush cutters or something to cut your wire
• end caps  (we can also just use your wire to create a wrapped end cap)
• clasp for closure 

More Charm Exchange Jewelry

Here's another great  necklace, made by Cheryl Colman, from the charms she collected at our December 2009 copper charm exchange.

Cheryl used some copper chains from the local hobby store to display her large collection of charms dramatically. (Note: not everyone got this many charms - the more you made to trade, the more you took home.) Great job, Cheryl.

Jewelry Created from 2009 Charm Exchange Charms

Creative uses of copper charms were on display at the February meeting where several people wore jewelry created from their copper charms. Shown here is how Carol Hale used her charms. She was disappointed that some of the charms she received were not completely sintered, and subsequently broke. But she made this wonderful necklace using her charms with turquoise and copper beads.

We will show more of these creations as photos are received.

Charmed, I'm Sure

Okay - I just couldn't wait. So instead of baking cookies or making those gifts for my Mom and my brother-in-law that are still unfinished, I spent yesterday making myself a charming necklace from my KCPMC Guild Copper Christmas Exchange Charms. It's a little over the top, but just hanging them onto a copper chain wasn't working for me. So, I added a few things: part of a watchband, a couple stone beads, a copper stamped filigree, a few blue glass beads, a cream-colored fossil from a friend and some Harbor Freight copper washers. I pounded the heck out of some 14 gauge wire and the washers, then annealed them with my torch before drilling a couple holes and some hammered texture. (That torch sure adds great color to copper!) Before using 20gauge copper wire to work wrapped loops, I darkened it in LOS to remove the shine a bit. Finished length is about 36" so it can be worn doubled or long.

I can't wait to see what everyone else does with their charms.

December Copper Charm Exchange 2009

What fun! What a variety! Last night 15 intrepid KCPMC Guild members came to our December meeting to share copper clay stories, nibble a snack buffet and swap charms. We felt bad for those who couldn't be there to share with us, but that didn't stop us from a great charm swap.

Here's a glimpse at the loot I brought home - can't wait to make something from all these great charms. Since not everyone made the same number of charms, some people got multiples of some and none of some, but we all got a great stash. (Be thinking about how to do this swap next year - our drawing numbers format got rather complicated toward the end and we are open to a better way to make charm selecting easy and equitable.

As you can see, some people polished, some did not. Some used patina, some tumble-polished, and one person made PMC Silver charms instead (Thanks, Carol!)

To see more pictures and most of the charms up close, go to my online web album or click on the rotating image cloud at top right.

It was very interesting to compare notes about firing the copper clay. Robin didn't know how black the stainless steel box would become and panicked that she had ruined her kiln. (She didn't - it's normal.) Some reports of cintering problems were shared as well as various resources and information about firing schedules. Clearly, there are a lot of variables with this process. Jennifer has had consistent good results with the procedures outline by Hadar Jacobson in her books and website. Check out her information about firing - click on How to Talk to your Kiln on this page.

Hopefully, we'll publish more photos here showing how we use our charms. KCPMC Guild members - please join me and comment, post or send me a pic of your finished project.

November Charm-making Meeting/Workshop

Wow! Last Tuesday night was a blast! 16 members and a guest gathered to work on making charms from copper clay. Charter member Debra Weld was on hand and shared some basic information on working with and firing copper clay. (She's an expert, after all!)

Most of the evening was spent intently focusing on making charms, which will be fired by several volunteer kiln owners before the December meeting when we will exchange charms with one another.

Carol and Betty got their heads together in one corner. They came prepared with previously created silicone molds. Janice and others brought plastic shape molds and stamps to use for textures.

Tools ranging from brushes and sculpting tools to mini-cutters and fingers all were useful. Everyone was working so intently even the normal conversation was minimal as we all got "charming."

Our brave, lone male attendee Jeff really knows what he's doing and jumped right in making his sculpted charms, while Carol pressed clay into a mold.

Carol preps a mold with a bit of Badger Balm for easy release.

Kana uses a rubber texture plate for impressing her design.

Char getting ready to roll out her clay.

We found out how the copper clay is messy, and requires a good clean up. Don't forget to soap and water wash your tools, work surfaces, textures, etc. before using them again with PMC or ArtClay Silver. Debra explained how copper clay contamination will cause black spots (similar to fire scale) in the silver that cannot be removed. Best to avoid it!