#metalsmithing

I had my first metalworking class today, and I made these! Be proud of me!

No, seriously. Those tiny little bits of metal? They involved two and a half jewelry saw blades and way more than two and a half attempts to get a taut blade in place, numerous methods of filing and over an hour just trying to get three flat edges filed, determining that sawing a tiny circle is way harder than it looks, and discovering the joys of flattening bent pieces of copper with a rawhide mallet. (The turkey vulture sketch took about two minutes.)

This is definitely going to be one of those things where I have to remind myself that it's okay if I'm not really good at it right out of the gate. Yes, I was that gifted kid who did really well and lots of stuff, and so I'm not always patient with myself when I run into something that has more of a learning curve. Thankfully I am stubborn, and by the end of the class I was pretty happy with my silly little copper shapes. The edges that will be stuck together are nice and even, and the pieces that will be sweat soldered have a good texture. They're not pretty, but that will come with time and practice (or so I need to remember again and again.)

i think both Mr. Skeleton and his horsy companion needs names! any suggestions?

i imagine this guy to be a sort of ferryman; guiding animals and perhaps people into the afterlife. he watches over the southern plains, stockyards, deserts; making sure that ever member of his herd makes it safely to the Otherside.

Jewelry class resumes and I continue to make everything but jewelry. Currently I’ve got:

nails (as in fake nails)

diz

spindle whorl (very unbalanced)

Scary safety issue. A few days ago, a fellow maker reached out to me. She had been experiencing persistent skin peeling on her fingers after soldering. She was confused because the solder tin she purchased on Amazon were explicitly labeled "Lead-Free" and "RoHS Compliant."

I asked her to send some samples to Orien for testing. The results came back today, and they were revealing: Lead, mercury, and cadmium were all present. While the levels were technically "within" RoHS limits, they were dangerously close to the maximum allowed threshold.

Here is the crucial truth: RoHS is an industrial standard. It was designed for circuit boards and electronics, not for wearable jewelry that sits against the skin for hours a day. Industrial standards typically allow up to 1000 ppm, while strict jewelry safety standards demand 100 ppm or less. That is a 10x difference in safety.