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Post by stardiamond on Dec 27, 2023 15:52:14 GMT -5
Sporadic warm days for the next few months. How do I get my lapidary fix. My workspace is outside and very messy. I could bring the Genie indoors and use a lot of plastic sheets. I could learn silversmithing and set some of the cabs I've made. I could spend more time cleaning my house.
I don't like any of the alternatives. I already make more cabs than I sell. I investigated a local silversmithing class. The class costs $600 plus tools and supplies and I don't know if I have an aptitude for the work. I've never considered house cleaning recreational.
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Dec 27, 2023 16:11:13 GMT -5
Depending on how your outside workspace is set up. If it’s under a covered awning, wrap it with plastic wrap from the hardware store and get a propane tank and torch and use that to warm the inside. I did similar in my younger years when I did stone work. You’ll literally be working in shorts and a T-shirt if you seal it up decent enough.
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Post by jasoninsd on Dec 27, 2023 17:29:43 GMT -5
I've never considered house cleaning recreational. I don't know many who do think that! LOL
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wargrafix
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Post by wargrafix on Dec 27, 2023 17:49:55 GMT -5
I've never considered house cleaning recreational. I don't know many who do think that! LOL This guy
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Post by jasoninsd on Dec 27, 2023 17:59:08 GMT -5
I don't know many who do think that! LOL This guy
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Dec 27, 2023 18:29:17 GMT -5
I don't know many who do think that! LOL This guy Hey… that’s me
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dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
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Post by dshanpnw on Dec 28, 2023 9:08:06 GMT -5
Hello, do you have a tumbler or tumblers? Maybe tumble some "I wonder how these will turn out" rocks.
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Dec 28, 2023 19:06:34 GMT -5
This is why I moved my saw inside lol. It gets too cold even for quick trips to turn the crank and dump stuff into the kitty litter. My saw is in a plastic enclosed area in my basement which is heated (and probably like 75 degrees). I literally work in shorts and a tee. When the door is closed the saw room gets into the 80's and I have to wait for it to cool down between longer cuts! I can't even begin to imagine having an unheated work space. Bonus is that the basement is always nice and cool in the summer. I would have done very well as a cave dweller.
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NDK
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Post by NDK on Dec 31, 2023 14:00:52 GMT -5
Depending on how your outside workspace is set up. If it’s under a covered awning, wrap it with plastic wrap from the hardware store and get a propane tank and torch and use that to warm the inside. I did similar in my younger years when I did stone work. You’ll literally be working in shorts and a T-shirt if you seal it up decent enough. Depending on the temp, just blocking the wind makes a big difference.
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Dec 31, 2023 14:28:04 GMT -5
Depending on how your outside workspace is set up. If it’s under a covered awning, wrap it with plastic wrap from the hardware store and get a propane tank and torch and use that to warm the inside. I did similar in my younger years when I did stone work. You’ll literally be working in shorts and a T-shirt if you seal it up decent enough. Depending on the temp, just blocking the wind makes a big difference. Very true. I’m assuming he’s having issues with the water freezing thought. Funny story. When I was doing masonry (stone work) we were doing this job in the dead of winter, couple feet of snow on the ground and blizzard conditions. We set up scaffolding around the wall we were putting stone on and wrapped the scaffolding with thick sheets of construction tarp (the stuff I was referring to above). Anyway.. the owners left there dogs outside so they we’re coming into the fort to stay warm as we had a couple propane torches blasting to keep it warm in there and to prevent the mortar from freezing while we worked. The dogs were these big white long haired sheep dogs or something like that. One of the guys goes wtf is burning. We look over and one of the dogs had walked past a torch and literally burned his hair off the side of him. Not a little but a lot. He was laying under the scaffolding still smoldering 🤣🤣🤣. He was perfectly fine didn’t hurt him. But completely unaware that he had been on fire and singed his hair off his side.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 31, 2023 16:18:42 GMT -5
Poor guy! Were the owners pissed?
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Dec 31, 2023 16:22:45 GMT -5
Poor guy! Were the owners pissed? No. they never said anything about it. Tbh, don’t know if they even cared about them, considering they’d leave them outside. Maybe saw the owners once while I worked there. Was a typical thing working on rich peoples homes. Half of the places I worked on were vacation homes.
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
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Post by khara on Dec 31, 2023 17:29:08 GMT -5
Well, as soon as you mentioned house cleaning I perked up.🤓 I have been trying to find time to clean, well organize really, for months. This last year we did nothing but work and take care of family and our own home is now begging for attention. We have had some time off, finally, this last week and I’ve been spending it organizing. It started actually as doing some house projects but the garage was so disorganized it was making the projects hard so the project became organizing the garage.🤓🤓 Have anything like that you need to get done (anything you’ll be glad you did afterwards anyway)? Tedious admin things like organizing cabs and materials and inventorying might be good. Or rearranging your workspace for better working conditions.
If, and I don’t know how this is possible, but if you seriously aren’t interested in cleaning and organizing, I think setting some cabs sounds good since you said you have more than you can sell. You never mentioned wire wrapping. Cheaper than silver smithing. 600 bucks is pretty spendy to start off. Or you could find some YT videos on metalsmithing, get just the basic tools, start with copper, and see if you like it. There are also some really basic prong settings you can make just by soldering silver wire and bending the prongs around the front or cutting a silver/copper plate with little prongs that also bend over the front. Very few tools needed for these projects and it’d get some of your cabs set.
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Post by liveoak on Jan 1, 2024 7:40:42 GMT -5
Move indoors if you have a spare bedroom, why not. Much better to have your own space you can use year round, than have company (IMHO) !
Patty
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rockbrain
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Post by rockbrain on Jan 1, 2024 11:05:52 GMT -5
I started out making cabs and my wife was going to do wire wrapping. Cabs started to accumulate in larger and larger numbers. I took a shot at wire wrapping. I didn't think it was something that I would be able to do very well or even like. I still like making cabs better but it turns out that I really enjoy wrapping and the results.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 12, 2024 16:49:42 GMT -5
All my equipment is outside, except for the tumblers and they are in an unheated shed. I usually just take the winter off and start in spring...
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