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Post by connrock on Nov 26, 2013 10:46:26 GMT -5
If you read my last post,,, linkYou'll see how this metal art all re-started itself and got me into "exploring" working with metal,,,, Many years ago,,,maybe 30-40 years,,, I was in a gift shop somewhere and saw a beautiful rose made from copper.I was awed by it and was thinking how very talented the person who made this must be! Well,,,,not being that talented,,,here I sat again thinking about that rose I saw sooooooo many years ago,,,,I thought to myself,,,"OK,,dummy,,,why not give it a shot"! LOL Well let me tell you I was one copper melting fool for a long time trying to braze thin copper rose petals to a much thicker steel teem! LOL And then came those pesky tiny leaves that went POOF,,, as they " evaporated"! LOL I may not very talented but one thing I am for sure is STUBBORN and I did keep at it until I managed to eke out my very first copper rose and bud vase,,,,  A short time later I made another rose/bud vase for my wife Nancy,,,,  I made a few more floral pieces and decided I had enough of this and moved onto repousse and a little chasing,,,,,, connrock |
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Post by 1dave on Nov 26, 2013 11:24:32 GMT -5
Splendiferous!
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Post by pghram on Nov 26, 2013 12:14:30 GMT -5
A true work of art.
Rich
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Post by wireholic on Nov 26, 2013 12:18:49 GMT -5
Stubborness is a good thing! Beautifull!!!
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chassroc
Cave Dweller 
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Nov 26, 2013 15:26:34 GMT -5
You are incredible...
How did you get the surface color...is that a chemical patina?
What are the shiny surfaces that look like a wter colr brush mark on your wifes bud vase
Charlie
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Post by connrock on Nov 28, 2013 9:50:41 GMT -5
Charlie, I'm not sure but I think it's called "flame coloring" on the rose pedals and leaves.As you heat metal with a torch it goes through various stages which turns the metal different colors. If you get good at it you can almost paint a picture but I'm happy with what I get. The nice thing about copper is that if you don't like the color(s) you got you can wire brush or sand the copper and have another go at it. Something I found when I tried to clear spray the colored copper was that the colors changed a little.I tried clear acrylic and clear lacquer and both did the same thing. The bud vase was etched and the shiny parts are the areas that aren't etched. A bit about my etching experience,,,, I knew absolutely nothing about etching and believe it or not,,I HATE to read!I skimmed through a tutorial on it and had at it! One very important part of the tutorial told about how long to leave the piece in and I just passed over that part! I put the piece in the salt water solution,hooked up the D batteries and left it until the next morning!When I checked my etching I found what looked like copper colored pea soup and the piece I was trying to etch was totally dissolved in the salt water,,,,back to the tutorial,,,,DUMMY! Although there are a lot of ways to get very fine detail when etching copper and brass I didn't go into that but just used a white permanent paint marker to draw simple "lines" on the bud vase.I should have left the vase in the salt bath longer but after my copper pea soup experience I was NOT going to etch the vase down to nothing! Basic etching copper is VERY easy and using the sea salt solution instead of the ferric chloride or other acids is something that I think is safer for us DIY's! You dissolve as much sea salt as possible with water and that's that! Here's a pretty good tutorial on sea salt etching,,,,, linkI used to "D" size flash light batteries and they worked fine for what I was trying to do. connrock |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Nov 28, 2013 10:19:36 GMT -5
Wow, Connrock, that's amazing work!
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,296
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Post by quartz on Nov 28, 2013 12:56:03 GMT -5
Really nice projects. Good to see what can be done when you challenge yourself, and stick with it 'till you get it right [stubborn].
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adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,759
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Post by adrian65 on Nov 28, 2013 14:09:10 GMT -5
Amazing, truly amazing!
Adrian
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Post by Tonyterner on Nov 30, 2013 13:36:01 GMT -5
Tom that is absolutely beautiful.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,358
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Post by herchenx on Dec 1, 2013 2:26:09 GMT -5
Really nice roses!
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Tom
fully equipped rock polisher
My dad Tom suddenly passed away yesterday, Just wanted his "rock" family to know.
Member since January 2013
Posts: 1,557
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Post by Tom on Dec 4, 2013 21:46:26 GMT -5
That is a real piece of quality work!
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Dec 5, 2013 6:17:50 GMT -5
Very beautiful roses & totally inspiring stories. Now I know what NOT to do. I am pretty good at reading instructions, but understanding & remembering them is another story. I just did my first metal piece & I will post a picture after I do the final touches on it. What was supposed to be a 3 hr class turned into 5 1/2 hrs & I was totally exhausted afterwards. So much for learning something new at my age. Definitely more tiring than spending 5 hours grinding rock!!!!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,999
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Post by jamesp on Dec 5, 2013 6:44:23 GMT -5
Great art work + great metal skills = masterpiece.
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Post by connrock on Dec 5, 2013 8:16:22 GMT -5
Donnie's Rocky Treasures,,,
I'm not good at reading and retaining something new I'm trying to do and have to keep going back to refresh myself many times till I get it right.
Every so often I look at allllllllll the tutorials/instructions/photos I printed out,,throw them away and make room for new ones.In time,,,,all of this has become VERY basic to me and I think back to when I didn't know anything about any given project I was trying to learn.
The older I get the more I have to refer back to instructions,etc and (like you) find it VERY tiring and in many cases frustrating.I get upset with myself because I can't remember things like I did when I was younger but the good part is,,,I CAN still learn!It may take longer and there are times at the end of a day of "learning" I am sooooooooo tired I can barely make it back up the stairs.
I've spent almost every day of my 6 year retirement down here and it's usually a day that starts at 6-7am till about 4-5pm.I do my computer "stuff"(like I am right now) finish that and go into my "would-be" shop and have at it.
Something new to me right now is teaching.On Mondays,for the past 7 weeks I've been teaching a woman the little I know about lapidary and metal work.She has never tumbled a rock,used saws,grinders or even held a torch in her hand before but even though she's only a few years younger then me(I'm 69),,,,,she is learning EVERY time she comes here.
So far she's cut and polished a cab and set it in a bezel setting in copper!She is also learning that it takes weeks and weeks to rough tumble rocks and she shakes her head every time she opens the tumbler to see how the rocks are progressing VERY slowly!
I think as we get older in life we have to have a certain mind set that tells us we can still learn,,,,,even if it's at a snails pace,,,,and we ARE going to be exhausted even after learning the most simple things!
There are a LOT of older people who won't push themselves into learning but as the saying goes,,,,You rest,,,,you rust and I aint ready to rust!
Keep learning all the time,,,,keep pushing yourself to exhaustion,,,,keep that stinkin' rust away!
connrock
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Post by 1dave on Dec 5, 2013 11:54:14 GMT -5
"Some minds are like concrete - all mixed up and set in their ways."
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Post by mohs on Dec 5, 2013 12:13:08 GMT -5
more power to your flower power ! E  |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,999
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Post by jamesp on Dec 5, 2013 13:28:49 GMT -5
"Some minds are like concrete - all mixed up and set in their ways." Outrageous statement LOL. |
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X - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's rocks
- O Henry
