January 2010

Oh, workbench -
Oh, workbench!
My new love and joy

Thats all I have so far and my *new* workbench is still un-assembled, in its box, in the living room (which does not have any furniture but that is another story).

I have been pondering for months about what type of workbench to get. As I wrote in April, I am using my sewing table as a work bench. It has it limitations - It is deep but not long; the table surface gives since it is not thick and heavy; I have a hole, covered with a board, where my sewing machine would go; and more.

Which is why I have been pondering getting a real workbench.

Of course we all lust after that double wide oak workbench from Otto Frei and then there is Valerie Heck who got a special handmade workbench from her grandfather (yes, we are all jealous of you Valerie, and if you go away, when you get home, that bench may be gone!)

We have a small workbench out in the garage that I have been using for my silversmithing - sinking, raising and annealing mostly, but with it being so cold I have not done anything all week out there. My husband even said I could get a basic bench when they are on sale and since I have used a workbench at some studios where I take classes I knew what size I might want but I honestly felt that the classic jewelers workbench I could afford was not big enough - and I mean big as in LONG.

I want a bench where I can have my stake holder at one end and a good vise at the other. In between I need a catch tray under the table top and some drawers. On top I want room for my pickle pot and room for the soldering and more so I am not always setting up and breaking down.

A few weeks ago I was at the Woodworking store in San Diego, I was buying some wooden balls for bouging. They had a great workbench there and it was long - a full 72″ in length and 24″ deep and the top was thick. I was in love!  Unfortunately it was over $500 - even more than I would pay for a basic jewelers workbench. I almost bought it but did not, my quest would continue.

THEN last week I was at Harbor Freight in Escondido and saw this workbench -  It was very similar to the one at the Woodworking store. Yes, I know, it is a knock off from China but it had big dimensions - 60″ long by 20″ deep with 4 drawers (which the other one did not have). This one was just under $200. I went home, signed up for the sale coupons by email [they have a sale almost every week - trust me]. I was waiting for a 15% off any non-sale item.

That coupon appeared in my email in-box yesterday! And where do you think we went today? And this is why I have an unassembled workbench in the living room.

I am now making space in my office/workspace for it.  I hope to do the assembly next weekend - I will post pictures then.

OH - WORKBENCH!!!!!!

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The swirl bowl is done, I took it out of the vibra-ora-tori-um this morning. It is amazing!

I did send (another) email to NMC asking about how to finish the inside surface. I thought I would texture it similar to the outside, and she responded that it would be a good idea. BUT once I sat down to do it, I changed my mind. You see, while I was working on the bowl, I came to the realization I that I am intrigued by positive and negative space and I figured the texture on the inside - on the actual bowl surface, not the swirl, would complement the outside which I had textured.

I did decide to planish the bowl surface but not planish the swirl. This, I hoped, would make the bowl surface shinny on the inside, but ‘matt’ on the outside (since it had been textured). Then the swirl on the outside, having been planished would also be shinny - thus illustrating the positive and negative space.   (i should have textured the swirl on the inside but did not.)

I am now going to let the bowl develop a natural patina, which will take time and while this happens I am hoping to keep the outside swirl and the bowl surface on the inside shinny to emphasize the positive and negative space

In linear time, it took three weeks to do this - Of course there was the day job, sleeping, eating, and the actual repousse in there as well, it just illustrates that doing repousse takes time.

As for actual time here I estimate that I put in almost 30 hours of ‘tapping time’. This does not include the 3 hours it took to make the bowl nor does it include the time for the pitch to cool and it does not include the time the bowl was in the pickle pot.

Below is a picture of the swirl bowl, all polished and pretty. Once again head over to Kernology to see the final pictures.

For reference, the bowl is 2.25″ in diameter and 1″ deep and it is in a 4″ square tile, on our kitchen counter - so you can see how small the bowl is!

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I spent more time yesterday and today working on my swirls bowl. Keeping track of which swirl I was on was hard so I resorted to using marking pens to indicate which one I had just finished. Then I would clean the ink off when I had done all three and just before I started the next round.

I did complete the repousse from the inside and most of the outside planishing and undercutting.

My quandary is what to do with the inside surface.

The bowl is a wee little thing - about 2.5 to no more than 3″ in diameter and not even 2″ in height. When you look at it, you are looking in to the interior of the bowl, the outside surface is really an after thought when looking at it.

I decided to add texture to the outside surface that was NOT the swirls to make the them stand out. I am now pondering doing the same on the inside.  This will take a day or two to percolate through my brain..

Go over to Kernology to see more pictures, there are over 20 now posted, and tell me what you would do with the inside. [Please]

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Last weekend I started another repousse project using a bowl I made.

There was some emotion in doing this - I made the bowl but what if I screwed up the chasing and repousse?

We all must take the plunge sometime.

I started with a small sketch pad of paper and drew some swirls in a circle. This was while the bowl was in the pickle pot, because I had to anneal it. After cleaning up the bowl from the pickle, using a black marker I traced out the swirls from the center bottom. It took several tries but I got the shape I wanted.

Next I had to pack the bowl with pitch so I could trace the outside of the bowl. This was a bit messy and HOT but I had laid down paper and finally on/in the pitch bowl (see picture below). Now, a week later I have finished the lining; I have removed the pitch from the inside; cleaned it up; and sunk the bowl into the pitch for working from the inside; and completed 4 rounds of work on all three swirls.

NMC was correct - “Slow is FAST” - I have been working very slowly, some nights only working on one arm of the swirl. I don’t want to mess it up and the best way to do that is to think about what I am doing and GOING SLOW!!

Today (well right now) I have removed the bowl from the pitch, so I anneal the bowl again and by tonight I should have the swirls done and the bowl back on top of the pitch so I can finish the undercutting and planishing - tomorrow.

Here is the first picture, and if you go to Kernology, (opens in a new window) I currently have 14 pictures in a slide show, and you can see the progress so far. You can also click on the picture

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Over at Hammermarks (opens in a new window), Wendy has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged us (her readers) join her in making a super bowl, on or for Super-Bowl Sunday [That would be February 7, 2010].

I think this is a great idea, and I have decided to join in on the fun.

Now I have to think of something that challenges ME!

Should I :

Make Tear Drop 2: - I think that might be cheating; but to see if I could make another in a smaller size would be a challenge.

Sink a simple bowl: - I have done these in various sizes starting from a 1″ disk to a 5″ disk, should I go for a larger size?

Raise a bowl: I have done one simple bowl and then I did a tray (which Deb says is truely wonderful job) - maybe I could add a curve to the body mid-height

Raise a Pint:  Actually I think raising a copper pint, along the lines of a traditional glass pint, would be appropriate, then I could drink a beer or other wonderful libation out of it.  Hmmm, would I or even, could I get it certified as a true Imperial Pint???

Off to do some research on the dimensions of a pint glass. Get that beer cold and ready!

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