and one of the ingredients to making rings is metal of course and another very important ingredient are "ROCKS".
I've been thinking about this and planning for months now and I've got almost everything set up to start making my own cabochons and carved stones. I've been reading everything I can find on the web and I even got some great books like "Introduction to Lapidary" by Pansy D. Kraus, "American Lapidary, Designing the Carved Gemstone" by Henry Hunt and also another of his books called "Lapidary Carving for Creative Jewelry".
I scoured ebay and lapidary sites for photos of stones so I could develop a bit of judgement about what I was getting and I've been to two rock shows and stayed almost all day asking questions and sifting through ROCKS!
I got this fantastic ring from Tess at dolldisasterdesign on etsy.
It's a smashing silvered druzy agate in a setting that she made for me in a ring of size 9-1/2 (the lady with the fat little fingers!). I haven't found anything like that druzy yet myself. I stalk her shop and admire her quirky sense of style.
Anyway, I did take that class I mentioned From Dana Driver back in August and it was wonderful!
Here's one of her class samples:
I learned so much. I came with many questions about rock of all kinds and left knowing:
a) how to tumble rocks and why
b) how to cut and carve rocks using diamond drill bits and my flexshaft
c) how to embed silver wire into recesses I carved myself
d) the process of finishing the rocks in almost any manner I choose
e) building things with the rocks
I found this ring of hers at one of the galleries in Mendocino and snatched it up!
♥♥♥♥♥
Since then I purchased a combination trim saw and lap machine for myself so I could make some cabs and attempt faceting too.
Wanna see how my studio is shaping up? Sure you do!
I spent a couple of days and cleaned it all out. It looks so clean now.
That's my sink area cleaner than it's ever been and here's the "carving, tumbling and dop station" area.
This tumbler can hold 6 pounds of rock and grit at a time. It was an anniversary present from my husband. Sigh . . .
I also got another tumbler (one with 2-3 pound capacity barrels) so I could have dedicated tumblers for each size grit I want to use, course, medium and fine.
Then I got those rock slabs (see them again 2 posts back here) that I've been planning out the cutting of and I'm going to get to work on them soon. I've been reading a ton about rocks, hardness, diamond drill bits and bezels.
Check out this beautiful red reticulated quartz I found in a shop online. It's huge! It's peachy pink and I am going to set it into SOMETHING! (click on any photo for a larger view)
Here's my dedicated rotary drill I got just for carving rocks:
It wasn't expensive and not a name brand but I got a foredom foot pedal that makes it worth using.
Here's my carving station:
the dop station with sticks and wax ready for melting:
The tabletop convertible trim saw by Inland:
This is what a trim saw looks like and it's used to trim small slabs of rock into the smaller pieces for cabochons:
and this is the lap unit that's an interchangeable table top for the same machine and will hold discs with diamond particles on them in various grit sizes to grind stones into the shapes I want:
and the info sheet so I can refer to it when I am wondering what the hell I am doing:
I'm waiting for a warm sunny day because it's been very cold out there.
I just wanted to show you these two stone specimens I got, of all places on ebay. The stone is called "Ajoite".
The color knocks me out! I lllooooooove it!
I'm planning to cut the sparkly druzy looking one down and set pieces of it somehow and I'm going to fabricate a setting for the chunk of it on the left as is.
Here's a little bit about this stone I found on the web:
Ajoite was first found identified at Ajo in Arizona where it was discovered by the Papago Indians and highly valued as a bringer of purity and peace. Up until the early 1960's it was thought to be the only occurrence of this mineral. In fact it had been found, but not correctly identified, in 1947 at Messina (now called Musina) in the far North of South Africa. Only when a second pocket was discovered in 1960 was it correctly identified. The last discovery was in 1991 at the Messina mine in excess of 4000 foot below the surface. Since then the mine has been closed due to the very dangerous conditions - the mine in South Africa has become flooded. It is highly unlikely that the mine will ever be opened again. As a result of this the Ajoite crystals, which are much prized by mineral collectors, are virtually impossible to obtain.
Ajoite is highly prized by mineral collectors for it's intense blue/green coloring and also for it's metaphysical properties.
Scientific Properties:
Mohs Hardness of 5 with a microcrystal crystal structure.
Mystical Properties:
It is a strengthener, healer and harmonizer of the emotional body. It has very sweet vibrations not only to soothe us but to draw out the poison of one’s subconsciously held sorrows, fears, rage and old woundings. It can help release and overcome the sorrow, anger, fear, and heal old emotional wounds. Ajoite also helps connect to the Higher Self and God/Universe/Goddess/All That Is.
Excellent for meditation, Ajoite can bring both tears and laughter as feelings arise in what is often a deep yet gentle release of inner tensions. It can awaken feelings of forgiveness and compassion- for oneself as well as others which is key in the healing process on all levels. It acts as a stone of transformation, bringing change and growth in a spirit of love.
Healing Properties:
Physically, ajoite is a very powerful healing booster, and is a great stone for healers and spiritual seekers. It can be used for preservation and rejuvenation on all levels and can stimulate total well being.
I was never one to believe in such things but I really do like what I have read about this stone and that's why I had to have some. The package took over a month for it to get here. I was so glad to get it!
Today's quote:
"Anything you're good at contributes to happiness." -Bertrand Russell
I'm going to attempt to get good at exploring this new avenue. It makes me happy already.
RAW #2
I made this second ring for the challenge by cutting a piece of flat bezel wire with pinking shears and shaped it to my stone - a teardrop blue labradorite. Then I soldered it at the join and onto a little rectangular base that was bigger than the bezel using little cutout bits of sheet solder. I sawed out the shape of the base after I drew it on the silver with a sharpie. Very high tech work. After the sawing, because the points were sticking straight up my fingers were really sore trying to keep the piece on my bench block. But I persevered and shaped some heavy gauge 1/2 round wire and soldered it to the back.
I did saw these two little teardrops out of the back of my ring before I attached the band. The stone was so beautifully blue I wanted it to show on the other side and I'd seen other people do this and I wanted to give it a try.
See the little gold bits? I cut a couple of little short lengths of 22 kt gold wire and balled the ends, drilled a couple of holes in two of the rays of my ring and riveted them from the back. The other dots were stamped on with a marking punch that had the point hammered down by accident by a student of mine. A fortunate accident and I'm glad I kept it. The last things I did was add a patina to the little dots with a tiny paintbrush and polish off the top. I gave it a satin finish with a hard brass brush.
RAW #3
I made another set of stacking rings with PMC.
I got the rainbow colors on the one on the left by assembling parts together with thick PMC paste, sanding with medium grit sandpaper for texture, firing and adding patina with a warm solution of LOS. I think the yellows blues and reds were a result of using paste with a different level of silver particles in the binder. These two can be worn together and one peaks out from behind the other.
See some more rings here. It will boggle your mind!~




