Jewelry Making TV School has a new website! We are expanding our classes to include online classes. Whether you want to learn wire wrapping, fabrication or lost wax casting we have you covered. We also have classes for lapidary arts, jewelry photography and very importantly marketing techniques for jewelry sellers! Take a look around and let us know what you think!

www.jewelrymakingtv.com

Gary

Yipee the wax model is done!!!!!

Gotta tell ya I had a few…issues… when making this piece. First I made the back of the pendant solid. Due to silver prices soaring, I opened up the back of the pendant to reduce the amount of silver needed for this piece.

Then I accidentally dropped the wax model…onto a tile floor. The wax is hard and brittle. Pieces of the model went flying in different directions. I’m not entirely sure, but I may have said a few bad words at this point.

The nice thing about wax is it’s pretty easy to repair, which I did once I located all the pieces. Whew, into a cotton lined box for safe keeping it goes.

Next I will put the wax model inside a flask and pour a mixture of plaster of Paris into the flask to surround the model.

Once the plaster mixture has set hard, the flasks will be placed in a kiln and slowly heated to between 1000 and 1250 degrees F. It will be held at that temperature until all wax residue has disappeared. The place where the wax was is now a void, hence the “lost wax” designation for this process. The metal is then melted and the mold is filled with liquid metal. The flask is then quenched in cold water. The plaster mold crumbles away, revealing the metal part, which faithfully reproduces every detail of the original wax model.

To be continued…

Now the magic! This chunk of wax will be transformed into an exact wax model of the Tears of Joy drawing.

Using an alcohol lamp I melt the wax onto these tools. The melted wax is then skillfully layered into a wax model. It’s like drawing with hot wax. Layer upon layer of hot wax is built up until the desired shape is reached. This is very time consuming!

If I get the wax too hot the wax will flow over the design. If the wax is not hot enough it wont flow. I must let any wax that doesn’t conform to my design cool and harden then I scraped or cut it away.

Learning how to manipulate the wax takes practice and a ton of patience.

To be continued…..

Time to put on my artistic hat and come up with a design for this pendant. During my interview with my customer I heard about all the fun times spent at Pyramid Lake while growing up. I about fell over because I too have spent tons of time at Pyramid Lake. Fun to hear we have something in common.

I came up with an idea to create a lake scene using the Obsidian cabochon to represent the pyramid shaped rock of Pyramid Lake. What totally sealed my decision were pictures recently posted on facebook sharing her recent time spent at…Pyramid Lake!

To be continued…

Gotta say I love a challenge.  A customer has commissioned me to make a pendant using her Obsidian teardrop cabochon…and she wants it to represent tears of joy. The challenge has begun.

Questions…I asked lots and lots of questions. What a great way to get to know someone!

I heard fun loving stories about places visited, people met and wonderful things explored.

It’s important to me the design captures the essence of the person I create it for.

To be continued….

Effie Wants YOU To Adopt Her!

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The debate about natural verses synthetic gemstones will be raged for years to come. However, for most of us dealing with just the facts will suffice to make decisions as to which to purchase and wear. So lets get to some facts.

Natural gemstones are one’s created over time by mother earth. They range widely in their imperfections and impurities. This is because they form in uncontrolled growing conditions. Often different gemstones can be found in the same dig. A good example of this can be a find of smoky quartz along with amethyst and citrine. They are all crystals of SiO2 but each with it’s own impurities, which imparts the different colors.

Synthetic gemstones are created in a laboratory under very controlled conditions. They are started from a ‘seed’ provided by a natural gemstone. Their growth is so precisely controlled that resulting gemstones have perfect color and clarity. The normal inclusions and impurities often found in natural gemstones are absent from the synthetic counterparts. These synthetic gemstones have the exact same chemical, optical and physical properties, as do natural occurring gemstones. This can sometimes make them seem ‘too’ perfect. Some of the more popular synthetic gemstones are rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

Which type gemstone do you want for yourself? The answer really comes down to money.

Natural gemstones are more expensive than their counterparts in the synthetic world. Natural gemstones tend to appreciate in value over time and most collectors and investors prefer natural gemstones. The subtle imperfections give each a unique character and oneness to that stone.

Synthetic gemstones provide a more affordable way for people to own nice jewelry. The flawlessness factor certainly is an attractive draw to synthetic gemstones and this factor makes for beautiful jewelry.

Purchasing gemstones can be a bit daunting, especially with some of the rather unscrupulous sellers today. So how do you know if a gemstone you are considering is natural or synthetic. It will always be best if you can make the determination on your own, but if you cannot, then ask. Any reputable jeweler or dealer will be honest with you about the origin of the stone. If they do not know or are unwilling to say, go somewhere else to make your purchase.

We were asked to exhibit our jewelry at the MalicJewels Jewelry and Gift Show here in Reno Nevada.

The show is at the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Center this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We hope you can find some time in your busy schedule to come by our booth and say hi.

Admission is free and the show hours are Friday 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Sunday is 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

We will see you at the show!!!