Interlude: The RezLathe Takes On New Life As The RezPolisher!

November 22, 2009

I finally found out what my Christmas present from my father was going to be: An Inland 8 inch All-In-Wonder lapidary set! And it was IN THE MAIL ALREADY! Oh wow! Oh joy! So naturally, I had to make room in my crafting area (outdoor shed) for a new area as my lapidary station. As [...]

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An Essay In Crosses: Developing My First Silversmithed Jewelry (For My Wife’s Christmas).

November 13, 2009

Today is the day I resolved to attempt actual silversmithed jewelry. I have the thin strips of fine silver I hammered out previously. I figured the simplest thing I could do with those strips was to make crosses for presents for my wife, her cousin, and her friends. I tried out a variety of techniques [...]

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Interlude: A Helpful Python 3.1 Utility for Engraving using a CNC Machine

November 10, 2009

New! This utility is now hosted on SourceForge under GPL License! As I am getting very close to create silver shapes for jewelry, I may want to engrave those shapes on my CNC machine with various patterns after finishing. I use various utilities for creating the GCODE files for my engravings. However, I find myself [...]

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Producing Silver Products From Ingot Using A Homemade Drawplate

November 4, 2009

If I can’t make round wire using my homemade drawplate right now, so what? I’m only 50 miles away from fine silver wire, and yesterday while shopping for groceries (nearest store also being the same distance!) I bought about 10 feet of 22 gauge and 4 feet each of 20 and 18 gauge… enough to [...]

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Creating Silver Wire from Ingot Using A Homemade Drawplate

November 2, 2009

I finally used my homemade drawplate to create wire. I was intending to be self-sufficient in drawing wire. However, I discovered it far easier said than done… I took pieces off of a .999 fine silver trade token (a Liberty token) using a fiber-reinforced cutoff wheel, since I didn’t as yet have a metal saw [...]

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My First Homemade Wire & Strip Drawplate!

October 26, 2009

I had decided to shelve the RezLathe for the time being… because I had only a month left for making silver jewelry for my wife by Christmas, and nothing yet to show for it. So I decided to drop fifteen and punt. Because I am working in fine silver and because only sterling silver suppliers [...]

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My Wife Threw Down The Gauntlet, I Took It Up, And My Daughter Is Now Very Happy.

October 22, 2009

After my family (with my father-in-law visiting) finished dinner (they made pizza, and I made myself sauteed mutton slices Mediterranean style served rare, because it was “scrounge night”), my daughter showed off a pretty white pebble she picked up while walking up the hill with her Grampa back toward home after school. “Wow, what a [...]

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Christmas Is Just Around The Bend (And So Am I!)

October 18, 2009

My plans for my new phase of life are slowly starting to come together… I’m getting a lot of respect from my family by taking the route that I have. My wife is still skeptical, however, and wants to see “finished product”. As you all know, I have no intentions of giving myself the formal [...]

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The Vala Speaks In Defense of Fair Treatment Toward Autistics

October 5, 2009

I only take the callsign ‘Aulë’ in the same way that the character Lee Adama would take the name ‘Apollo’, or the character Sharon Agathon would take the name ‘Athena’. Lee and Sharon had those names as callsigns because those names said something about them: Lee was a natural leader and healer, Sharon was a [...]

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A Brief Digression… Because I had rocks in my head!

October 4, 2009

With my ultimate goal being to create inlay and intarsia with silver and minerals, I had always been on the lookout for an inexpensive diamond bandsaw. I was working on the RezLathe about two weeks ago when my shipment came in: a used, early model, Gryphon C series diamond bandsaw. I found it on Craigslist [...]

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