I am done with the cuff, not *done* but DONE as in completed.

Last Sunday, I trimmed the corners, so the cuff would be easier to put on, and then soldered on the end bars.  Then it was finishing the filing and sanding. Afterwards I polished it and applied a liver of sulfur patina.  I was not happy with the colors I was getting, it was too gray, so I took the cuff and put it into the pickle to remove some of the patina and reapplied it, I did get some blues but was still not happy so I waited until this weekend to remove it reapply again – that would be application number three.

On Friday, since I was off from work (YEA, THREE DAY WEEKEND) I removed the patina, again, and then prepared my patina and very carefully applied it.  Friday night I left the cuff in very cold water to neutralize and to arrest the reaction.

Read the rest of the post and see the pictures here… (http://www.theadventuroussilversmith.com/1/post/2012/03/the-calamari-cuff-is-done.html)

Yesterday morning I headed down to the Vista Forge which is a part of the
Vista Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum for the first session of the Introduction to Blacksmithing class (there are 3 sessions).

I wanted to take this class since returning from Haystack but due to the ongoing heart issue I had to keep putting it off.  With everything now under control and being given the A-O-K, I signed up last month and yesterday was the first session.  This is traditional blacksmithing with coal fires where as you can be more modern and use a gas forge.

In this first session we learned the parts of the forge; how to clean, set and light the forge; how to maintain our fire by turning the crank on the blower; and we made our first tool – blacksmith tongs. For the tongs we had to do some forging, bending and riveting.

It is a dirty job.
It was a hot job
It is a tiring job.

The fresh coal that is put into the forge need help to start to burn which requires you to turn the crank of the blower. The coal also burns “dirty” so you get a green black smoke that is very dense and goes everywhere. Eventually the coal will burn and make “coke” . Then during the heating process you have to keep turning the crank to force more air over the coals which to helps to provide air to the coal and thus gets the item being heated up to temp faster.

I thought that taking the class at the end of the year would be a good time since the holidays were upon us and it would be cooler. I was wrong. The class was still full and it was 80 degrees F outside – which made it rather warm in the barn.  I had to take off my sweatshirt and I did sweat quite a bit.

I finished my tongs around 1:30 pm – so I sat,  had my lunch and then went home feeling very tired.  Once home, I knew I had to shower (again), I could feel grit on my face; my classes were covered in soot and my clothing had a black dust all over.  At 9 pm which was 5 hours later, I could still smell the coal smoke in my sinuses.

I was back at the cardiologist on Tuesday morning.  This was a follow up to see how the BP medication was working. It has helped some but not quite enough as my diastolic readings are still high and the pains and palpitations have not abated.

As are result the Doctor has put me on a calcium channel blocker. It will do two things, lower my bp a bit more  and hopefully reduce the pains the palpitations.   If the channel blocker doesn’t seem to help in two weeks I am to up the dose.   I am also supposed to continue monitoring my BP and write down when I have events.
My next follow up is 2 months unless things do not get better and at that time she would consider a long term heart monitor and possibly an angio as it would be the last test to do.

Oh, and in the mean time, I should also see my GP and have myself checked for esophageal problems. I guess some people have bad heart burn, spasms, etc… and it can appear to the person as palpitations and pains. And we need to rule that out just to be thorough

BUT the Doctor is not denying that I have a heart issue as there is my high blood pressure and the traces from the EKG do show something going on.

So I started the CB Wednesday and I have been even more tired for the past few days. I think my body has adjusted to the meds because I was not as tired when I woke up this morning.

All of this means still taking it easy, lots of sleep and no banging on metal for a while longer.

Yesterday was class #3 and next Saturday is #4 and the last class as well. I am now done working my way through the 11 twill samples given to us by the instructor BUT I am only half way through my project which when done will be an 80″ long by 3 1/2″ wide scarf. Each twill sample is about 3″ long and is separated from the next by a 1/2″ section of plain weave. I was planning to repeat each twill on the second half of the scarf using different colors than the first set but I have changed my mind. I have selected 11 other weave drafts that I can do  using the same threading thus making the scarf a real sampler.  I figure if I get about 4 done today and one or two more during the week, I can finish them up in the final week.

I have posted pictures of the various twills and the other weaves I am going add to the scarf on my Weaving page.  I have also posted a few pictures of my other projects.

I have come to the conclusion that taking a 3 year break from weaving has not resulted in me forgetting how to weave.  My biggest issue (fear) was warping the loom as I had never been shown how to do it properly and then when I dropped the silk warp and it all got tangled I freaked myself out about getting it correct. Then I had to stop weaving because of the bone spur and torn rotator cuff.   I got so frustrated with it that I sold off many of my books, bulk yarns, and some of the shuttles I had. I even posted my loom on eBay to sell it – TWICE.

I am glad that my loom did not sell as I have come back to the realization that I really do enjoy weaving.

My next project will be to pull out my loom and plan some rep-weave place mats.

While at Haystack, two interesting things happened..

The First –
I found myself talking (a lot) to several of the blacksmithing students.  Eventually we got around to our background, day jobs, and why we were at Haystack. It was all very interesting to meet people from such different backgrounds.  It was during two different conversations, I mentioned learning to make Chasing & Repousse tools and how I like to modify hammers since many of the older styles are no longer being made. In both cases they said since I like to bang with a hammer, I liked making my C&R tools, and I liked to modify hammers in general; I should take some blacksmithing classes and learn to make my own hammers – or at least how to take a commercially made hammer and re-forge it.
This was very a cool idea!

The Second -
For the student silent auction, which was a fund raising event for the school, I brought something I had made to put into the auction. I did this so I would not feel pressured to finish anything during class. Did I bring a metal object? No, I brought a scarf I had woven.   I figured and I was correct that most of the other items in the auction were those made in the various classes and that bringing something else just might spark some interest. Boy, was I correct, as a small bidding war started over the scarf.  The closing bid was over $50 and a few of my new friends were surprised to know that I had made it – and I was shocked to find out that they were bidding on it too.   This made me realize that hey, was was a decent weaver!

I had stopped weaving and was even considering selling my 3 looms (a folding rigid heddle, a two shaft table top, and a 27″ wide, folding 4-shaft floor loom) because I had a warping disaster on my larger loom three years ago and felt that I “could not get it”.  Back then, after dropping and totally tangling a silk warp, I figured I needed to take some classes [As usually I am mostly self taught] and was signed up for class but during this time, I found out I needed shoulder surgery. That put the kibosh on weaving until I was better. I cancelled the class and stopped weaving several months before the surgery. I even sold off some of the smaller tools I had bought. The loom was put in the back of the closet and I have not touched it since.  I wove the pink tweed scarf on the folding rigid heddle loom since it is easy to warp by self and over several evenings, I wove the scarf a few weeks before I left for Haystack.  A

The Result –
I decided to look into learning some blacksmithing and to finally take that weaving class I put off 3 years ago.

When I got home, I looked at the UCSD Craft Center schedule and there is an Intro Weaving class starting in 2 weeks and I am now currently enrolled.

I also looked at the Vista Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum because they teach blacksmithing there AND they have a weaving group too.  I decided that I would go down over the 3-day weekend and check it out.

I left for the weaving barn at the Vista Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum around 11:30 on Saturday, and it only took me 40 minutes to get there.The office was temporarily closed but I found some one to ask where the weaving and the blacksmithing were.

I went off to the blacksmithing area first.

The Blacksmithing 1 class was in process and there were about 12 students there making a triangular trivet. Everyone was very willing to talk to me and explain what they were working on. One of the two women I saw introduced me to the teacher.  I told them about how I was hanging with some of the blacksmiths at Haystack and that I wanted to learn the basics so I could then make my own hammers. The teachers eyebrows went up at that and said that he had several students that did make tools and hammers but these topics were a part of the Blacksmith 2 class. It was also mentioned that you must take the Intro to Blacksmithing before you can take Blacksmithing 1 which is also the prerequisite to Blacksmithing 2. I then inquired about if I did all of that, can you come in and use a forging space to make your own stuff if you don’t have your own forge. He said yes, when the classes were going on, if there was free space and at other times that could be arranged.  I also thought I might be able to hook up with someone who did have a forge and work with them to make some hammers, as a result of taking the classes.

It being a 90+ day, the forge area was warm but not unbearable. I figured that maybe I would not sign up for the Blacksmithing course until the fall when it would be cooler.

I then walked over to the Weaving barn.

There were two ladies in there, one was threading a reed (which is a front to back warping process) and the other woman was just doing some sweeping. I introduced myself, told them that I was interested in weaving again as I have not done much in 3 years, and that I had stopped because of the shoulder surgery and not really understanding how to warp my 4-shaft loom. They mentioned the Thursday morning weaving classes and I said I had a day job and could not come then. Millie, the woman not warping the loom, then said that she would be willing to teach me on Saturdays – and that they were hoping and trying to get more people in the barn on Saturdays. This got me excited so I told her which loom I had and she walked me over to it’s sister – yes it was the exact same loom.  We then walked around the barn looking at the other looms and she explained to me some of the differences between them, which was some thing I did not know.

It was explained to me that I could not bring in my loom and leave it there because of insurance. But they will teach me to weave on any loom I wanted and I can use the donated materials too; but that if you use the donated materials they want to then sell that piece in the Museum shop but every-once and a while, you can keep a piece.  I thought this was completely fair considering it would cost me nothing but a museum membership to learn and use the equipment – and if I am there weaving, I would be like a docent talking to people who visit.

Millie is leaving on vacation in a week or two but I said I would be back at the end of August – ready to start.  I will still take the class at the UCSD Craft center because it will give me the basics.

I then walked back to the Museum shop and joined for $40.