I uploaded another project to my project pages. This time I show the making of a bracelet from scratch.
The idea for the bracelet was based a common thrust bearing.
Take a look:
I uploaded another project to my project pages. This time I show the making of a bracelet from scratch.
The idea for the bracelet was based a common thrust bearing.
Take a look:
Hmmm.... it doesn't appear to have been a TOO permanent display, since it doesn't appear in the searchable index of the museum. Any clues?
LLoyd
Very nice and comprehensive photographic description.
I can't help asking if you considered or tried making those gold bearing retainers by presswork rather than the washer and dome method.
I noticed the pieces of paper in the lathe photos, I take it gold swarf doesn't get tossed out with the trash.
Jeff (Son of a San Francisco jeweler active through the '50s)
Beautiful work and a very nice writeup.
I'm curious why the spacing of the flange rivets was uneven.
/*********************************************************************/ Jim Wygralak Public key at
No way! Dental labs save all of their vacuum cleaner bags and even roll up their carpets once a year or so and send all of that stuff to a refiner. They get back fat checks.
Vaughn
Abrasha, it is funny that you say that this design was inspired by a thrust bearing. When I first saw a picture of that bracelet on your web page several years ago, one of the first things I thought was "Gee, sorta reminds me of a thrust bearing..."
I really enjoy your process pages. It is interesting to see how much work goes into something that, at a glance, looks quite simple. I'll bet simply documenting all of those steps is quite a job in itself. Great job, and thanks!
-AL
Yeah, I remember at my dad's jewelry plant the "wash sink", at which the "polishers" rinsed the rouge off jewelry and their hands, sat on top of and drained into what must have been a 70 gallon wooden "beer barrel" rigged so that the sludge settled to the bottom like it does in a septic tank.
Similar to the dental labs you mentioned, someone had to dig out that awful sludge from the barrel and transfer it into steel drums which got sent to the refiners.
The "bench men" wore aprons whose bottom corners fastened to hooks on the underside of their "workstations" so that the precious metal filings and drill shavings landed on the cloth. When they got up, they unfastened the aprons and shook the stuff in them into a metal basket fitted with a cover.
I still remember my dad going into orbit one morning when the regular night janitor was out and a temp came in who didn't know the routine. The guy dutifully dumped the contents of that can when it was nearly full enough to send to the refiners. Why it wasn't marked "Not Trash" before that happened is beyond me.
You know, I often wondered how honest the refiners hwere about the recovery value of what got sent to them. Maybe it was a kinder and gentler time back then.
Thanks for the mammaries,
Jeff
P.S. Here in Taxachusetts the dentists have to rig the spit sinks at each of their chairs with filtration systems to trap whatever solids their patients expectorate, to keep mercury from drilled out amalgam fillings from ending up in the sewage. Seems a bit of a stretch to me though. It was probably lobbied for like Hell by the sellers of those filters.
Spit sink!?!? I thought those went the way of the dinosaur. Haven't seen one of those in a dentists office for a long time, 20+ years or more.
Lane
Maybe I'm calling it by the wrong name, but it's that bowl shaped thing on the left side of the chair that you pour out the contents of your mouth into after the busty dental assistant hands you a paper cup of water and says, "Rinse".
Course I've been going to the same dentist for about 35 years and nothing much has changed about his setup save for the addition of UV light sources to cure the "epoxy" filling materials that seem to be replacing over the amalgams. But, he was the one who bitched to me about having to pay for the newfangled filtering system.
Jeff
Oh yes Jeff, I know of which you speak. I remember using them once upon a time. Your dentist is obviously very old school and not willing to update the equipment. Now they simply squirt some water in your mouth and put the suction tube in to suck it out. No more leaning over and spitting. When drilling etc they are always rinsing and sucking. The gunk doesn't have a chance to build up.
I went to another dentist once because my regular was on vacation, he had the same setup. Next time you go to your dentist you might quiz him as to why he continues to use it. Does your dentist use the rubber dams?
Lane
I didn't say in my introduction to the project, that it was on permanent display, I said it is in the permanent collection of the Oakland Museum. Besides, the searchable index of the museum is only of current and archived exhibitions, not the permanent collection.
As far as I know, the bracelet is on display. It is in the Decorative Arts department.
It is not uncommon though for museums to remove items of the permanent collection from display. The collections are just too large to display everything.
For instance, I have a Menorah in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian. It was on display as long as the curator who bought is for the museum was in charge. I am almost certain, that his successor removed it from display, as well as many of the other pieces that he had brought in, so he could make room for the items that he has acquired for the museum. That's usually how it goes.
Where does all that stuff go? Think of the last scene of the movie "Raiders of the lost Ark."
Abrasha
No, I never considered that. And since you did, I still would not use that method. I would not be able to achieve the same precision, that I want. I am not saying, that it is not possible to achieve the same precision, just that i could not do it. Besides, I would have to make the tooling for it first.
No way. That's my piggy bank for either new tools, taxes or whatever else I need money for. It's a great way to save, because you cannot take money out as you are saving. Adds up fast.
Abrasha
Thank you.
I do that on purpose, because I find it more interesting than even spaced rivets, (like in a bolt circle).
I makes the design (any design) more dynamic. Evenly spaced rivets make it more static.
Abrasha
That's why I have the quote by Gae Aulenti on the intro page of my process pages:
"Simplicity is the most difficult thing to achieve"
I also have that quote on the wall of above my desk.
No shit! I took a total of 393 photos during the making of the bracelet, with my first digital camera. It was a Fuji MX-700, with all of 1.5 megapixels. I took that many with various lighting settings, to make sure that I got at least one good image of each setup that would be usable. I then had to look at all of them and edit them to make them usable for the site. Cropping, sharpening, color balancing, etc. Those damn drop shadows alone took me quite some time.
For Machined Ring #4, I took 273 photos, and for the Washer Ring 173
You're welcome. I hope to do more. It's a lot of work, but when it's done, it's very satisfying, and it gives people an idea of how I do my work.
I always enjoy it when other people show their process also, like when someone rebuilds a lathe. Some time ago, there was someone in this ng, who showed the making of a very complicated model of an airplane engine with the cylinders in a circle. That process was great.
Abrasha
Lovely stuff, as usual.
Peter
Refiners are a regular topic of discussion on dental lab forums.
Vaughn
Nice work. Thanks for sharing it.
One question: since you only used the silver pins for alignment, why silver and not something less esoteric? 'Cause of its softness, or just what was at hand?
Joe
Abrasha wrote:
Very nicely finished work that you do. Do the balls roll?
The doming block set looks like a great piece of tooling. I particularly like the disk collet chuck.
WB .................
Esoteric? Nothing esoteric about silver.
Actually, because of it's hardness. In my shop I have only a couple of options to make a piece of wire with a ball at one end. Silver or gold. Obviously silver is a cheaper option, although I could also use the gold and melt it back down afterwards.
I could also use copper instead of silver, but copper is much too soft. It would bend while working with it, so silver was the logical choice. Cheaper than gold, harder than copper.
Abrasha
Yes
It's a standard set you can find in practically every goldsmith's shop, going back to the 18th century.
Abrasha
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