Designing custom laser cut jewelry boxes, with trial and error.

Marathon Inspired Decorative Accessory

Here’s a collection of progress shots (reverse order) for a set of 6 enameled signet rings. The first marathon logo one is for myself, 4 alternate rings are for sale at the market. The spare one’s fate is yet to be decided.

The silver in these rings is a bit different than usual, it is a de-oxidizing sterling blend. It tarnishes much slower than normal sterling silver, with the drawback of lower hardness and higher cost. I got 3 troy ounces of the stuff a year ago, and have always had trouble getting it to cast right. I used the rest of it mixed with recycled silver on these rings, and they turned out terrific!

Toying with making a marathon signet ring (for myself) alongside some other designs for sale. I plan on using sterling silver and vitreous enamel for the design.

Some digital art this time. Pictured here is the S'pht Citadel of Antiquity from Marathon Durandal.

Work on this piece is ongoing

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Before the departure of the moon K'lia (and the ensuing desertification of the planet) Lhowon's many marshes brimmed with plant and animal life.

By the time we see it in game, the citadel has been reduced to an empty husk. The world Yarro and Pthia had built was long dead.

Just finished making this opal pendant. The casting process turned out a bit rough, but I managed to make do. It is a bit more delicate in form than my usual stuff.

I also already have a potential buyer. Price is only around 100, since the stone is lab grown.

Here are some turquoise and silver earrings. Soldering on the posts was a bit fiddly, But it turned out well. Still getting the hang of doing cabochon settings.

Applying tarnish to silver rings using liver of sulfur dissolved in hot water. If you polish it up a bit, you get a good contrast of light an dark.

I will say though, the stuff smells terrible. I set the can of dry concentrate closed on the table outside its sealed bag, and the whole place started smelling like rotten eggs almost immediately.

Working on a couple small pendant designs, two are from the Marathon games (the marathon insignia and jjarro insignia) plus a fun tentacle-y design.

Also experimenting with using ammonia to age the bronze’s surface (second image shows a die by side comparison)

Some things I have been working on recently.

The earrings are still in progress. I haven’t added the posts, and the stones are just sitting loosely in there for the photo.

Here’s a photo collage showing production stages of a ring

Just successfully cast a model that is much finer in structure than what I usually do. There is a limit to how thin pieces can be before the metal is unable to flow into them before it cools, and it looks like these are above that.

The surface quality of these test pieces is poor because I used a different resin than usual. It prints much better, having higher hardness and tensile strength.

Unfortunately the curing process required for a clean burnout is much more elaborate, and requires the model to soak in glycerin while under UV light. I didn’t want to go buy a bunch of glycerin just for one test. Since it worked, I will be doing so.

Made a pair of peridot/silver rings recently, I think they turned out pretty well.

Also big news: some of my pieces are for sale in Yachats Oregon, at the Toad Hall gift shop. I recommend checking it out if you are visiting the area (and the rock/mineral shop too).

My individually produced jewelry is a bit more pricey than the stuff made in bulk by larger workshops, but I try to make things that stand out as unique in some way. Here’s hoping people like it enough to buy.

A set of three silver rings, the larger one made for commission. The green stones are peridots, the dark red one is garnet.

Also pictured: the printed resin forms that are used to make the molds.

There were going to be four rings, but one of the pins broke while setting the stone. Things happen.

Some shots of rings I have recently made. The one with the small opal I made for my mother. The large opal ring is an improved version of a previous one, I recycled the old ring and re-used the stone.

I have been using my newly acquired vacuum caster to do make some rings.

The lapis lazuli ring was my first try at casting silver, and I think it turned out reasonably fair.

Setting the dark opal in its ring was an undertaking. I made the bezel around it a bit too thick, and was nervous about damaging the stone. Turned out pretty good though.

Made a pair of small red & white enamel doodads. The red enamel is not cooperating as well as the others I have tried.

They are probably too heavy to be earrings, but they would look nice.

Finished the enamel and set the stone on this piece earlier today. I think it turned out pretty well. The stone is a light green peridot, weighing about 0.7 grams. It has some intrusion flaws, but the color is to my liking.

This past week, I have been practicing enameling on metal, using the champlevè method. I’d like to use enamel to add a splash of color to my designs.

So far I have been using “brushable” liquid form enamel. It behaves like paint, and you can vary its thickness pretty easily. I think I have got a good handle on the process for firing in the kiln, and a toaster oven is very handy for thoroughly drying things.

Pictured is my second try at this. The first piece doesn’t look nearly as good.

So... garnets. These are the two best (imo) garnet pieces I have made so far.

Personally, I don’t like garnets very much. The ones I have tend to be dark, and only light up well from strong light at the right angles. The pendants have open backs, so light can shine through and give glimpses of color here and there. It took a bit of effort to set things up so that the gems got good light in these pictures.