From the category archives:

Fusing

New Directions in Jewelry…

by lorigreenberg on July 8, 2010

If you’re a facebook friend and caught some recent posts and pictures you might already know that I’ve picked the jewelers torch up once again. I went to the Bead & Button show early this year to hang out with my buddy Chris Mode and to ‘help’ her in one of the the metal smithing classes she was teaching. I learned how to make a ring from a strip of metal sheet and how to set a bezel and stone. This was the result:

After that, we had some time to hang around in her 100 year old, red brick school house and she showed me how she solders bezels. This is the second time that someone has shown me and for some reason, this time it clicked. Maybe it is because I’ve tried on my own since the first time and failed. Maybe it’s because Chris has the magic touch. I don’t know. But I’m glad. Here is one of the first pieces I made upon returning home:

It’s a pendant that has a cab set into it that was once a glass bead. So, along with the silver work in this piece, there was a bead made in a torch and then fused in a kiln. If you think about it, that’s lots of hours that went into this piece.

Below is a rind with the same process. The difference is the organic shape of the bezel plate. I am surprised to find that I love sawing and filing and shaping. Chris loves soldering. I tell you, if we would be more near each other, we could really get some stuff done! in collaboration! I think I might just like to take that up with her.

And last, for this post, some links I’m working on. All made with beads that I’ve fused flat. My desire is to have lots of these and to link them together in bracelets and necklaces or to be used as clasps. I’m still working on honing my bezel setting technique and also the loop portion of these. I’m not fully happy with them yet but in a way I do like the primitive look of the metal. I think they would be interesting if they were antiqued also…exploiting the roughness of the silver from working it too much.

So, there you have it. My second (third?) foray into silver work. Now, I must head up to the UPS store to pick up my order from Rio with all of my new silver and a couple new tools that have been sitting and waiting for me while I was away on vacation. Next, I will receive the necessary die and crucibles that I ordered so that I can pour my own silver ingots and make my own bezel strips and wire sheet. That should be interesting!

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Don’t forget to vote to help Beads of Courage to win a grant from Pepsi for $25,000! Vote every day in July and please pass the link to everyone you can think of. Beads of Courage is currently in 39th place and needs to get into the top 10 to win the grant.

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One thing I got in Tucson. A fused glass tile.

by lorigreenberg on February 17, 2009

I know I promised thoughts on Tucson. You’d think I would have learned by now not to promise things but, they will be coming…I promise. In the meantime, here is one thing I got:

jc herrell glass tile

A JC Herrell fused enamel tile. I was spying these last year, as JC and I have our booths next to each other in Tucson. The last day of the show she had a discount rate and I couldn’t pass it up. It’s now on my window sill in the kitchen and I get to see it frequently throughout the day. LOVE it.

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Fusing the beads for silver settings.

by lorigreenberg on December 30, 2008

Table of contents for Fusing and Silver Project

Choosing the beads for the project.
Fusing the beads for silver settings.
Issues with fusing different glass beads.

I’ve accomplished step two of my project. I have fused the chunky glass focal beads into cabs that can now be set into silver. Here’s how it went down…

Beads into the kiln. Awaiting their fate.

glass beads into the kiln

I decided to put the kiln outside for this. I don’t know why. I do feel like I’m running out of space in the studio since I’m pulling out and using a bunch of tools and equipment that I’ve had tucked away. It’s time to do a reconfiguration and pack away tools I haven’t used in a while and bring the silver and fusing stuff to the fore. I love setting up new, efficient workstations. But that’s another post for another time.

While my kiln is electronically controlled, it is an older one that only holds one segment of a ramping schedule. That means, every time I need to change temperature I need to do it manually. It beeps when it is done with the segment. You may have heard about babysitting your kiln? This little baby monitor came in handy.

baby monitor for kiln sitting

One plus that I’ve found with transitioning into other media and techniques is that I can work in small spurts. When I make glass beads it takes me a while to get into the groove and I can’t stop in the middle. I have small children and during school breaks, weekends or evenings, that means I really can’t work. With the silver and fusing aspects coming into play, I can stop and start and squeeze little bits inbetween family time.

Here are the cabs. Shiny, fused and cool…ready to come out and be fondled for a while…

fused glass lampwork beads

While I love glass beads, there is something absolutely mesmerizing about them when they’re fused. They have the perfectly firepolished surface. When making glass beads in a torch we manipulate and work the glass as we see fit…when fused, they’re allowed to take the shape that the glass really wants to be. Perfectly organic and sensual in form.

Here’s an upclose:

fused lampwork glass beads

It’s a little hard to see their brilliance…here’s another shot…

close up of fused cabs Still a little hard to get the feeling? Imagine silver around the rims of the newly fused cabs below like the glass bead set in silver that I showed before. Would these not look cool as big funky rings?