Another one of my to-dos this year crossed off. Finally I used my salary from a part time job and put up a home studio area! It has everything I need for polishing and a little more. Although it may be a little more technical than my other posts, I feel so proud I want to indulge myself with just one post on what my babies are.
First off is the work bench you see here. It is what they call a "butcher top" bench with a heavy hard wood top that can withstand most everyday torture we put to the table, including sawing and hammering. And with proper insulation, we can even solder on the table. In the front is a bench pin that sticks out, where we do most of the work without the obstacle of the table top so we can move freely in 360. The 2 rectangular shapes in the front can be pulled out to support my arm when needed.
On the wall I put up printouts of 2 images I used to have on my dorm room wall at college. It is my favorite time of classical peroid, the Pre-Raphaelite. One is the Ophelia of J.W.Waterhouse. He is absolutely my fav. The other is the ever haunting Lady of Shalott by William Holman Hunt.
This is the amount of polishing wheels I have to go through on a regular basis to prep my pieces before they go to a lathe and get final buff with finishing compound. These little wheels will be used with a device called the flex shaft, which is an extention from a motor.
This is a little cute desktop lathe for finishing. The industrial versions are huge and expensive. But mine is a Foredom as well though much slower and less powerful, the speed can be adjusted and it does basic job well. I have to get a seperate filter which so far I am very pleased with. It is a little inconvenient because I have only one so I have to move it around. My husband used to complain about me smelling like metal after a few hours of polishing work but not now. And it comes with a super bright LED light and a PVC shield. So I really cannot complain about this compact little baby.
Now this is a little embarrassing. My small firing station. I use a little creme brulee torch but it is really way too low to do a soldering properly. So it is more for emergency fixing rather than a set up I can rely on.
OK, before final finishing, we would usually "tumble" the pieces in a tumbler, which kinda looks like a blender but with steel shots in it. In the foreground, the one that looks like a rice cooker, is a ultrasonic cleaner, which makes diamonds sparkles! The little crock pot on the side is also for cleaning, but with pickling solution to clean the oxidation from firing a piece of metal.
This weird device is a ring stretcher/reducer and it works literally. Not good for stone set rings but works like magic otherwise. I have been dreaming to have one myself and finally made up my mind and bought it!Phew! OK, I am done showing off. Back to work ;)
