Slide Pendant (Yay!)

Yah, just started. The plan is to try and make to sell to give me a little extra income when I move out the family roost!

Charlie.

Its wonderful! I want! You make these?? Diana

Thanks! I picked them from the garden a few weeks ago and just dried them between kitchen paper with some books on top. I was amazed at how they retained the colour!

Charlie.

I love it, Charlie! Aren't those fun???

Hell yeah! My mums already commisioned me to do a set of similar coasters with an old photo of my aunt in for my aunts birthday! How cool is that? It's such a simple idea too. I'm still perfecting my techniqie but I'm getting better all the time. I've also arranged to it in on a family friends workshop where he does stained glass, so I can perfect my soldering technique. If I'm honest, I can see this making a little money for me!

Charlie.

How do you hold them when you're soldering? I was going to try to vise of some sort, but held them in my fingers instead. Ow. Big ow. Part of the problem for me, I think, is that I'm cutting the glass slides in half to make smaller pendants. I really need to take a pic or two of what I've been making.

Up till now I've been using a hobby clamp (a small version of a D clamp). I have though just been given a mini vice that fastens to the table so I'll be trying that out when it's cleaned up. Apparently you can get things called "third hands" but from pics I've seen they didn't look sturdy enough.

So you think 1x1" slides would be too big for earrings? I want to make a set of necklace, bracelet and earrings.

Charlie.

Here is my thought...similar to my stained glass procedure.

I would use a bit of masking tape to hold the slides together, then start applying copper foil tape. Once one end is secure, remove the masking tape and clean the area with a bit of alcohol on a q-tip. then finish applying the copper foil tape. When soldering stained glass, I lay it on a corkboard and hold the pieced in place with straight pins. As things are tacked together, remove the straight pins and continue the finish soldering.

HTH!

That is very pretty and elegant. Shirley

In article , Charlie writes

I think 1"x1" would be cool for earrings. And I'm not a big earring person.

I did try a clamp that broke the glass, so I'm looking for other solutions. My ex is going to a large hamfest this weekend, and I think I'll have him search for a third hand for me. Thanks for reminding me!

Oh, and I dried a bunch of violets and other teensy flowers from my yard a few weeks ago. I used the crystals to do it, and they turned out great. Problem is, for those that I didn't use right away, even being kept in a Tupperware type container didn't keep them from rehydrating in this humidity. Maybe if I throw one of those little desiccant packets in the container with them it will help.

Mine clamps got large ends to the screw bit, about 1cm square (circular) and I only did it tight enough to hold it. Maybe you over tightened it?

Charlie.

I like it - very nice.

Kathy K

Charlie I love this! They must be great fun to make. (The pattern from your scanner is probably a moire pattern caused by incorrect resolution setting.)

I see the question is still in the realm of the theoretical.

I actually own a 'third hand', and if I get a chance to experiment, you can expect a report.

Otherwise, how abut propping the 'sandwich' so the edge you are working on protrudes up above the table, by putting it between two low, but heavy objects... or routing a groove in a piece of wood just wide and deep enough to support the slides?

Deirdre

Is it lying flat, or on edge when you do this?

Deirdre

I saw them online somewhere and I just think the other problem might be the crocodile clips damaging the glass or solder. I think I'll stick to the clamp / vice setup.

Charlie.

haha I like how you talk! It would be a setup issue in your software. For line art, you want very high resolution. For photos, etc if it's for screen and not print media, your screen resolution is 72dpi - for print, double