GET INLAID

I decided to hold off buying the materials for the art deco design I mentioned a couple posts back. The federal government has informed me, via TurboTax, that it prefer those dollars go to it this month, and so it shall be. I’ve decided to go back to those geometric designs I had started with, and use up the shell I have in the meantime. It’ll be both economic and make good sense as I backtrack to simpler designs and work on greater precision throughout the process. I’ve still got quite a bit of MOP and green abalone, but the paua is almost gone. Which is fine at this point. It’s pretty, but it’s tricky to work with. And then next month, I’ll be ready and able to order what I really want, materials-wise.

In other news, I did get my handle on my graver through a process of drilling and hammering. I drilled the hole as wide as I could reasonably drill it, placed the graver in a vise, then put the handle on top and gave it a few raps to get it down. It worked, but perhaps a little too well. It cracked the handle in 3 places. But it’s holding, and I filled the cracks with superglue. It feels pretty strong, and if I’m wrong, I’ll order another handle and be a little more judicious in my hammer application. You’d think they’d send directions with those things.

I also picked up an organizer for all the little pieces I had in various containers and cupboards in the general bench area. I like this better.