Next up…
Saturday after I’d glued the design into the ground, I wasn’t quite ready to leave the shop. I just hadn’t sweat enough, so I started thinking about my next project. I hadn’t finished the drawing for the one I had in mind, so I looked at the sheet I had, since I’d made multiple copies of the last design.
I picked a relatively simple design, and decided to do it all in wood. That’ll be project #8. I could do with some “simple” after that last one.
I cut out patterns and glued them to wood: from the left, it’s bubinga (same as my Stella, but a different figure), Bolivian rosewood, and bloodwood, and I’ll inlay it into a risky alder. I’m feeling frisky, and want to keep the level of routing concern high. I let those sit while I worked on the drawing for project #9.
I’d found a fuchsia stencil awhile back that I’d blown up for tracing but had yet to trace. So I worked on that, adjusting it to be easier to saw. For example, I traced the actual curved strips I bought for the green bits, and I intend to make the thin bits coming out of the bottom of the flower one piece of shell, which I’ll engrave to make it look like that. I’m starting to think about sawing at the drawing stage, and combine pieces or adjust lines to avoid problems once I’m sawing. I gain nothing from drawing skinny little pieces I don’t have the skill to do other than break half-way through 50 times at this point.
It took 3 tracings, but I got it done. Eventually, I copied it at 50% for cutting and it’s ready for the next step.
By the time I was finished with my drawing, the glue had dried, so I sawed all but one of the triangles for project #7. I’m glad I worked ahead, as I’ll be up in Phoenix for most of the weekend and won’t have much time at home to work on it.
I like wood, because you can sand edges straight and clean much more easily. I don’t like wood, because when you’re cross-cutting with the jeweler’s saw, it fights more, and is stickier, than shell. The fuchsia project is going to be a combination of shell, wood, and reconstituted stone, which will be a new material for me. Should be interesting. Each material is so different, even between different types of shell or hardwood.
8 months ago I didn’t know that, though. So yay me! I’m learning!
