[Jewelry making - Article 00145] - Re: [Orchid] A one question interview

[Lee Einer]

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    Hi, Elaine- Some decide to become metalsmiths, and some have
    metalsmithing thrust upon them... 

    My core issue is that I am a habitual and incurable rockhound. Not
    long after I moved to Arizona (roughly a decade ago) and began
    gratifying my addiction to found rocks, my wife posed the profound
    question, "what are you going to do with them?" This led to my
    purchase of a used Highland Park lapidary unit, and to my becoming a
    lapidary. 

    Sometime later,  I had amassed a fair assortment of completed
    cabachons. Once again the question- "What are you going to do with
    them?" Good question. I tried pre-made findings, and found early on
    that they were not the way to go- most were cheap and cheesy
    looking, and, besides, pre-made settings require calibrated cabs,
    and that is a pretty significant limitation. 

    So I took up wire wrap, which has the advantages of requiring little
    in the way of tools, materials and workspace. Wire wrap is a good
    way to start out, as it requires little in the way of tools and
    materials, and provides training in use of pliers, plastic
    properties of wire, etc. Wire wrap also is good design discipline,
    in that  it requires that you do varied and interesting things using
    only one starkly limited technique- bending and twisting wires.  In
    the end, I found wire wrap to be /too/ limiting.  So I bought a
    torch, jeweler's saw and a set of files, and sallied forth into the
    arena of silversmithing. For several years, I have pursued lapidary
    and silversmithing as a hobbyist (sp?) and I am now seeking to make
    a full-time living of it. 

Lee Einer

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