Dangle Earrings

Bali style earrings. I used ground and hammered nails for my punches. Low tech in the extreme!

Hello again!

     I got a new toy the other day. I’ve always wanted to try a drawplate, so I broke down and bought one. Not real expensive but it has carbide inserts. I was like a kid with a new toy. Stayed up late and made a bunch of different guages from just one large size! It’s sure to be a handy tool!

     Started a new project yesterday. A set of Bali earrings. They consist of a semicircular piece of sheet, decorated with various punches and three tubes decorated with round and twisted wire around the circumferance hanging from the other part. I’m not very good at describing them but they’re real dangley!They look pretty simple but looks are decieving! One thing I still lack skill in is chasing. I bought a new book by Marcie Lewis. Supposed to be a real good text on chasing. I find a lot of discussion on chasing tool but nowhere can I find good close up pictures of some of the basic shapes. If anyone knows of any I sure would like to see them!  Anyway the hardest part  was making the little squiggley wire decoration. Man what a pain! I intended to post some photos tonight but it got dark on me. So i’ll take some tomorrow morning and get them posted. I have to decide what kind of earwires to make for them. Not having worn earrings before I’m clueless. My wife says some women can wear silver, some can wear stainless steel and some can wear only hypoallergenic earwires. So what do I do? Is it possible to make earrings that can use any of these options? I wonder……   If anyone has any ideas I’m listening!  Does anyone have any experience with a Whale propane/air torch? I’ve been using one for about a month and it works great for jewelry scale work. I had been using a Meco Midget but It’s pretty hot for my tastes. I think I get better control with the propane. Well It’s time to look at bills and do some home stuff. (laundry..yuck!) I’ll get some pics up tomorrow.