Jim Kelso Posted July 9, 2005 Report Share Posted July 9, 2005 Here's a paperweight in Vera wood with the moth in shakudo(4%gold/96%copper), copper and 22k gold. The vera is quite heavy and the sandblasted surface makes it quite convincing as a stone. All the metalwork was carved and fabricated from sheet. about 5.75inches long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ford hallam Posted July 9, 2005 Report Share Posted July 9, 2005 Hey Jim, Looks very sexy, patination worked really well. elegant and visually striking little piece. I was wondering what you were up to, after seeing your rather cryptic exchange with Janel. regards, Ford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DFogg Posted July 9, 2005 Report Share Posted July 9, 2005 Beautiful piece Jim. The vera wood also looks like night sky in the photo. Great colors on the moth, rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsterling Posted July 9, 2005 Report Share Posted July 9, 2005 Awesome, Jim! Two questions: How do you do the spots on the wings? What sort of finish on the wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kelso Posted July 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Thanks guys. Tom, the spots are soldered plugs of copper, 22k gold and shakudo. I made them go the full thickness of the wing because of the deep scalloping of the wings. A conventional inlay would have been very tricky to pull off. Even so, it was a lot o work. All the pieces had to be sawn and fitted then soldered and gaps chased closed. This photo shows the through-hole on the right and with fitted plugs on the left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kelso Posted July 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 This is after the soldering and carving and showing the gaps being chased closed. I tried to engrave the solder away and chase the gaps to leave as little solder showing as possible. The wood has no finish. Vera is filled with oil and is nearly impossible to glue or finish conventionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsterling Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Way cool! Thanks for the explanation. Metal work is something I know dangerously little about, but want to know more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sanders Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Thanks Jim! I really appreciate the photo of the moth at an early stage. I know very little about metal work, and didn't realize a piece starts out in such a raw state. I'm even more in awe now of the finished product. It's truly beautiful. It seems like there's a mutability to metal just not present in wood. The way you mention moving the metal around a bit to close inlay gaps, or hide solder, or what not. Perhaps this could be a new thread, but maybe you'd be willing to share a few words about combining metal and wood in one piece. Actually, now that I think of it, that's what knife makers do too! Wood and metal are such vastly different substances... Thoughts anyone? I'll open a new thread in "The Way" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sanders Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 oh-one other thing! You describe this piece as being a paperweight. Have you inserted a plug of lead or something else suitably heavy into the back of the wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kelso Posted July 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Thanks for your comments Doug. In mentioning combining wood & metal you've touched on a subject near and dear. I'll ramble in your other thread later today. The Vera is so heavy(does not float!) that more than one person, seeing it without knowing it was wood, thought it was stone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest katfen Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kelso Posted July 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Thanks Kathleen. The positioning of the moth on the "stone" was just a matter of putting it here and there to see where it worked best. I decided I wanted it to be in the most balanced place. It's not always the case. sometimes a little tension is wanted by having something placed a little one way or the other from the most balanced position, but on this piece I wanted to create as much harmony as possible. I wasn't thinking of the grain curve and the wing curve working like that. I did saw the wood so I got "flat-sawn" pattern on the broadest surface. Here's another photo. I think I'll post some more "how-tos" on another thread, so I'm saving the attachment question for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Bonham Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Jim, What a beautiful piece of sculpture! The contrast of materials, colors and textures create an elegant statement. Thank you for the closeups showing how the piece was created. How thick was the basic form when you started? Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kelso Posted July 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Hi Dick. Thanks for the comments. I've got photos of the whole process, so sometime soon I'll do a complete run through. The main shakudo piece was 2mm to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janel Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Jim, Do you make the shakudo youself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Greenbaum Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Jim, This is simply an amazing piece! I was on a long distance call today with one of my closest knifemaking buddies (Kelly Carlson...he makes exquisite little folders, aka folding knives for the non-knife folk). I was telling him all about these cool forums and in particular, this wonderful paperweight of yours. I had a difficult time trying to describe to him just how lovely this is...words actually failed me (and that doesn't happen too often). Dennis BTW- Jim, as an FYI, I'm currently partnering with Dr. David Darom. We're co-authoring the third book in his fabulous series of art knife books. It's due to be completed next June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kelso Posted August 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Wow, Dennis & Janel, somehow I was distracted(who could imagine! ) and missed your posts. Janel, I am mostly buying my alloys from Phillip Baldwin of Shining Wave Metals: Shining Wave I have a very tight shop with wood floors so sometimes I will alloy small special bits, but Phil can provide most of my needs. Highly recommended. Dennis, thanks for your comments. Glad to hear we can look forward to more great books. Please say hello to David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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