Another Jewelry Attempt

[Burkhardt]

Well, birthday is coming up. I kind of like the result of this mini project. It is cut from 0.2" thick Mountain Mahogany with a 1mm end mill and a 60 degree v-bit and the whole set took only an hour or so. This is a local wood (brush) species that is extremely hard and dense but somewhat brittle. The growth rings are so narrow you need an eye loupe to see them. But pretty good for such detail work. The slimmest parts of the earrings are only 0.03" thick.

[knight_toolworks]

nice I do a lot of basic jewelry to be shaped and finished by others.

[scottp55]

NICE G.
Chips in epoxy for eyes? What mineral/gem?
Good clean cuts
scott

[Steve Wonser]

I like the design and materials. I live in Southern California as well. Could you provide more details on the wood you used?

Thanks,
Steve

[Burkhardt]

..... I live in Southern California as well. Could you provide more details on the wood you used?...

More info about Mountain Mahogany here. Unfortunately it is not commercially available since it more a crooked bush than a tree. I happened to get a stump a collegue removed from his mountain cabin property. It was quite a challenge to resaw with my little bandsaw since it is really hard. But it is beautiful wood for small parts and machines like hard plastic. A smallish box is probably the biggest item you could make of that. I was already wondering if the landscaping companies up in Big Bear or Silverlake might occasionally have some of that wood.

....Chips in epoxy for eyes? What mineral/gem?........

These are a few chips from the bag of crushed turquoise that I bought a while ago. Just dropped the chips into the eye cavity with tweezers and some thin CA applied carefully using a piece of wire dipped multiple times into the glue. I kept applying until the CA made a little globe over the turquise chip as a kind of lens effect. Actually, the tiny green eyes make all the difference.

[Burkhardt]

Looking at the picture again I really notice the difference in the color/finish. The pendant was finished only with melted paraffin (since I used the paraffin to stick the blank onto a carrier board, but that did not hold that well) and is intense dark red/brown. For the earrings I used tabs and screws to hold the wood and sprayed it later with laquer, resulting in a much lighter color. I guess I like the wax finish better for this material.

[scottp55]

Thanks G.
Yes, we heat soak all our buttons in oil/wax mix, and it seems to make a real difference in dark woods,compared to room temp application on larger stuff.
So so Walnut looks like Oreo cookie color, and lighter colored Bloodwood blanks look like the excellent colored ones I stash for special stuff
scott