Tiny CZs are fun to set. These are 1.5mm, just enough to give a little glint in sunlight.
312/365
Tiny CZs are fun to set. These are 1.5mm, just enough to give a little glint in sunlight.
312/365
So when BronzClay works, it works great. I left this one rough except the inside of the settings for contrast with the gems. It came out pretty nice.
311/365
If at first you don’t succeed, you ain’t got beginners luck, and you probably learned a valuable lesson. Firing the band and then cutting the seats is considerably more work, but the results are better. The seats are brighter so they bounce more light, and the stones fit.
310/365
Next time I’ll cut the gem seats after firing. The CZ on the left went milky white. I’m guessing it’s pretty much no good as a gem anymore. It’s still good for etching glass and metal though. I’ll use it as a tool tip and see what happens.
309/365
Solved the splitting shank problem by rolling the clay into a ball and cookie-cutting it. There’s no seam to separate. I had to replace the CZ though. It got milky white in the kiln.
308/365