April Bower
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Give yourself a good gift for 2019.    LEARN TO SAW.

12/29/2018

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I teach intermediate level, 1 or 2 day workshops, and find what holds students back from being able to do the project efficiently and well, is their inability to saw.
There is not time to teach you to saw, I'm there to share other skills with you.
(My definition of "intermediate" is ability to saw and being comfortable with a torch)

I hear lots of " I hate to saw"  & " I can't saw". Well, you don't have to be great at sawing; you need to be adequate at sawing. I am not a great at it, but I have learned to be sufficient. Some people love to saw and it comes natural for them. I am not one of those, but I can do what I need to relatively quickly  and efficiently.  It takes practice but saves you time in the long run with minimal clean up and  less waste. 

Take a class in sawing to learn the best techniques  if you can.
Watch videos, if a live class is not possible.
..... But then you have to actually saw out shapes. Trust me you get better and better at it, and perhaps even enjoy it.

I also hear a lot of whining and blaming online that you don't have a good  high tech saw frame;  Your saw isn't good enough.             
 (I can never blame my traditional inexpensive German saw frame for my inability to saw a shape accurately, nope, it's all MY inadequacy or impatience). If the saw will hold a blade securely & taut the rest is up to the driver.

Decent quality saw blades do often make it easier, but usually its about choosing the correct size for your metal thickness and not allowing them to be pinched or torqued and snapped .
The third variable is the bench pin and light: Think Flat, sturdy and under your nose height ; so you don't have to stoop over and you can see well. Add a task light and saw away.

Just do it.
Now.
for yourself
and you will thank yourself later.



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The process of finding dropped jewelry finding or stone

12/19/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
The item you are working with drops to the floor. You know you're in trouble when you don't hear the bounce, so you don't know where to look. It doesn't matter; it's not there anyway.
 
  1. First thing you need to do is look at your feet and make sure it's not under the wheels of your desk chair as you will immediately roll over it and spoil it or step on it.
  2.  get the flashlight to do the floor search. Flashlight has dead battery. Go find fresh battery or second flashlight. Insert fresh battery and return to the scene of the crime.
  3.  now what was it I was looking for? Get on floor on your hands and knees, using flashlight on the floor shrine the light horizontally across the surface of the floor and scan the area. Hopefully the item in question will cast a shadow or a glint in the light. Look at all those dust bunnies.  "Oh my" I see something I was looking for last week LOL.
  4. Search behind you and the opposite area that you think it never could be in because that's probably where it's at.
  5. Keep searching with some select choice four-letter words. It doesn't help,  but somehow makes you feel better, and alerts those within hearing range that this is not the time for cute or "helpful" comments.
  6. Search more then give up. Go back to your bench and sit down. Hopefully you'll see the missing item right on your bench pin in front of you. Or maybe not.
  7. If it really is an item you can't continue without, then go get the broom and the dustpan and carefully sweep all areas of the shop starting with under the bench.                               Collect all this in the dustpan then go through the dustpan with your fingers and a pair of tweezers, looking with your optivisor on and pick out all the good stuff that you find there. Maybe your piece will be in there, but it probably won't.  But this has several benefits: a)you'll find pieces that you didn't know you'd lost
b) you'll find things to recycle and c) you'll have a clean area under your bench for a few days.
  1. Go have lunch or go to the Post Office. Sometimes it takes a bit of time for the wrinkle in the parallel universe to flatten out and return your item.
  2. Still missing? Clean your bench top and catch tray. If you don't find it at least that will be tidy.
  3. If still missing move on to plan B or make a new one. That way you'll be sure to find it!
  4.  BTW.........i never did find my lost item.   LOL
1 Comment

    April Bower

    Metal artist and workshop instructor, April Bower shares information on workshops and retreats, Gallery News, new works of art she's created and news of other artists.

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