crquack's blog

Christmas market

crquack - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - 12:16am

I have described my first and only experience of trying to sell my product directly to the public here:

http://crquackblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/pier-street-christmas-market-2011.html

Many here are old hands at this.

Tumbling results

crquack - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - 10:43pm

Here is a picture of two identical pieces, made from identical materials, processed identically, tumbled first for 6 hours in plastic cones with a little water TSP and Dawn and then, foolishly, allowed to tumble overnight (I really wanted to see what happens):

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Renaissance Wax

crquack - Saturday, July 16, 2011 - 9:42pm

Sometime ago there was a discussion here about the properties of the Renaissance Wax. The apparent equivalent sold by Lee Valley, the Conservator's Wax, was mentioned. I got hold of some and tried it. In case anyone wants to know how it protects steel from rust have a look here (hint: it does not):

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Wire or sheet for silver soldering

crquack - Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - 9:07pm

I am just about out of extra-easy flow wire. I see Rio Grande offer the same in wire or sheet form. What does everyone here use? Which is more versatile?

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Finished product

crquack - Sunday, June 19, 2011 - 6:43pm

Incorporating the electro-etched face in the finished product:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27683124@N07/5850478847/in/set-72157605638700703

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Electrolytic etching - problems solved (I think)

crquack - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - 9:21pm

Finally, a couple of trials with reduced current. Worked rather well I thought:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27683124@N07/5810099197/in/set-72157622484352534

-and the next two pics.

The lessons learned:

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Electrolytic etching with problems - Part 3

crquack - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 9:08pm

I tried a different resist - an out and out disaster:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27683124@N07/5788481566/in/photostream

However, paying close attention to applying the old resist bore some fruit:

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Electrolytic etch with problems - Part 2

crquack - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - 11:12pm

I thought I would try some stainless steel today. Here are the pictures with some comments:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27683124@N07/5769996618/in/set-72157622484352534/

and the three following pics.

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Electrolytic etch with problems

crquack - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - 11:22pm

Here is what I did yesterday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27683124@N07/5763519382/in/photostream/lightbox/

Problems:
1) I am still getting foul biting. I fail to understand why 4 coats of resist still allow pinholes like that. Is it microscopic dust particles I am including?

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Graphic program

crquack - Saturday, January 29, 2011 - 6:01pm

I am experimenting with some new techniques involving transfer of images to metal plate. It occured to me that it might be facilitated by converting photos to line drawings.

I understand that there may be some programs which can do this automatically. I have tried Corel Painter Essentials without any sort of tangible success. So:

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