 ArtMetalsocial networking for the metal arts |
|
Sea shells for jewellery
juneperoux -
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 11:35pm
I've ended up living in the West Australian coast and after the storms here, we've got a bumper crop of small sea urchin shells. I wondered if anyone from this community knows how to go about preparing these shells for jewellery making. I mean, the best way to clean, but most importantly, how to harden and fill them. Polyurethane and epoxy have been suggested and I've heard of something on the net called elmer's glue, but no one seems to know what that is here. Any replies would be very greatly appreciated.  thank you most kindly for
juneperoux -
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 9:55am
thank you most kindly for this info - better late than never!...still not got results yet for my urchins, but will advise as soon as.  Rich's suggestions sound
Dick C -
Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 7:49am
Rich's suggestions sound like your best bet. For epoxy products you might try searching for "epoxy consolidants" o r"penetrating epoxy" to find a brand available in your area. They're used to repair rotted wood. The white glue suggestion is similarly used by wood workers to firm up areas that have gone too soft in spalted wood. Regular epoxy will flow and penetrate much better if it's warmed. If I'm trying to get it to flow I might "brush" it lightly and quickly with a soft flame. Too much heat and it will set up on you. That said, I'd probably try the cyanoacrylate first.  Sea Urchins
Stephen Fitz-Gerald -
Friday, August 21, 2009 - 4:41am
Stephen Fitz-Gerald Dear June, I love urchins too (and many other little fragile sea creatures). I find the greatest pleasure in trying to fabricate them in stainless steel: http://ou8nrtist2.deviantart.com/art/Sea-Urchin-2-104694174 I know this is not what you asked about,but I couldn't resist since it's my solution for the same problem... id love to have a look - can
juneperoux -
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 9:57am
id love to have a look - can you send the link again, i cant see this one.thanks  June, I made Stephen's URL
Rich Waugh -
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 10:27am
June, I made Stephen's URL for the sea urchin picture a live link. Just click on it to go to the picture. Rich Hope you didn't lose too
Rich Waugh -
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 - 10:20am
Hope you didn't lose too much stuff with the crash, Stephen. Might be worth considering setting up your desktop with a RAID array so everything is twice redundant. These days, storage is so cheap you can have two 2TB hard drives in a redundant array for about $300 or less. Rich Good for you! I'm terrible
Rich Waugh -
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 - 1:19pm
Good for you! I'm terrible about remembering to do frequent back ups. Getting better though... Rich  I had some difficulty
crquack -
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 9:12pm
I had some difficulty visualizing what you are trying to achieve. Am I right in saying that you want to strengthen the walls of the shells by impregnating them with a glue? If you choose to go with the cyanoacrylate (and it would seem an excellent choice) I suggest you get the *very thin* type which will penetrate even the smallest pores. This is the stuff I am using currently: http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=20022&cat=1,110,42966 Note: It may cause some discolouration (it does on wood) and if you use the activator you have to wash off the white stuff afterwards. crquack Yes, definitely use the
Rich Waugh -
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 - 10:17am
Yes, definitely use the water-thin cyanoacrylate if you go that way. You'll be amazed at how sturdy you can make things with that stuff. Rich |
|
ArtMetal
June, I know how fragile
June,
I know how fragile those sea urchin "shells" can be. Seems like if you just look at them wrong they break, sometimes.
Elmer's glue is a basic household white glue suitable for wood and paper, not much more. The same company, (and many others) also make an aliphatic resin glue for the same purposes that is considerably stronger and more water resistant, but still not suitable for stabilizing those urchin carcasses. There are two materials I might suggest, though I haven't personally tried stabilizing any urchin bodies.
A company here in the US called West Marine Systems sells a line of 2-part epoxies available in several different consistencies. They also sell a filler material to go with it. The thinner-bodied epoxy with a dab of filler might do the trick well.
Another possibility would be to use cyanoacrylate glue, aka "Crazy Glue". This is one of the materials that knife makers use to stabilize rare and/or fragile woods and bone for knife handles. For good success, it needs to thoroughly permeate the material you're stabilizing, so most use a vacuum pump to evacuate all the air and pull the cyanoacrylate into the pores of the substrate. It doesn't take a high-tech pump; a simple water or air aspirator type vacuum venturi will do adequately for what you're trying to do, I think. If you do a Google search for knife making supplies you can find suppliers who sell the cyanoacrylate in quantities sufficient to impregnate objects.
Let us know how it works out!
Rich