Posted by bruce paul fink on January 29, 1998 at 06:26:47:

Dear Mrs. English, Enclosed is the theme paper for the Jewelry class assignment. This is more about larger scale precision metal forming but nearly everything I saw would apply to smaller scales for Jewelry as well (but only a lot easier). I couldn't keep it under 200 words. Sorry it's late but will this help my grade any?

Our Sunday Drive to the Studio (or my Gawd Wray Schelin's facilities are amazing!) by bpfink

Last Sunday, Charlene and I got the chance to pop up to Wray's place for a look at whatever he was about. You may recall him mentioning that his business is hand making Jaguar XK parts and that he is the only one in the country doing it. Charlene has always had a love for that machine and especially in English Racing Green. My fascination was more with Wray himself as he seems to know a lot about direct constructive metal areas I've neglected. At first glance the home nestles on a wooded hill in Massachusetts and seems normal but open the doors and a machinist's or artist's heart can't resist pounding.

I met Wray just recently on the Artmetal Chat Site and through accident we find we both live close and traffic the same Salvage and Reclaimed Scrap yards of the area. We both construct many of our tools from discards and we both control media with a freedom seldom recognized. Knowing nothing of taking sheet steel and hand reforming it to specified tolerances I couldn't wait to discover the systems he would employ. And I was truly astounded.

The machinery largely is self reconstructed and altered and conceived equipment which has parts that are antique in origin. Seems modernization technique's of mass production have abandoned these singular capabilities and the arts of the craft were once guarded by the trades so few remain to be aware of even the potentials. Mechanization of each unit seems to come from the principles of the heart and the solutions from desire and necessity augmented by electric, pneumatic and hydraulic. Wray says his grandfather was his inspiration and gave him the beginnings but the old Yankee abilities of improving upon grounded media systems is most discernible. And tools to take sheets of thick metal and form them into whatever the heart could ponder are everywhere. This is no mini operandi and seems to be fueled by the love of the family and tons of brilliance. (How many studios housed at home could turn out the entire body of a Classic Historical Sports Car over and over especially without getting in the way of the rest of the whole families activities?)

Upon arriving we socially exchanged hellos over coffee and fresh oven brownies. From the chocolate fix on it was hard to not keep smiling or being continually surprised. The first few hours were spent just viewing the intricacies of the devices and of marveling at the configurations of the contrived adjuncts to improve upon each.

Part two was inspecting the assembly of a restored Jaguar Classic now appearing new.

Part three was in the viewing of a fragment of the historical origins of metal forming in his library and then:

Part four was back to the main studio section to watch a demonstration that actually put several of the machines through their trials. The systems he uses to swiftly hammer out, hammer in, stretch and compress gives a new vision to the malleability of a common sheet of stock. The English Wheel takes it to a final polished surface and establishes its precise dimensions.

Keep your future eye on what Wray has to say. He's amazing and darkness loomed too soon.

PS. They gave Charlene the Schelin Award for the longest any wife enthusiastically remained enthralled in the machinery studio in a predominately male interest facility. Others just don't realize what is there.

Bruce Paul Fink

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