Titanium Jewelry

It seems that the decade old advent of titanium rings has begun to penetrate every niche of the jewelry market, including markets historically dominated by precious metals. Wedding rings with very clean, expensive stones are common now, and the reasons for it are unambiguous:

Titanium is a harder metal. It isn't malleable like precious metals, and won't suffer mechanical damage to the same extent. Titanium is well-known for its characteristics of strength, light weight, beauty, and machineability (which matters only for the manufacturer).

The cost of titanium, while high compared to other industrial metals, is extremely low compared to gold, platinum, palladium, and even silver.

It possesses a proprietary mystique. Common perceptions about its use in fighter jets, space shuttles, submarines, etc. no doubt lend a hand in increasing its desirability for anyone who cares about such things. In the age of technological proliferation, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that such a material might be employed for everyday use in jewelry.

It is inert and stable at lower temperatures. Its naturally hypo-allergenic. People who have nickel or sulfur allergies will favor titanium to stainless steel due to stainless alloys' inclusion of these elements.

Given all of the aforementioned reasons, among others, I decided to make some pieces from some titanium I picked up for another project. I decided to make my circuit pendants out of Ti because I thought it might be nice to anodize them to play with color a bit. As it turned out, though, I had some weird alloy that didn't anodize well. It does, however, have a spectacular natural tone. It wasn't particularly fun to machine because it is such a hard metal, and it doesn't dissipate heat like aluminum, so the heat from the tool remains local and can burn up endmills in a hurry is the depth of cut is too deep or if the tool is allowed to dwell in one place for too long. Conventional wisdom is to use high speed steel endmills because carbide chips easier, but I never have any luck with HSS on Ti - I like carbide with flood coolant.

Anyway, here is the first example of my titanium circuit pendants - it doesn't photograph well at all, but I'd venture to say its the nicest thing I've made so far. I like them because they are entirely unique - no two are exactly alike. They are like a fingerprint. Pretty neat.

Machined Carbon Fiber Butterfly

This is my newest creation. It took me two days worth of my spare time to complete it and i am pleased with the results. My intention was to make some wearable art, so I came up with this. I will be machining a hairstick, brooch/pin, and barrette mount for this, as well as a shadowbox for displaying it when not in use. A friend of mine suggested the wearable-art idea when I showed him a picture of the wings, and it sure seems feasible to wear. I do believe it would make quite a statement at this size, so I intend to make some smaller versions. I think something like this would be great for a bride on wedding day. As always, I constructed it with the mentality that it might become a heirloom someday.

Machined Robot Dragonfly

I made a model robot Dragonfly last night. I wanted to make it out of relatively fancy materials, so I employed the use of aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber.

I laminated the wings first, then cut them out in my cutting cabinet. I was dissatisfied with the plain appearance of the carbon fiber, so I cut out stencils to paint them. I made a random hexagon-matrix stencil, and I was pleased with the result. You can still see the carbon fiber, its just not as distractingly plain anymore.

The legs and wing bones are made from polished .062" titanium wire. I bent them in a sheet metal bender so that the bends would be identical and acute. I tried it with pliers first, and the bend radii were inconsistent and larger than I wanted.

The body was machined on the lathe, and polished at my foot-pedal controlled polishing station. I milled the chest box on the milling machine, then polished it as well. I finished the body off by epoxying a glass bead in the center. I wish I had a bead without a hole in it (marble?) but i didn't so I had to settle.

The bug is held to its removable stand with a titanium rod. I intend to make a shadow box, like those you see with butterflies pinned in them, out of TIG welded steel. I just need to find the time...

You can see other pictures in my Etsy shop which allow you to zoom in on the details here.

TIG and MIG welded goods cost disparity

I noticed while browsing Etsy today that there is an enormous price difference between TIG and MIG welded goods. There is a good reason for that, which is widely misunderstood (or not known) on Etsy. The fact is that they are an entirely different skill.

I won't bother with the boring technical details, but there are differences between the two processes that are worth noting, even for the purposes of creating metal art.

MIG welding requires little skill. Basically, a gun is used to feed the welding wire into a puddle of metal created by an electric arc. Industrial MIG weldors must be highly skilled, but its basically the simplest and most practical form of welding used for producing artwork. The wire is cheap, the process is easy and fast, and that translates into a lower cost for the final product.

TIG welding takes some people YEARS to develop proficiency. It requires a level of manual dexterity that MIG welding doesn't require. The torch uses a tungsten electrode to produce an arc, that has to remain close to, but not ever immersed in, the parent metal. The wire is fed by hand - the other hand. It sounds simple, but requires a lot more skill, is more tedious, and is more time-consuming. The neat thing is that its also much, much prettier. That translates into having a nicer, better finished product that you will be proud to own.

When taking a look at welded goods, pay attention to the aesthetics of the welds, too. You'll notice the difference when it arrives at your mantle or sofa table.

Using a Milling Machine to make Wood Pendants

This is a couple of pictures of one of the wood pendants being machined on a mill. A milling machine (mill) consists of a table that holds a vise or other workholding fixture that can move forwards, backwards, and side to side. The cutting tool is raised or lowered into the workpiece while the machine is running, and the movements made by the table move the workpiece into the tool. It is applying precision equipment to creative work. I like doing it this way because I like the clean lines and perfect details. It is a contrast to the steel pendants that I do that are done freehand with a small grinding wheel.

Milled Cocobolo Wood Pendants

These are some interesting pendants that are made entirely on my milling machine out of cocobolo wood. The design is original and unique to every single pendant since these are milled manually and not by the computer. The finish left by the cutting tools is so good on such a dense wood that they don't even require sanding afterward. They are finished with a natural sealer for durability and are very very light. These have become my favorite pendants so far. I will follow up with some pictures and an explanation of the process of making these.

New Aluminum Pendants

I just started making these last night. They are made from .250" aluminum plate. I will post pictures of the process later on when I can get some pictures taken while I am doing the work (that's a two person job). Here is a photo of the first one.

Etsy Front Page

It has been brought to my attention that one of my items was featured on Etsy's front page after only about a week or so of selling on Etsy. I guess that accounts for the spike in the views. Its the Orange Carbon Fiber Bowl.

Why Steel, Aluminum, Brass, and Wood for Jewelry?

During a discussion I was having today, the topic of the use of these materials for jewelry came up. I thought I would reiterate my rationale for it here for anyone who might be interested.

First of all, these materials possess a relatively negligible intrinsic value for the volume of material required to make a piece of jewelry. Even considering the fact that many mistakes cannot be fixed, and for the practical fabricator, damaged articles must be discarded and cannot be salvaged, they cost very little to work with compared to precious metals or other organic materials like mother of pearl, abalone, etc. This also minimizes the barriers to entry for people wanting to enter the market as an artist. Much can be done with these materials with a minimal investment in equipment. The fluctuations in the prices of these raw materials is almost insignificant considering the profit margin when selling as a piece of jewelry. There won't ever be a 300% increase in the price of a piece because the commodities market fluctuates. For a piece of jewelry made with precious metals, that can be the difference between a very accessible piece of jewelry for a lot of people and the same being accessible for only a few. The same people who can buy the steel, aluminum, and wood jewelry 2 years ago can buy it today.

Second, the value of each piece is entirely dependent upon its aesthetic appeal, and 100% of that comes from what you do to make it attractive to people. While there is inherent beauty in the materials themselves, the market for these items is dependent upon how pretty they are - there isn't a base threshold value for the material alone that is of any consideration to a purchaser of these pieces. If the items aren't pretty, nobody will want them. That makes it easy. Your most integral pieces of equipment when crafting with these materials is your creativity and ingenuity.

The third (but certainly not final) reason has also to do with thrift, and is congruent with the first reason I mentioned. The consequences to losing a piece of this jewelry are minimal. They are not expensive to buy, and won't ruin your month to lose a piece. This also makes them easy to give as gifts, and to those people who haven't established any familiarity with these materials through working with them, aren't necessarily any less valuable, especially given the amount of unoriginal and unattractive precious metal based jewelry out there. Buying peoples' unwanted gold jewelry is big business now, and it isn't because all gold jewelry is pretty. It would be nice to have a piece of jewelry that nobody else will ever have, as long as it wasn't crafted with an automated machine.

I encourage you to explore the use of these materials for your own purposes. It is entirely possible to add value to items you already produce by incorporating these materials. I'd be happy to answer any inquiries regarding techniques, equipment, etc. Examples of my own work can be seen at my Etsy store http://winnfield.etsy.com

Spinning Steel Jewelry Tree

I decided I needed a place to put all of the jewelry I was making, and didn't want any of it to be damaged by being shoved in a box somewhere, so I made this display last night. I turned the hub on my lathe and machined and tapped holes for the rods in the hub, and drilled the center hole for the bearing rod. I turned the bearing rod down on the lathe as well. I tapped holes for set screws in the top so that I could swap the arms out for others that would accommodate earrings at a later time. I turned the ends of the rods up after heating them carefully with the TIG torch in order to keep the jewelry from sliding off. I must say, the pictures really don't do this any justice - it looks much nicer in person.

Cocobolo Wood and Brass Pendants

These are made like knife handles, with the polished rivets being flush with the surface of the wood. These turned out to be very light and wearable. I deviated from my normal inclination to make them shiny by putting a finish on them and just waxed and buffed them and they turned out nicely. I am satisfied with these, for sure.

Aluminum Maze pendants

I machined these pendants out of aluminum to look very sci-fi. I was inspired to make these by the weird styling featured in the television series Firefly. Everything in that show was dilapidated future technology stuff. It was sort of like a reversion to dependence on the environment/animals/etc. after humans have exhausted the utility of technological innovations. Originally, I made a deerskin necklace for this, in keeping with that theme. I like the fusion of future-tech type stuff and natural materials.

Steel Jewelry Holder Trees

Making these trees is the most fun I have all day long. They are made from TIG welded cold-rolled steel. The trunk of this tree is 1/2" diameter steel that is tapered in sections. By the time I got the first one of these made, I decided I wanted to keep it for myself to display as a sculpture. The clearcoat finish on these brings out the color changes in the metal where the branches are welded. I also have a small version. See my Etsy shop for lots of detailed pictures.

Carbon Fiber Bowls

I have been making these bowls to display on the upper-shelves of Curio cabinets. it occurred to me, one day, that everything on the top shelves is hard to see and the underside of most things are very uninteresting. It wasn't until I saw a vintage Statham copper and glaze dish at my mentor's house, though, that I was really inspired to create these. The color of the bowl I saw was so vivid and bright, and the underside was a beautiful copper finish. I always liked the idea of being impressed with something upon first impression, only to be more amazed upon closer examination. That's what I designed these to do. Every time somebody turns one over, they become more interested.

Handmade Steel Pendants

I began making these small pendants a few weeks ago. I found some pendants that I liked on Etsy, I just couldn't spend the money on them myself, given the cost and my capacity to make exactly what I wanted myself to give as gifts for Christmas. I love the way raw steel looks, and I clearcoat all of these with a high quality PPG Acrylic Urethane clearcoat in my dust-free spray booth. They are very smooth and shiny. Check out my Etsy shop for the various designs.

Handmade Lamp

I took an entire weekend a month or so ago to design and create a couple of table lamps. I was certain I wanted to create something totally unique. I also wanted it to compliment my interests of things mechanical and architectural, in nature. I ended up with a lamp that has several hours worth of fixturing, welding, machining, and sheet metal work. The base has a very architectural appearance, due to the waterjet-cut trellis style legs.

The feet of the lamp were machined out of steel, then drilled and tapped for threaded studs. I used stainless steel threaded rod that I machined myself to attach the levelers and I knurled the levelers for easy turning, and appearance.

Take note of the switch location under the lamp. I intended for it to be accessible and subtle. I never like reaching under the lamp shade to turn on a lamp.

The shade is made from aluminum sheet metal. I was at a welding supply store and I remember seeing a bunch of stainless steel cylinders stacked in a circle and I remember thinking I wanted to replicate that look.

Every part on this lamp started out as raw materials in my shop in the morning, and by evening I had the perfect lamp for a table I am designing...