The
copper bracelet I've been
working on all week is done - basically. It's in the tumbler, and I'd like it to tumble for 4 or 5 hours before it's really, truly, shiny and done, done, DONE. So no peeking yet!
Here's my process for setting the glass cabochon in the copper:
1st, of course, I created a mock-up on paper. The one below is actually either the 2nd or 3rd paper model I created, because I ran into some design problems on the first few (thank goodness they were on paper!), plus, I was stubbornly insisting on drawing on the paper with Sharpie, instead of pencil, so I kept having to get fresh paper. You can even see some of my Sharpie missteps in the model below - the rectangular markings across the middle of the "cabochon" had to be relocated, because they ended up interfering with the hole placement.
paper model of copper bezel (with errant blue thread from who-knows-where)
I take my paper models to the extreme - for this one, I cut out all the bezel tabs, and actually "set" the cab in the paper model, to make sure all the cuts were in the right places before I took saw to copper.
Here is the copper bezel, with the tabs sawn out and bent, and the connection holes drilled:
copper bezel (no solder)
Next, I shortened and shaped the 4 tabs, so that as much of my pretty Picasso-style dichroic glass cabochon shows as possible - no point in covering up the pretty with excess copper!
copper bezel with dichroic glass cabochon
I'll be back to show you the finished bracelet tomorrow!
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