What I Learned About Myself In Nashville

  So, three months alone in what was basically a foreign place for me. Was I nervous going down? Of course. Was I scared that I might tank a couple projects during the class. You bet. Did the long days (8:30am-5pm with an hour for lunch) take a toll on me. Not really, surprisingly. Oddly I didn't miss home too much. I was too caught up in the adventure of it all to notice much. It was basically go to school, come back and chill out five days a week with the weekends to explore the city and recover. I met some great people down there, ate at some amazing restaurants ( a little too often) saw the sights and learned more than I had ever dreamed about what it really means to be a goldsmith, all in three short months. The whole trip was like one long dream. It seems so far away now that it could have been a dream, save for my memories. So what did I learn down there and how does it relate to Asperger's you ask. Well, let me clue you in.
  As far as fine motor skills go, and our ability to learn them, they can be learned with time and lots of practice. Blaine had us living in "little land" with some of the pave stone work and other nuance things we had to do as far as stone setting a graver work goes. When you are cutting a seat for a stone, whether it be with a graver or flexible shaft machine, the bur can be as small as .6mm and the razor sharp hand graver tip is much smaller than that. We took 'frog hairs' of metal off of pieces to make them fit better. I went from not being able to hold one to having the ability to castrate a gnat in three short months. I looked under a 10x loupe and magnification for hours some days. All this was to get us accustomed to being able to spot and correct fine details. I could shave my face with a graver now if I had to. Do yourself a favor and look up what those are, you might be surprised. Fine details don't just need to be used with hand tools but, also and equally as important, with the torch itself.
  Although it's called 'The Little Torch' this thing packs a punch. Using the #5 tip we soldered everything from  fine parts to a platinum setting, and everything in between. The 3,700F flame although small, can melt things quickly, so great care had to be taken in moving it in and out at the pace needed to be able to solder things accurately. I didn't have as much trouble with this at first because I had already used a torch for some time, although not one this powerful. Initially, and this was back in 2005, I was afraid of using a torch. The flame was big and sometimes it would make a popping sound when I cut it off. The flame used for platinum sounds like a jet engine and that's what is needed for platinum work. You just have to be careful and always hold onto the torch firmly and respect what you are working with. Other than that, I did melt a couple small things, but nothing major. That is why we were there and using tools we were, to get a greater understanding to what to expect when using them. I have not melted anything since. Another thing I learned, reinforced rather, was my love for precious metals in general.
  The whole idea of me loving metals is nothing new (and no, its not a sexual thing) and this drove it even further into my head. I knew I loved silver and gold but once we got to the platinum week I was simply smitten. It's the only metal I ever want to work in now. It's properties are nothing short of amazing. The heat it takes to reach its sky high melting temperature, the glow when it does, how it can be worked and the magnificent weight of platinum have me in a death grip. I realize it is an inanimate object but having a strong attachment to those is a hallmark of AS. I'm sure glad it's something I actually love working with. It's not work if you enjoy it. The social side of things went OK for me down there.
  As far as the other students most were around the same age. We went to movies and restaurants just as people always do. We hung out, drank and played cards on the weekends, even went out for a couple wild nights in the city. Everyone there is a little more adult than most people I had encountered and that is just part of hands on training I guess. We had plenty of laughs in class, that's for sure and Blaine always led us in the right direction, often without us knowing it. I did make a my share of typical social faux pas but that was expected. My brain wasn't as tired at the end of the day as it usually was when faced with a social or work environment. I guess this was because, although in the same room we were each at our own bench doing our work each day. The hour lunch did help immensely in brain recovery. I feel as though I should sum everything up now.
  So what did I learn in Nashville? I learned that speed bumps can be overcome, given enough effort and the willingness to never give up. Humans can learn to do anything given enough time, and that includes me. I have things I still am not great at, the hand engraving week was more of a challenge for me than anything else I did, but most tasks can be done at a level that most jewelers cannot do, detail/speed wise. I still find this funny, but then again a lot of people were not instructed the right way and leave their work sloppy, just not any of the NASJ students. I got exactly what I needed down there. As of right now I am making things freelance, only what I see that is selling, and looking for a job somewhere. It could be far away or close to home as long as its the right one for someone with my great skill set. The school gave us such an advantage over everyone else that I'm going to look for my opportunity to show itself and then, pounce!


Questions or Comments?

My First Major Hand Fabrication, Platinum Wedding Bands! (Week 12 Redux!)

  So after all the official school projects were done (well mainly, work with me here folks) it was time to make a wedding band for my friend Tyler, who's wedding was coming up and I was also a part of. FYI: My official title on the wedding website is "Bridesman", sort of a joke but mainly because I knew the fiance Heather before I met Tyler. Anyhow, Tyler wanted to get a feel for the size based on what was at a jewelry store. Once the couple drove up from Georgia, he was in sniper school, we were all able to take a trip to the jewelry store to try on some bands.
  Once there we tried on the usual stuff and then I asked the saleswoman what they had for platinum bands. Upon feeling the overwhelming weight of the metal Tyler, although we had already decided on platinum long beforehand, he was hooked. The problem for the store was that they wanted $3,000 for what I would eventually make (I did it for less than half that). Of course this was just to get a more accurate ring size, and more importantly a width that Tyler would like. Much to my chagrin, he decided on a 7mm band. I almost shit a brick here as this would require a lot of bending and hammering to get into shape, not to mention polishing on my part. After leaving the store we went and had a bite to eat as we waited for Blaine to arrive at the school so we could set everything straight before fabrication. Blaine actually half tried to talk Tyler out of a 7mm width, but he gave me the "If that's what he wants look" which ended things on that front. One thing I did not expect was Heather also wanting a ring made.
   I didn't know if we had enough metal but Blaine assured me we did. This was sort of a blessing in disguise but I did want extra metal to make my own design for something else or just in case. I was actually planning on making Heather a platinum necklace with the leftover but a wedding band is something she will wear daily. To tell you the truth I was honored.

   The next week (and I realize I backtracked a little here) we were mainly doing the trellis ring so the bands would have to wait, just hopefully not too long. As the days neared the end of the week I was getting a little more than concerned. Finally, on the last day mind you, Blaine and I got up early and met at 7am at the school. The first step was to get all of the platinum and do a little 'testing' of you will. We did this by heating up each piece from the pile to see if any gold solder was on it. This was cool in itself because as the metal gets hot, the solder easily shows and changes color long before the platinum melts. This was taken off by grinding and filing. After the pile had been made as pure as possible the real fun began.
  Blaine and I both put on our dark glasses and fired up the torch again, this time with a jet engine sounding flame, a real hisser! As the metal got hot it melted, sort of, but not in the traditional way that silver or gold would, at least not with the heat supply we had going. Blaine more or less folded and washed the metal onto itself. Initially I was a few paces back and watched him work. The 3,700F flame was producing a ton of heat and once he noticed I was back a few steps he said jokingly "Noooo! Get in here!" as the loud flame hissed. I admit I was being timid. After all, the light was still half blinding and the metal was so hot that he could actually relight the torch if and when it went out temporarily, which it did, as he "licked" the metal with the flame. Every detail was told to me as to how to do this on my own. I don't need to write that part down, not because I don't want to, but because it will remain with me forever. In truth, a larger torch would have probably melted the metal so it was more fluid, but that is not what was needed for this job. It's funny; it wasn't actually done in a crucible to contain it, just a special high temperature ceramic board (which I have since purchased my own) and Blaine looked as if a kid playing with white hot play-doh as he precisely shaped the piece with a pair of tungsten tweezers.
   After the light show was over Blaine quenched the platinum in water, and after fifteen seconds under water it stopped glowing bright red; some of the water even boiled off. I had never seen anything quite like that either, almost seemed to defy science. The next phase was putting the blob of metal through the rolling mill to get it on its way to being a definable shape. For a piece this big/thick Blaine had to use a ton of force and the metal was actually quite hot after being passed through, due to friction, after a few times. The shape started to become a big rectangle wire, though still very thick before it was moved to the flat part of the mill. Once o the flat rollers it started to widen out to the proper width, which also took some time. I think we also annealed and cleaned some of the crud off of it before it was of proper dimensions.
  Next we annealed the metal again to soften it before Blaine formed it around the mandrel. I realized here that he would be doing much of the forming because, due to the massive weight, we would only get one shot at it. I was fine with that and soaked in every detail he showed me for each separate process. It may sound funny but the first thing he had me do, after it was all formed, was to file part of the top that the emery paper would not take off and I went a little too far. I did this with a standard file but much to deeply and all over in an attempt to even out the surface. He gave me the "WTF?!" look as I showed it to him for inspection but did inform me that to correct it more weight than should be needed to be taken off. That was embarrassing but a teachable moment all the same. With the right tool in hand this time I then took care of business and evened things out. As the polishing phase set in, and this was done after many of the other students left for good (it was the last day after all).

   Blaine once again took over mainly because the ring would get very hot when using the buffing compounds. I learned this first hand both when he dropped it in my hand and later on my own when doing the same. I needed a cup of water next to me to dip it into periodically to reduce the friction burns on my hands. Polishing did take nearly forever as platinum is dense and hard to get right, initially. After much buffing, hand washing and switching wheels and polishing compounds, not to mention plenty of profanity on my part from light friction burns, the ring looked phenomenal. Blaine did say not to use another compound on it, some super special stuff that would make it like neon, but I did anyways. It didn't need it and in no way could hurt the finish, but I wanted to do it anyways for an extra 'neon' look. After this was done, and trust me I was getting tired, it was onto band number two.
  Blaine did do the initial fusion but I cut what was left of the strip from Tyler's band and it would be just about perfect for the width that Heather wanted. Other than that part of it, this was all me. It was my chance to take everything I had learned in the previous few hours. Here I did not fail. I did all the forming and bending around the mandrel and checked in with Blaine after most steps to make sure I didn't forget anything. I got myself fusing this ring on camera and can upload it if I can also have an additional item with the main post picture. After all the forming was done, I decided to call it a day as I was near exhaustion and still had to pack up all the tools that I had bought and put my workbench and all my tools back in order. Afterwards I thanked Blaine and Jill, his wife and acting receptionist, for everything and drove back to hotel. After a brief nap Dad and I packed up the car and started to drive the 17 hours back to Massachusetts. I was not thrilled about leaving that night but more on that in a later post.
  Back in my own workshop and a week later, as I gave myself some time off to let all my hand/arm muscles get back to normal, I began to finish Heather's ring. The feeling was a little different but that was only because the change in setting, but I used all the same tools. I filed and used some new tools to shape it from flat to half round (Tyler's was flat as he wanted it to be but Heather opted for half round, which gave me another obstacle to learn/overcome) made a comfort fit inside just as Blaine had shown me on Tyler's band, although I had to be finer with my movements on the flexible shaft machine due to the difference in size. But I had learned these fine motor skills while away for twelve weeks. I think I debunked the myth, or just worked it out, that people with any sort of autism do not have the ability to do this type of work. Let me tell you that I am very proud of what I accomplished and how I was able to, with plenty of the right instruction, pull this feat off. After making sure the bands fit, I met with Tyler & Heather the week before final delivery of the bands, I polished hers and refinished his. They both came out, as you can no doubt see, incredible, even as far as a complete hand fabrication goes.
  The day of delivery came last weekend, at the bridal shower, and was the last gift opened, mainly because Tyler went hiking earlier that day and wanted to be the first to see the final product, but also because the bands were to be used more than any other gift the couple would receive that day. Everyone looked upon them with envy and once they felt the incredible weight of Tyler's band with even more envy. People were sort of shocked when  Heather had to say, multiple times, "Yes, he MADE them." We got a couple pictures of them with the rings on and I put them on Facebook for all to see.

  The whole thing went well, and not just the rings. Those three months in Nashville changed my life and in more ways that one. I'll never forget all the fun we had, the frustrations that we put to rest (after a lot of practice of course) and being able to do things that we never thought possible as far as making jewelry goes. I lived in a hotel in a state I'd only been to while in an airport and also where I did not know anyone previously, for three months 1200 miles away from the comforts of home. It was a wild ride and I loved every minute of it, truly a life experience that will never be equaled in my mind.

Questions or comments (Come on, at least on this one, folks) 

Week 12 (Platinum Week!)

 

                                   The prongs can be moved back to form but I just left it like that after polishing
                                                 Platinum head, entirely hand made, on a 14k shank


Eleven weeks of waiting had lead up to this point. It was the beginning of platinum week! I was so excited I couldn't stand it. After a little talking about the metal Blaine did a demo of fusing a ring. I had never seen it up close/in person but the camera never lies. This was the coolest demo he did in the entire twelve weeks. The camera even had a special dark lens so it wouldn't burn out! Unlike normal soldering fusion is much different. The flame is an oxidizing one and this sounded like a jet engine with a very loud hiss. The light is blinding, from the platinum taking on so much heat, so dark shades are a must or a trip to the emergency room is inevitable. The metal melts at just over 3,200F and does not transfer heat very well. Blaine actually was able to fuse the metal while holding the piece of paper thin fusion stock in his bare hand! Any other metal would have burnt him severely. After Blaine did the demo each of us had the opportunity to do the same. He coached us through it one at a time and everyone did just fine.
   After some more lecturing Blaine told us that we were going to start on the trellis ring a couple days early. We went over how this ring was going to be made and the task looked both simple and daunting at the same time. One thing was for sure; I did not want to tank this puppy.
   The first task was to anneal the wire Blaine had pulled down to size and given us. This was easy enough and no glasses were needed. Next we had to bend three jump rings around the mandrel to make the first part of the setting. This was a little harder as the metal tended to spring back. After this the project began to take off. We had to put slits into the jump rings at the appropriate points for the prongs. Any miscalculation could prove disastrous. I took around four hours to get this done. My hands were shaking much of the time and I took it very slowly. Some people finished this easily but I kept having to expel the demon in my head and his doubting ways. It was not easy but I got over it.
   After that we had to make the prongs and the steps in bending them, which I can't give here, were nothing short of inventive, as was how we assembled them and soldered them on. the ring was really taking shape. This was done over a few days, of course. As with all projects we had to wait for a couple people while those ahead had to occupy their time. After the head was assembled we were given a 14k gold shank and asked to finish and file it so that the head could be put on. This went better than previous for me, as I had learned a lot in the previous weeks. Soldering the head to the shank was almost a joke because we used a small, light flame versus the intense heat we had been using the whole week. One student melted the shank a little, but other than that they all came out good. The great thing was that everyone in the class finished the ring, unlike the previous three stone sterling ring we made in week five.

  Looking at this ring and holding it in my hand was a great accomplishment. I felt like I could do anything now. Before I was to leave school, though, I had one more task that I had to do; create two platinum wedding bands for the upcoming wedding I was in. I needed to melt, bend, shape, fit and polish to the best of my ability. This rings were going to be worn, in public, not just something I could do and forget about. I mean the trellis ring was great but things were about to get real. These bands would be my first true test of what I had learned.