{"id":2462,"date":"2013-11-27T01:30:11","date_gmt":"2013-11-27T01:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2462"},"modified":"2013-11-27T01:30:11","modified_gmt":"2013-11-27T01:30:11","slug":"clockwork-trilobite-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2462","title":{"rendered":"Clockwork Trilobite – Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

In order for the parts to solder well, I need to flatten all the mating surfaces – the top surface of the bottom plate, the bottom surface of the top plate, and the bottom of the gears (there\u2019s a parsing conundrum for you!).<\/p>\n

\"Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_19\"<\/a>
\nI use a file most often for this , but a flat plate topped with sandpaper would also work.\u00a0 On the bottom surface of the top plate (the lowest piece in the image above) I\u2019ve used a black Sharpie\u2122 permanent marker as layout fluid so I can easily see the low spots and know when I\u2019ve accomplished flatness.<\/p>\n

\"Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_22\"<\/a>
\nNext I need to cut the pockets the gears will fit in to do a \u201cdisappearing act\u201d into the top plate of the trilobite.\u00a0 Above, I\u2019ve colored the silver with a red Sharpie\u2122, carefully positioned the gears and then scribed a line around them so indicate how far into the plate I must remove the metal.<\/p>\n

\"Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_23\"<\/a>
\nI also need to mark the depth on the inside of the gear pocket.\u00a0 Once again, I press my Sharpie\u2122 into service, and scribe the depth with a pair of dividers (see above) – after carefully measuring, of course.<\/p>\n

\"Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_25\"<\/a>
\nAbove is a view through the engraving microscope.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been using small carbide burs to carve away the metal that needs to be removed.<\/p>\n

\"Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_29\"<\/a>
\nOnce I\u2019m close on the fit, I use a flat graver to remove the inside radius left along the back corner, and then use a small scraper to refine the surfaces.\u00a0 This scraper is the one I used in much of the carving of the Orca Knife<\/a> – it carves metal really well.\u00a0 Heres the link:\u00a0 http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2333<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_31\"<\/a>
\nAnd, at last, the gears fit, the surfaces are flat and ready for soldering.\u00a0 One last gear left to make, which will go on top of the large gear in the circular opening, and then we can get on to the fun parts.<\/p>\n

Thanks for looking!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In order for the parts to solder well, I need to flatten all the mating surfaces – the top surface of the bottom plate, the bottom surface of the top plate, and the bottom of the gears (there\u2019s a parsing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[23,28,31,11],"tags":[9,3,7,17,16,10,26,12],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6qLAy-DI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2447,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2447","url_meta":{"origin":2462,"position":0},"title":"Clockwork Trilobite – Part 1","date":"November 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here\u2019s the start of a commission for an engraved and carved silver trilobite, with copper gears. Above, I\u2019m weighing out scrap sterling silver (looking for about an ounce).\u00a0\u00a0The scrap needs to be clean, and free of any solder. \u00a0If it has been melted a couple of times, you probably shouldn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_10.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2484,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2484","url_meta":{"origin":2462,"position":1},"title":"Clockwork Trilobite – Part 5","date":"November 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m adding all of the rivets and completing the engraving for the pendant back. Above are the wires I\u2019m going to make my rivets out of, along with my blacksmith\u2019s \u201cnail header.\u201d\u00a0 The silver wire is 16 gauge silver, and the copper is 12 gauge.\u00a0 You can see the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_66.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2471,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2471","url_meta":{"origin":2462,"position":2},"title":"Clockwork Trilobite – Part 4","date":"November 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I need to make the last little gear, solder everything together and do the initial shaping. Above, I\u2019m using a computer printout as a pattern for the tiny gear, and drilling the starting holes.\u00a0 I used a scan of the top silver trilobite plate and carefully scaled the gear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Clockwork_Trilobite_Pendant_50.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2455,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2455","url_meta":{"origin":2462,"position":3},"title":"Clockwork Trilobite – Part 2","date":"November 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today was just a lot of sawing.\u00a0 A lot\u2026I had forgotten how gummy and resisting sterling silver could be, especially in thicker pieces.\u00a0 Now I remember why I much prefer sawing, engraving and carving in steel\u2026 Above are the two trilobite pieces sawn from my two silver plates.\u00a0 On the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Toadsticker_Shiv_Box.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2143,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2143","url_meta":{"origin":2462,"position":4},"title":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 1","date":"June 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Above images courtesy of BladeGallery.com And a work-in-progress image of my own. In the past I've experimented with carving bird skulls from antler, and some with small helmets. \u00a0While they proved popular, all of the above works were terribly labor intensive. \u00a0While stumbling around the Internet, I found some videos\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Press_Formed_Owl_Skull_Pendant_16.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2273,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2273","url_meta":{"origin":2462,"position":5},"title":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 5","date":"July 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I'm working on making a pendant from the little silver hummingbird skull I press formed during our last visit. \u00a0I'm engraving a piece of Grade 2 titanium for the back of the pendant. \u00a0I'm hoping the gray color of the titanium will coordinate nicely with the bright silver color\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Hummingbird_Skull_Press_Form_17.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2462"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2521,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462\/revisions\/2521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}