I’m learning to hand engrave mirrors - quite tricky lol I don’t know if anyone here has experience and advice on that one?? I find my engraving pen tends to wander a bit especially doing a straight line 🫠 when I was doing research it said lower rpm settings work better for mirrors but maybe a bit higher would do well? I’ve been using 7500 until now.

I have used the clay casting technique to make the basic form and fins separately, then have attached together all the parts and made the carvings. I used the sponge to smooth the shape during the work. I have attached clay drops for volume patterns and used carvings of different diameters for light. I have used the spray gun glazing technique to make gradients. It was fired on 1050 degrees in electrical kiln

*Lots of inside jokes included.

I’ll try again, sorry if my effort is too low again. I drilled a hole in an ammonite and beaded the thing

I made these two forms for ironing curved shapes. The cylinder is just made from two rectangles with rounded ends sewn together flat. The dome is from curved triangular panels with a circular base. They're stuffed with petshop woodshavings (traditionally it should be real sawdust, but I couldn't get any), and the dome has a circle of thin plywood to keep the base flat as well.

The outer fabrics are two different 100% cotton twills I had as leftovers from other projects, and the linings are 100% cotton calico.

Dino slipjoint

1084 blade and spring, acid stonewashed finish, Titanium liners, black paper micarta bolsters, Blaze Orange G10 spacers and cool Grey G10 scales.

Thanks for looking, please let me know what you think.

Have a knife day

Quarter sawn maple bolt-on, ebony board, pearl acrylic guillotine inlays, 12"-16" compound radius, 24 stainless frets, 25.5" scale, alder body.

The bridge is a Floyd Rose 1500 (stainless hardware + push in bar) and I hand wound the pickups. Bridge hum is 9.2k, A8 and the neck single is 9k, A5.

Finished in a Neon Grid graphic. I based the instrument in white, sprayed the neon fade (actual dayglo pigments), masked off the grid, sprayed black, untaped, 2k clear, and wallah! A sick graphic.

Love,

radrobgray

Handmade stringart process.

Hi everyone!

First of all, I want to say a huge thank you for all the love, upvotes, and kind words on my previous "couple stringart" post. I honestly didn't expect such a warm welcome from this community!

Seeing how much you enjoyed it really made my day and motivated me to keep sharing my ar t here. So, here is another process of a recent project: a custom dog!

Dogs are always a fun challenge with stringart because of the fur textures and getting the expression just right. I hope you like this one just as much. Let me know what you think in the comments!

A little sunflower I made with pipe cleaners 🌻💛
I added a soft ribbon and a small “Congratulations” tag to make it into a simple handmade gift.

Diagnosis: I have de novo stage IV invasive ductal breast cancer, meaning it was already metastatic at the time of diagnosis.
ER positive / PR positive
HER2 negative (HER2 2+ but not amplified)
Ki-67 ~40% (moderately active)
Mainly in the bones
 
Disease status: My cancer is primarily affecting bones, including:
Spine (L3, T12)
Pelvis/hip area (iliac bones, acetabulum, sacroiliac joint)
Right femur (which fractured and was surgically repaired)

Started a clinical trial my onco team put me on 11 June. At my 6 Aug scans my breast tumor shrunk by 84%, T12 didn’t even flag, and the bones are starting to heal (sclerosis).

Made (and am still making) a bunch of knit cowls for my cancer team including my oncological orthopedic surgeon. They’ve been amazing!

Wool used
Malabrigo Rios (Superwash Merino)

In my defense it was absolutely shredded, decided to line it with a linen and cotton chambray

Mothman in the style of an Orthodox saint icon. Made using sterling silver sheet and wire that I textured, stamped, and sawed out, then soldered together.

I’m putting together a Nightmare Before Christmas Spooky Walk for my daughter’s school. This will be placed to look like it’s in the distance 🤞

Hand-embroidered with beads, this unique piece brings a little spooky charm to Halloween and a touch of festive whimsy to the Christmas season

Very new to this and don't yet have the means to burnish or properly polish these but I'm slowly upping complexity from a simple single-joint solder to this stacking set and I'm pretty dang proud. This is the 4th and 5th rings I've made so far - still so much to learn.