as promised, the final photos from my first attempt at etching,

below is just after i had removed the stopper - prior to shaping and polishing,


i ended up leaving the ring in the acid bath for just over another hour, (4 hours in total) hoping the acid i had obtained would work quicker than the older one i had used.

although you can clearly see the letters i think i would etch a little deeper in future, as you need to allow room for filing a polishing, but generally i was pretty pleased with the finished result,


after the final polish i left some polish around the edges of the letters just to highlight the etching, through wear the etched areas should darken naturally, i thought this may be a more subtle finish than oxidising the ring

i think my next etching session may be this saturday - halloween, don't think i can resist seeing the neighbours faces if im in my halloween costume stirring a couldren of fuming acid tehehe!!!!

.... i have moved!!!! finally! into a beautiful flat with windows i can open and a separate bedroom and living room, and best of all a bath!!!!! i love it ! i think i am keeping lush in business with their bathbombs at the moment tehehe, so i thought i'd share a pic of my makeshift workshop - in the middle of the living room,


there is a room being converted at the moment downstairs which will eventually be my workshop - lots of room for more tools, :)

i also had to share a picture of my mantle-piece, currently displaying some coca cola bottles designed by Matthew Williamson - one of my favourite designers,


.....maybe one day he will design a dress for me...........


above (and below) is a pendant i just finished, about to be my latest addition to my etsy shop, the stone is ruby in fuschite - unfortunately my photography skills have not improved so you can't quite pick up the vibrance of the stone.........


..... i have been struggling with another project recently, a friend asked for a ring to be made with the name of his shop on it - Ballyhoo .... I decided this was the perfect time to try chemical etching - little did i know how hard it was to get hold of nitric acid!!!!

I had to use nail varnish as a stopper so the whole ring didn't get eaten away, so it looks rather odd at the moment,

Below is the ring after 3 hours emmersed in nitric acid, the acid was about 20 years old and after 3 hours the results were minimal, however after ALOT of research i managed to get hold of some nitric acid of my own so tomorrow is 'take number 2' - if anyone walks past my flat tomorrow and sees me on my front doorstep adorned with gloved goggles and a mask now you know why!!

......... Hopefully this time i wont turn my hands black.......



i'll post some pictures of tomorrows results :) x