Tag Archives: tools

Destruct testing, tool making, and jewellery

By Somhairle | Published: January 23, 2012

I’d been wondering where this was for a month or so, and it turned out it had been in an inner pocket of my belt pouch all along, with the leather cord wrapped around it. The continual pressure (and probably the warmth) has pulled off a little of the paint, but that’s all. I’m fairly [...]

Posted in jewellery | Also tagged , , | 2 Responses

Laser cutter designs

By Somhairle | Published: April 21, 2011

This is a sign I made for craft fairs—it’s a nice heavy block of reclaimed hardwood, thick enough to stand up on its own, and it proved very eye-catching indeed. Commercial laser-cutting is very expensive (I’ve been quoted £1 a minute) but London Hackspace own their own laser-cutter, and £3 an hour covers maintenance, electricity, [...]

Posted in jewellery | Also tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Epoxy jewellery

By Somhairle | Published: March 1, 2010

Here are three of the pieces I was experimenting with at the beginning of February – I’ve been working on them on and off, coat after coat of paint and then varnish, and now they’re sitting on my desk waiting to go to their new owners. They’re all prototypes – I’m happy with the look [...]

Posted in jewellery | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Responses

Barens and spoons II

By Somhairle | Published: April 3, 2009

This is the print done with a spoon, as promised. It’s slightly different paper (from my stock – I’ve not been keeping as good track of it as I’d like to, so I’m not completely sure whether this is Fabriano Accademia or Atlantis Heritage Woodfree). Notice the sheer amount of ink on the flat areas, [...]

Posted in printmaking | Also tagged , , | Leave a comment

Barens and spoons

By Somhairle | Published: March 29, 2009

I’ve just taken half a dozen prints from the Brigid’s Cross block I posted about before, since I finally finished carving it tonight. It’s always an amazing feeling to peel off the first print and see the results – once it translates itself from vinyl & wet ink to paper (and reverses itself in the [...]

Posted in printmaking | Also tagged , , | Leave a comment

Falkiner’s

By Somhairle | Published: December 10, 2008

Quick post to mention another good materials source. Falkiner’s (formally Shepherds Bookbinder Ltd) on Southampton Row (near Holborn) – specialist bookbinding supplies. Good paper in large quantities, thin leather of just about any description (including stingray, parrot fish, perch, and cane toad skins), and Useful Tools. They also sell good-quality lightfast pigment ink calligraphy pens, [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged | 1 Response

GIMP

By Somhairle | Published: September 5, 2008

I’ve been using the GIMP for quite a while, so I was rather interested to see this review from Dave at Scriptorium. As far as free software goes (in the FOSS sense, rather than the strictly literal send-no-money-now sense), the GIMP is pretty damn good. However, as free software tends to be, it’s designed (in [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged | Leave a comment

Ow, again

By Somhairle | Published: June 30, 2008

No, I haven’t stuck myself again – this one is muscle strain from a few hours with the carving tools. I’m working on the largest, most complex block so far – katsura, designed to print onto A4 paper. But still, I’m most of the way through the final pass. It takes more or less four, [...]

Posted in printmaking | Also tagged | 1 Response