Categories: Experiences and daily life; Commerce and business
Word count/read time: 419 words; 2 minutes
The luxury of coming from a ~1000 sq/ft workshop with 16ft ceilings to a 4000+ sq/ft one
with normal ceilings was appreciated. Counter or worktop space increased
markedly. Feng shui might have mattered in cramped quarters but now it runs amok with wild
possibilities. It certainly tempts the hoarder in me.
Setting up the work stations wasn't any easier than in cramped quarters.
However, the shuffle this, lift that,
reorganize those to get to a piece of equipment was over. Everything is out and ready
to be used at any time, simultaneously if desired. The openness was refreshing.
Never did too much room or space seem like a problem. Until recently.
A set of gold earrings arrived with one broken earwire and the other about to fail.
Soldering would be dicey at best because there was an existing solder
joint along with pearls. I repaired one but the second didn't work out so well.
No biggie, remelt the whole shebang and start over.
Melting, casting, rolling, and drawing worked out well.
The exact metal content was unknown but it
measured around 16 karat on my electronic gold tester.
After finishing the main part, it was time to make earwires. They needed
to be custom so I ditched my jigs and went freestyle.
Earwires should be made from hardened wire.
Gold gets pretty darn hard despite it being a "soft" metal.
This earwire definitely was spring temper.
The first one came out just as planned. The second one was coming out perfectly as well and
it was time to cut the tail to working length.
It dropped onto the bench. As I grabbed it, the tail slipped.
This was spring state metal under tension. Normally,
it's easy to spot the freedom fighter but it
hit something in the distance and then there was silence.
Followed by an impressive list of the who's who of obscenities.
When an earwire launches at Mach 9 and ricochets into oblivion among countless
shelves, tote boxes, and machinery it becomes worse than a scavenger hunt.
That $50 worth of gold played a cruel game of hide-and-no-seek.
Losing the gold sucks but it was the last piece in that alloy and color!
That meant remelting everything again to make a matching set.
Clean floors and organized workspaces help somewhat.
Corralling flying debris needs an enclosed area.
Something as simple as a cheap vinyl shower curtain "wall" will
catch those wayward metal sprites.
The next lesson will undoubtedly be as silly, hopefully injury- and loss-free as well.
Posted by M: June 22, 2019
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