A year full of research, writing, and infographics. Oh my!

Yesterday I realized that it had been a day shy of a year since my last blog post. To say I was surprised by how quickly time had passed is an understatement, then again it has been a full year since the 'new normal' began with our current COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

During the first week of January 2020, I was struck with an idea * that I needed to find out as much as I could in order to make an informed decision if it was feasible or not. After several weeks of research and brainstorming, I decided that I can self-publish my first book.

* [During a pleasant drive along the St-Laurence River, heading to a friend's house, I was reminded of a friend's cookbook project I contributed to in early 2012. My friend Mugino Saeki was working on a memorial gift titled 'A Taste of Kindness' which she self-published using the print-on-demand company, Blurb. Before she finalized the recipes she asked several of her friends if we'd be interested in testing 1 or 2 recipes that she selected, provide her feedback on our experience, and take photographs of the completed dish(s) to include in the book. I was excited to help on this wonderful project and had a fantastic experience. I was over the moon when she liked my photographs especially when I found out a third was selected for the back cover. I highly recommend Mugino's excellent recipe book as a gift or for one's own cookbook library. ("With the purchase of this book, you will also help provide essential nourishment and humanitarian aid around the world. All of the net proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the following hunger relief organizations (...)", text source) No one that worked on this memorial project receives any payment for their contributions.]

After researching several print-on-demand companies and weighing all of my sales/distribution options I've decided to stick with Blurb as my printing-on-demand service and main online sales point, as well as listing on Amazon for wider exposure. Each book will be available in full color as a soft- or hardcover option and each having an image-wrapped cover.

With my multi-year background in creating digital graphics, website creation, basic product photography, seven years of editing article layouts and research presentation layouts for Senior Epidemiologists (which were published in multiple scientific and medical journals as well as Poster and PowerPoint presentations at scientific conferences and symposiums), teaching jewelry fabrication classes and making my class handout booklets, I am confident that I can compile it myself along with some text editing help. Blurb has a basic WYSIWYG program for layout that also compiles a Master file that is print-ready for their presses.

I've started to approach several metalsmithing friends to see if they might be interested in collaborating with me on one or more project ideas I've been developing. I'm very happy with the reactions I've had so far and how the first 2-3 projects have been developing. With each release, I will begin my next set of book projects in the series. I do enjoy working on at least 2 projects at a time.

As each book project nears its completion for release I will post about them here as well as on my new Facebook and Instagram accounts, I'll post the new URLs here as things develop.

Instructional Series. "How to hand-grind Soft Flameworking glass rods (COE 104) into Vitreous Enamel powder or Frit for Lampworking". Part 1

When I started my research and fabrication project last year on Late Anglo-Saxon Disk-Brooches, I began several different experiments based on my various theories. 

As I was doing my 1st millennium AD/CE glass and enamel research I did not come across sufficient published research showing a clear connection between the colored glass used to make Anglo-Saxon beads and the colored glass they broke down and used for enamelling. 

Just because something looks logical doesn't make it fact. To me it looks logical that the Anglo-Saxons used the same source of colored glass for both their glass beads and vitreous enamel work.


The following experiments were to see if colored Flameworking glass rods with a Coefficient of Expansion (COE) of 104, used to make glass beads with a torch, can be successfully used to make hand-ground Vitreous Enamel for kiln fired enamel.


*These techniques can also be used to make glass Frit of various sizes. Frit is used in Flameworking, Glass Fusing, etc.

I wrote 3 blog posts and filmed 4 short instructional videos on my process which anyone can follow in this order:

Late Anglo-Saxon Disk-Brooches. Part 3 (Enamel)

Then:
Late Anglo-Saxon Disk-Brooches. Part 4 (Enamel)

Then:
Late Anglo-Saxon Disk-Brooches. Part 6. (Enamelling Tools)

Part 6 of my series of blog posts related to my Late Anglo-Saxon Enamel Disk-Brooch project on the historical tools used in Goldsmithing and Enamelling from approximately the 2nd-century BCE until the middle of the 2nd-millennium CE. The Iron Hoods / Muffles and Trays used by Georgian Enamelers as well as those described by Theophilus in his Treates.


I recorded 4 related videos to show my techniques. The first and main instructional video:


This is the first video tutorial I've ever filmed and the main one to watch. (Length: 37m35s)

I am show my technique of dry hand grinding soft Lampworking glass rods (CoE 104) into 80 grit Vitreous Enamel powder.


Please click on the middle tab marked 'Description' to read any corrections on the temperature mentioned. Once it sounds like I say a different temperature and another I accidentally only said the second half of the temperature needed.


Then watch the following short videos that show the results from the end of the main tutorial.

The second video that compliments the main one. (Length: 0m57s)

This very short video shows what the washed, oven dried, and hand-ground enamel looks like right out of the kitchen oven. I've used soft Lampworking glass rods (CoE 104) as the glass source for my Vitreous Enamel experiment.


Then the next two short videos:

Third video to watch. (Length: 3m25s)

Fourth and final video tutorial. (Length: 2m15s)

Both show the kiln firings of the hand-ground enamel I've been making from soft Flameworking glass rods. You can see me extracting several small pieces from the Kiln to show the temperature color shift as the enamels cool. Photographs of them are in my blog posts.


Over time I will be adding blog posts in this series on my Blogger account and upload companion videos to my Vimeo page. 

I'd love to see what you do with your results of this dry grinding technique.

Wire and Bead Tutorials. Beaded Dangle or Pendant. Part 1

Wire and Bead Tutorials.
Beaded Dangle or Pendant. Figure 1.

This is Part 1 of my blog post series of Wire and Bead Tutorials. In this post I will be showing a simple way to make a Beaded Dangle or Pendant using Head Pins and various Beads.

All of the following techniques and supplies are historically used and date back to at least the end of the first millenium BC (BCE) and continue well through the Byzantine Empire. I have found many extant examples from various times and places of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire. Over the coming months I will continue to look for extant pieces from other Mediterranean and European civilizations.

A modern Head Pin is a long wire with one end terminating in a flattened, round 'head' that is simiar to a nail's or some styles of rivets. They can be purchased at many bead suppliers or craft stores and come in a variety of gauges, lengths, and metals either precious or not.

1. Pass the Head Pin's 'end' (1b) through the Decorative Bead (1a) so its 'head' is flush against the bead's opposite opening* (1c).

2. Take 1 or more small Embellishment Bead (2a) and slide them onto the Head Pin (2 & 2b).

3. Bend the remaining length of the Head Pin about 90 degrees (3a) so that the Beads are secured in place and that there isn't room enough for them to slide back and forth. Use Round Needle Nose Pliers (3) to form a loop by bending the wire around it (4a). 

4. Use Wire Cutters (4) to shorten the Head Pin (4a), so it forms a closed, round loop (4b). Use a Pair of Flat Needle Nose Pliers (4c) to manipulate the loop so that it is centered and closed properly so there isn't any gap left. A gap could get spread wider through wear and tear to possible lose the Dangle.

5.  Pass the Dangle's loop (4b) either through the opening of the hook or brooch pin, or one end of a chain, cord or wire so it is secured.

Wire and Bead Tutorials.
Beaded Dangle or Pendant. Figure 2.

* Please Note: If the Decorative Bead's bottom opening is wider than the Head Pin's 'head', then you can do any of the following historically used options:

A. First slide on a small bead, like a Seed Bead, that is wider than the Decorative Bead's opening. This smaller bead will stop the larger bead from falling off.

B. First slide on a spangle which will act like a Bead Cap. A spangle is a small, flat metal disk with a drilled hole at it's center, it is what sequince is made up of and it is used in decorative Embroidery.

C. First slide on a small Bead Cap with a hole small enough that the 'head' prevents it from sliding off the Head Pin. Bead Caps are usually curved like the Bead and look molded against it. 

D. Use or make a Head Pin with a wider 'head' or that has a balled up end with a wider diameter than the width of the Decorative Bead's hole.

E. Make a single or double Loop that's larger than the Decorative Bead's opening. Use the same techniques shown in this photo-tutorial.

F. If you are using round wire instead of a Head Pin, and the Bead has a small opening, you can simply bend the wire back onto itself (180 degrees) using a Pair of Flat Needle Nose Pliers (4c). This will form a closed 'U' shape that should be wider than the Decorative Bead's bottom opening.

Part 2 of this Blog post series will show how to make 1 style of Birka Grave Find, Bead Hangers. It is a decorative way to suspend 1 or more beads on a beaded necklace or chain. There are a variety of styles and I will be showing 1 of the 2 most found methods. This style of Viking Age Bead Hanger was predominately found in Birka Grave Finds.

Visual Typology of Twisted or Plaited Viking Age -Rings. Part 2.

Legend:  Visual Typology of Viking Age
Finger-, Arm-, and Neck-Rings, Figure 1.

This is Part 2 of my blog post series on the visual Typology I've worked on for twisted and/or plaited Viking Age (VA) Finger-Rings, Arm-Rings, and Neck-Rings (-Rings). In this post I will be covering the Legend of my visual typology so that the examples I post in my third blog post will make more sense.

Part 1 covered the most important elements, the metal rods and/or wire they forged and then twisted and/or plaited to form their -Rings.

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Legend:  Visual Typology of Viking Age Finger-, Arm-, and Neck-Rings, Figure 1

The examples are shown as Cross-Sections to better illustrate the various parts.

SETS: Are usually 2 or 3 Strands, but can be more, of Wire or Rod; most often Twisted together Clockwise. Rods can be tapered at the ends so that the middle is the thickest/widest point.

Example shown. SET  1 x 2, Twisted Clockwise 

BUNDLES: Are usually 2 or 3 Sets, but can be more; most often Plaited together Counter Clockwise.

Example shown. BUNDLE  1 x 2, Plaited Counter Clockwise

Embellishments: Are optional decorative elements for Sets or Bundles, and they are made using Wires of a much smaller diameter than the primary ones used to make the Sets. They are usually either 1 Beaded Wire or made up of 1 or 2 Round Wires. When there are 2 or more Wires they are most often Twisted together Clockwise. 

Embellishments are seated in the 'valleys' created when the Sets are Twisted or the Bundles are Plaited. This means that the same number of Embellishment Wires are used as there are Strands in the Set, or the number of Sets in the Bundle.


Please Note:
Currently, there is no formal descriptive nomenclature to define this based on Ted Bouck's research and networking across the globe, as well as in my own research. My definitions are based on the ones developed by Ted Bouck, which I agree with, he will more fully define them in the future. Please refer to his document, "The processes used to make a twisted or plaited Viking Age "style" armring." Definitions used with permission from Ted Bouck who retails full Copyrights.


All graphics of my Visual Typology of twisted and/or plaited Viking Age Finger-Rings, Arm-Rings, and Neck-Rings are Copyrighted by me.

Visual Typology of Twisted or Plaited Viking Age -Rings. Part 1.

Various Shapes of Forged Wire or Rod
for Viking Age -Rings, Figure 1.

This is Part 1 of my blog post series on the visual Typology I've worked on for twisted and/or plaited Viking Age (VA) Finger-Rings, Arm-Rings, and Neck-Rings (-Rings). 

In this post I will be covering the most important elements, the metal rods and/or wire they forged and then twisted and/or plaited to form their -Rings.

[IMAGE]

Various Shapes of Forged Wire or Rod for Viking Age -Rings, Figure 1.

The extant finds are predominately made of Gold or Silver (sometimes referred to as Fine Silver) as well Gold Alloys (23 Karats and below) or Silver Alloys.  There are also some -Rings identified as 'Copper Alloy' or Bronze. 

Unfortunately, the majority have NOT been tested to determine their exact metallic compositions. Somewhat vague terms tend to be used, which can cause confusion, usually based on how they look.

Example, 'Copper Alloys' could mean any of the various Brass(es) or Bronze(s) we use today, but they are referring to Brass. 

Non-Modern Labels for 'Copper Alloys'

The blanket term 'Copper Alloy' is used within Archaeology to label and encompass a variety of Brass items. The main component of Brass is Copper (Cu) and its secondary one is Zinc (Zn). Even if this alloy is referred to as 'Bronze' it is still 'Brass' because it contains Zinc (Zn) and not Tin (Sn). 

Bronze is an alloy of Copper (Cu) and Tin (Sn). This blanket term does not specify the percentages of either element in the alloy, this can also be seen with the above term used for a Brass, 'Copper Alloy'.

Copper Alloy =  Brass = Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn)

                          Bronze = Copper (Cu) and Tin (Sn)

The Copper Development Association (CDA)

The Copper Development Association (CDA) is an international association that sets the standards for Copper and Copper alloys. They do this by creating internationally recognised ID code numbers that should be strictly followed when using their ID Codes to avoid confusion. 

For example Nickel Silver's CDA code number can be written in any of the following formats: 
CDA#752, CDA #752, CDA 752 or Alloy 752, etc. This specifically identified Copper alloy contain 65% Copper (Cu), 17% Zinc (Zn), and 18% Nickel (Ni), and it goes by various names depending on the sellers preferences: Nickel Silver, German Silver, Nickel Alloy, etc..

The CDA code number can be written in many different ways, as seen above, and yet mean the same thing. Using the CDA approved code for a specified Alloy ensures that the mix of metallic elements, that we are referring to, is the exact Alloy we mean so that there is no doubt. 

I have been unable to find a complete list of the CDA's standards and Alloy code numbers, on any of their websites. Most vendors use different terms for the same Alloy which quickly gets confusing so I compiled information from various websites, PDFs and tables into a table on my personal website entitled, 'Metal Alloy Table'.

For additional information and links please see the section entitled, 'Copper Development Association (CDA)' on my 'Metal Suppliers' resource page. 

Modern ID Codes for Copper Alloys

CDA#230: The modern alloy containing 85% Copper (Cu) and 15% Zinc (Zn), is referred to as Red Brass, Jeweler's Brass, NuGold, Jeweler's Bronze, etc..

CDA#260: The modern alloy containing 70% Copper (Cu) and 30% Zinc (Zn), is referred to as Yellow Brass or Cartridge Brass, etc..

Modern ID Codes for Copper Alloys: Bronze

CDA#521: The modern alloy containing 92% Copper (Cu) and 8% Tin (Sn) is Bronze and it is also referred to as Phosphor Bronze or Grade "C" Phosphor Bronze. 

CDA#521 is also significantly close to the proportions of tested extant Bronze items.

Forging an Ingot into Various
Shapes of Wire or Rod, Figure 2.

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Forging an Ingot into Various Shapes of Wire or Rod, Figure 2.

On a flat anvil, place your wire or rod while holding it with a pair of pliers, hammer from one end to the other along each corner's length and use consistent force. Rotate the wire or rod a quarter turn and repeat these steps until it has parallel sides and a polygon cross-section.

Stages:

Ingot > Square [4] > Octagon [8] > Hexadecagonal [16] > Triacontadigonal [32] > Circle

Anneal when the metal's length is doubled or the thickness is halved. Use the appropriate heat for the metal being used, immediately quench it in clean water. Use non-Ferris tweezers to place it in a warm pickle solution to remove any oxidation. Thoroughly wash the metal and dry the surface before continuing.  

Annealing returns work hardened metal to dead soft by returning its Ductility.

Remove the ragged ends with a saw or use a sharp cutting chisel. Rotate a 1/4 turn after each chisel strike and repeat until you cut through. Leaving the ragged ends could leave cracks or flaking that could get bigger as you work the metal causing a great deal of damage.