Prepping For The Upcoming Boullework Class

I spent part of the weekend getting ready for the upcoming Boullework Marquetry workshop at the barn.  The main items were to cut and anneal the brass panels for the workshop exercises, and making some tordonshell.

I anneal the brass sheet by placing the pieces on a hot plate and letting everything get as hot as it can get and leave it there for a couple hours.  When it has turned from a bright brass color (upper right) to a dull purple/brown it is ready to work.  This renders the material much softer and easier to saw with the near-microscopic blades we will be using.

Actually the most time consuming thing (clock-wise, not me-wise) was reconditioning some silica gel to desiccate the tordonshell after making it.  But all that took was digging out a slow cooker and the Gamma dog food container I use as a desiccation chamber for dealing with the tordonshell after it is made.  I cooked the silica gel for about twelve hours to drive its RH down to about 10% so it should serve as a drying chamber nicely.

As for the tordonshell I cast and hand-painted several pieces of it, enough for everyone to have plenty for the class exercises.  Since our first activity the morning of the first day is for everyone to make some for themselves to take home after the class, they will get the full experience of creating and working with artificial tortoiseshell and brass.

This topic is on my “make a video” list, perhaps for late next year.