alloys

Yesterday I worked on my new brooch some more. This piece could have been done a long time ago if I would have worked on it alone. Instead I am spreading my time around, spending a little time on it and several other half finished pieces. I don't like to work on a piece from start to finish with out taking some time off to work on other things. If I take time off I can more easily see if I am happy with the design and how it is coming out. Especially with carved pieces. I dwell on small details so long I need to take a break to see the piece is turning out overall.

I think its fine to do that, but I think I do it a little too much. I have too many pieces going. Eventually I will finish several pieces all within a short period, but it gets kind of depressing to have not finished a piece in a while, and to have a piece sitting unfinished for a long time.

I anodized the parts of my new brooch yesterday. I am not happy with it. I dyed them green, but the alloy I used didn't take the color well. I thought I was using 6061 aluminum, and maybe I was. Maybe 6061 just doesn't take green dye very well. I think I need to make sample pieces of different alloys dyed different colors. I have one big piece of 1" thick aluminum, I have no idea what alloy it is, but I used it for the base of my welder hand piece holder and it anodized great. Anyway I have to remove the anodizing and redo it a different color. The color isn't bad, its just not what I wanted.