Some of my recent lock picks

These are some of the picks I have made recently.  I am very happy with the way the first one turned out.  That was the first time I did silver inlay.  Simple to do, but somewhat time consuming.

Ebony with silver inlay

Ebony + tagua nut

Ebony with silver inlay

You Tube review of my lock picks

Popular You Tube lock picker, Bosnian Bill reviewed two of my lock picks recently.  His review has been getting me a lot of orders. 

New website

I have finally made a website for my lock picks.  It's pretty basic, but I don't have the interest or patience to do something bigger.

www.ratyoke.com

ebony and holly lock picks

These are a few lock picks I have made recently using ebony and holly.  I bought some tagua nuts this week, I have never worked with them before.  I will probably try those in combination with ebony next time, but they are too small to make an entire pick out of.  

new pendant

Last week I finally finished this pendant.  I did the design in ZBrush while I was living in Korea.  A customer wanted me to make them a custom piece and chose this one out of several designs I presented.  I am glad she liked the finished piece.  I am always worried the customer won't be happy when they see the finished piece.  I am mostly happy with how it came out.  The materials are 18k yellow and white gold and a yellow sapphire.  This isn't the first piece I have done with CAD, but I think it is the first one I have done all the work on, from designing it with CAD to finishing the metal piece.

Class at GRS soon

I'll be going to Emporia, Kansas in about a week and a half for the Advanced Stone Setting Class with Blaine Lewis at the GRS Training Center.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I've wanted to take that class for a few years.

Iowa State University Art Museum

Recently these 3 pieces were accepted into the Brunnier Art Museum at Iowa State University.

These pieces are all anodized aluminum and sterling silver.  This black ring I made in 2005 and gave to my ex.  A couple years after we broke up she sent it back.  I told her if she doesn't want it, just throw it away.  When I received it I seriously considered destroying it.  The stones are sapphires.  I wish I had a better photo of it.