shanmonster | Bad Day! Bad! Go Lie Down!

The morning started off well. I woke up chipper and ready for action, which rarely happens. And the first couple of hours at work were fine, too.

But then it was time to go into the metal studio and work on a commission piece. Here's what the work is: Marty Ladds, another metalsmith, specializes in carvings. He made a prototype of a knife handle. It has a real outdoorsy feel to it. One side has a beaver, and the other a moose. Trees and water are all over, too.

Monty Lewis, the local rock hound and dealer, has purchased the knife handles from Marty, and wants to produce more of them. In order to produce more, he needs a mould.

That's where I come in.

I agreed to do the moulds for him, and took stones from him in payment. Unfortunately, I've been going through a series of setbacks. The first mould I made turned out badly. It seemed RTV silicon rubber has a chemical reaction with too much Vaseline. Any place where the silicon was in contact with the Vaseline, it didn't set. It should only take 24 hours for the stuff to set at room temperature. Instead, it looked like boiled white icing, even after 48 hours.

So I was getting all set to redo the pour when in came one of my teachers. She took away the scales, which meant I could not work on the moulds. You see, I have to measure very precisely in order for the chemical compounds to work. So the moulds I expected to have completed in two days were pushed back a week until my teacher could return the scales.

The day before yesterday, the scales were finally returned, and I immediately recommenced work on the moulds. I set up a Plasticene bed for the knife handles, used a very thin, melted coating of Vaseline on the metal bits, and left the Plasticene uncovered.

Today, when I went back in to do the second half of the pour, I discovered that the Vaseline wasn't the problem. It was the Plasticene. Any place where the silicon touched Plasticene was a goopy, half-congealed bukkake mess. Blech.

So I got to solder sprues on the handles today, taped the mould frames to boards, and got everything ready for another pour on the morrow. I just didn't have enough time to do a pour today. This is pushing my commissioned work back an extra week. I feel very bad about this, because I know Monty wants those moulds. Ack! I hate these nasty setbacks.

If the pours I do tomorrow don't work, I don't know what I'll do. I'll have to pay Monty for the stones I got from him in payment, and be out a bunch of money. RTV silicon rubber is expensive, and I've been tearing through the stuff at a ridiculous rate. I'm too broke for this.

Anyway, this poor performance in the metal studio put a damper on my whole day, and my old whiplash injury has also been aching, making sure I don't have much of a good time. No kung fu for me tonight. Not until my neck is all better. Feh! Feh, I say!

At least I have a good supper to look forward to. After I wash the dishes, that is. Grr....