Gearing Up For Metal Crafting Projects

With last month’s Amazon Associates earnings I purchased Michael deMeng’s book “Secrets of Rusty Things”. I am partially though it. You can see Michael deMeng’s website to get a gist for the assemblage work he does with metal.



I have been itching to do more metal crafting, on a smaller scale such as are shown in the O’Brien and Vollrath books.

Here is how I’ve been getting ready for metal crafting.

In August I bought a soldiering iron. They are $5 at Home Depot and later I found some at a dollar store for $1. I bought one from the dollar store, I am worried of the quality and if I will burn the house down or get electrocuted. You see, it was Made in China and two weeks ago, a lamp I own which was Made in China gave me an electrical shock when I went to turn the knob to turn it on! That thing was put right into the trash! Between my personal experience and the news reports, I am getting more and more leery of products Made in China.

On another day, my husband picked up the flux and the solder for the soldering iron, at Home Depot.

My mother said she will give me some of her copper tape which she has left over from her stained glass window making days.

I have aluminum metal tape on hand already and have been making ATCs with it so far, but I can use it in other ways also.

I picked up, on sale, some jump rings and fasteners (jewelry making parts). I also bought, on sale, a beginner’s jewelry making kit. These are so I can make necklaces.

I have on hand already, many resin plastic dominoes which I can alter and change into charms and pendants for necklaces.

I have been saving up various interesting metal food containers. I also have some old cookie tins and food tins with decorative designs on them. I plan to cut those apart to make some metal craft jewelry with.

I have some glass beads on hand from old art projects from the last two years.

With a 40% off coupon, the other day I bought a pair of fine detail shears for cutting metal, at Michael’s Craft store.

My husband already owns a Dremel and various power drills. He also has some metal files to smooth the edges with. We have steel wool here on hand also.

So basically I think I am all ready to dive in and to try my hand at metal crafting again.

The last step is to make sure I know the techniques. To that end, I am presently re-reading Metal Craft Discovery Workshop by Linda O’Brien and Opie O’Brien. Their website is Burnt Offerings and it will give you an idea of their style. I really want to make some metal craft jewelry similar to what they teach in this book.



I have also finished re-reading the book Metal Mania by Lisa Vollrath. The book is self-published and can be purchased on the Ten Two Studios site.

After I get that copper tape from my mother I’ll be ready to go with experimenting with metal crafting again.

I am really excited about it and hope that what I own already is enough to get the job done.

On the wish list for future purchases:
Two hole metal punch tool
Better metal files
Nibbler

Oh and I plan to also make some metal craft ATCs!

Wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: metal craft, metalcraft, Linda O’Brien, Opie O’Brien, Lisa Vollrath, Michael deMeng.