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Susan Freda - Commissions & Designers
Posted by Susan Freda on
Making it Flow - Arn's Signature Mokume Pattern
Posted by Susan Freda on
Flow is one of Arn's specialty forged patterns! This is one of his most complicated patterns, so he wanted to document some of the process to show you how he brings it to life. Come along on the journey from stock to ring!
Some assembly steps, those little rods will be the knots, and the flat stock will be the linear pattern running around the ring!
Here Arn is torch firing the stack to fuse everything together:
And then it's over to the press to compress the stack, check out that satisfying squash!
Here's what the stock for the ring looks like reduced down:
And Arn continues to shape the stock into the dimensions for a ring:
Here he is etching the silver:
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Making it Flow - Arn's Signature Mokume Pattern
Posted by Arn Krebs on
Flow is one of Arn's specialty forged patterns! This is one of his most complicated patterns, so he wanted to document some of the process to show you how he brings it to life. Come along on the journey from stock to ring!
Some assembly steps, those little rods will be the knots, and the flat stock will be the linear pattern running around the ring!
Here Arn is torch firing the stack to fuse everything together:
And then it's over to the press to compress the stack, check out that satisfying squash!
Here's what the stock for the ring looks like reduced down:
And Arn continues to shape the stock into the dimensions for a ring:
Here he is etching the silver:
Read more
Autumn Studio Sale!
Posted by Arn Krebs on
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Autumn Studio Sale!
Posted by Susan Freda on
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Mokume Maker Insights - Why Silver?
Posted by Susan Freda on
Shown below here is the same ring, made in our Firestorm palette, but with two different finishes. It's amazing how different a ring can look just by darkening the silver layers with oxidation! The silver layers go from practically white to almost black in color.
Read more about our different finishes in this blog post.
Silver is also very ductile, it has great bonding and forging characteristics, both of which are very beneficial in making strong and stable mokume billets!
Will the silver layers oxidize/tarnish on their own?
No, with regular wear the silver should not oxidize on its own, silver actually only will change color if left to sit for extended periods of time or if exposed to chemicals like sulfur or chlorine! Well water may contain sulfur, so that would be something to watch for, but if your ring were to accidentally get oxidized it's very easy to remove. Any commercial silver cleaner can easily take it right off.
The silver layers also do not compromise the structural integrity of the ring or affect the wear. It takes more than a lifetime of wear to truly wear down metal enough to compromise a ring, and this applies to precious metals like gold too. Silver wears very well, and the silver in our rings is completely nickel free, as nickel sensitivity/allergy is very common, even often leading to people thinking they have a silver allergy, but really the culprit is the nickel content!
If you'd still prefer a silver free ring, we do offer all gold palettes! We have our Blaze and Cinders palettes, which are combinations of 18kt Yellow Gold, 14kt Red Gold and 14kt Palladium White Gold.
We also offer custom billets if you want to create your own combination!
Read more
Mokume Maker Insights - Why Silver?
Posted by Arn Krebs on
Shown below here is the same ring, made in our Firestorm palette, but with two different finishes. It's amazing how different a ring can look just by darkening the silver layers with oxidation! The silver layers go from practically white to almost black in color.
Read more about our different finishes in this blog post.
Silver is also very ductile, it has great bonding and forging characteristics, both of which are very beneficial in making strong and stable mokume billets!
Will the silver layers oxidize/tarnish on their own?
No, with regular wear the silver should not oxidize on its own, silver actually only will change color if left to sit for extended periods of time or if exposed to chemicals like sulfur or chlorine! Well water may contain sulfur, so that would be something to watch for, but if your ring were to accidentally get oxidized it's very easy to remove. Any commercial silver cleaner can easily take it right off.
The silver layers also do not compromise the structural integrity of the ring or affect the wear. It takes more than a lifetime of wear to truly wear down metal enough to compromise a ring, and this applies to precious metals like gold too. Silver wears very well, and the silver in our rings is completely nickel free, as nickel sensitivity/allergy is very common, even often leading to people thinking they have a silver allergy, but really the culprit is the nickel content!
If you'd still prefer a silver free ring, we do offer all gold palettes! We have our Blaze and Cinders palettes, which are combinations of 18kt Yellow Gold, 14kt Red Gold and 14kt Palladium White Gold.
We also offer custom billets if you want to create your own combination!
Read more
New Tension Set Ring!
Posted by Arn Krebs on
Arn just completed this beautiful tension set style ring! We love tension settings, they create such a fantastical illusion of the stone floating. Arn documented his process in creating this design, from stock billet to forming and patterning, to setting the stone and finishing the ring.
This ring also features one of Arn's signature patterns, Guri Bori, inspired by the natural landforms and topography of the western US. The added thickness needed for this style of setting really helps to create that mountainous look!
Read more
New Tension Set Ring!
Posted by Susan Freda on
Arn just completed this beautiful tension set style ring! We love tension settings, they create such a fantastical illusion of the stone floating. Arn documented his process in creating this design, from stock billet to forming and patterning, to setting the stone and finishing the ring.
This ring also features one of Arn's signature patterns, Guri Bori, inspired by the natural landforms and topography of the western US. The added thickness needed for this style of setting really helps to create that mountainous look!