Daily Archives: June 18, 2009

The copper beads (bottom) have oxidized quite a bit. The bronze beads on left have oxidized slightly more than the bronze beads on right. I applied Renaissance Wax to one side of the necklace, but it did not slow down the oxidation at all in this case. I don’t mind the look of oxidation on these beads. They also polished easily with a Sunshine™ cloth.

In selling jewelry with high polished copper clay components, I would let the customer know that the copper will oxidize more quickly than the silver or bronze. If they want to restore the bright copper finish, I would suggest using a polishing cloth, or include one with the sale of the piece.

After the disappointment of the Baldwin’s patina for these mixed bronze/copper clay rock beads, I used the buffer and fabulustre to bring them back to a neutral colored shine. (I do like the way these look, especially if I am planning to combine them with beach rocks and silver rock beads.)

Next I put the polished beads into a pan with activated charcoal, and put on the lid. Set kiln at full ramp to 800ºF, no hold. Took pan out of kiln at 400º and cooled to 100º before taking the beads out. They looked like this:

I photographed the beads above under a milk jug to diffuse some of the shine in the photo. The colors look sharper here than they do in actual light where the reflective surface minimizes the color. I decided to try more heat with a little more time to see if I could produce deeper, more contrasting colors. The beads went back into the charcoal, full ramp to 900º, hold for 20 minutes, then cool. This is not really what I am looking for. Colors are more muted, and once again less obvious in broad daylight than they are in the photo.

…from a great Maine site. I follow Kristen’s “Maine Maven” blog daily. I was surprised to find myself featured there on Tuesday!  Here’s the site:

http://www.mainemaven.com/2009/06/island-jewels.html

There is also a direct link in the column of favorite links on the right.