The Sugar Lady Report post Posted January 24, 2012 This is probably my first post. Love this board and I've learned so much reading everything here. I work in horsehair and leather, braiding the horsehair and working it into the leather. I've been experimenting with different things and basically self teaching myself. One of my customers who has ordered lots of horsehair related items has an request that is driving me to distraction trying to figure out where to find what I need. She wants a bolo made from horse hair. We've already worked out a way to keep minimal damage to the horsehair bolo tie part of it. But the part that's making me crazy is trying to find the piece for the tie holder itself. (unfortunately, I don't know my correct bolo tie terminology, sorry ya'll) She would like the metal slider part to have a photo of her husbands horse in it. She measured a bolo her husband has and said that the frame part was around 2" long by 1.5" wide and the inside was 1.5" long by 1" wide. Does anybody know where I can find a bezel or frame or just let me know what the exact terminology to look to find a piece that would work for this? I can find all the other doodads for the bolo, except for a nice frame to set the photo in. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WinterBear Report post Posted January 25, 2012 Sounds like you need to poke around in some of the jewelery and lapidary supply. Either cabochon bolo tie backs (clasps) or a modified jewelry cab or frame attached to the bolo back might work. Try looking for bolo components and coin mounts, frame pendants, frame components, focal frame, and cabochon frame mountings at your local hobby stores in the beading departments or try these websites or similar places: Eloxite's stuff is probably closest to what you want as far as function and appearance, but it is plated common metals (usually plated brass or nickle). The plating can come off if the setting is abused, such as where the cords are pulled through the clasp repeatedly. http://www.eloxite.com/store/category.php?id_category=110 Fire Mountain has some focal frames that might work if they are epoxied or otherwise attached to a bolo back. They have plated and pewter frames, but I don't think they have much else. http://www.firemountaingems.com Rio Grande requires a login/registration to view prices, and they are primarily wholesale only. The minimums vary, but can be steep. They do have sterling and pewter jewelery components, but can be expensive compared to other jewelry supply stores. Sterling prices will fluctuate based on the daily market prices. Silver is currently running around $32 per troy oz. https://www.riogrande.com Another, more complicated option might be to see if anyone in your area works with Precious Metal Clay (PMC) or other metal art clays and have a frame custom made. Jewelers and lampwork glass bead artists are your best bets. Some universities may have jewelry departments that work with these clays, so check with art students too. These clays consist of a binder and ground metals. The "clay" can be shaped and then fired in a kiln, which burns off the binders--some shrinkage can occur, depending on the material, so best to find someone who is experienced enough to account for this, or your frame might be too small. Items made from these clays are generally not as strong as pieces fabricated from sheet or bar stock, and tend to be porous on a micro-level, so they are not always able to allow for delicate features, and because of the pores and the residual carbon in the pores, they are not usually able to take a high-gloss polished finish. Available metals, depending on the artist and your budget can include 22k gold, sterling silver, copper, bronze, steel. The gold, silver, and copper clays may cost more or less depending on spot market prices, so if you go this route, make sure what you are paying is based on the commodities market for the day you commissioned it, not a week later when the item was finally ordered and the spot price went up 10% since the previous week!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Sugar Lady Report post Posted January 25, 2012 You are my hero! and my husband is now pokin' at me for throwing my hands up in the air and hollering "Oh yesssssss!!" I've been hunting around for about 2 weeks for something that would work. I'd checked out Fire Mountain Gems and Rio Grande a few times, and was wondering about the wholesale part. Thanks for the info on that as well. I'm pretty sure my customer would be happy with a plated common metal one, but I will definitely check out the other options you listed so that she has different options. I've been actually playing with the thought of trying the PMC you mention. I come from a fine arts background and have kind of had my hands in a little bit of everything, so the thought of hand sculpting my own stuff intrigues me. But the OCD part of me knows I'd probably drive myself, and hubby insane getting everything "just right." I like the art student advice though, and will definitely check out some of the colleges around here. Surely one of them has a metal class....come to think of it, a local bead store has a guy who gives occasional silver working classes....maybe he'd know something as well. Thanks so much for your help! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WinterBear Report post Posted January 25, 2012 Well, if you're interested in the PMC and other metal clays, give me a few days to sort out a few articles I have on the clays, and some information on a digest-based jeweler's forum I know of that has discussions about the stuff. There are a few "dead tree" magazines that showcase jewelery made with the clays and sometimes have how-to's for the simpler ones. I'll try to winnow through and pick out some of the best. Before you head out to rummage through search engines and websites, I'll give you a warning though. The clay jewelry and art pieces run the gamut of skill, style, and taste--and some items are in very poor taste and not suitable for viewing at work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WinterBear Report post Posted January 25, 2012 Ok, for starters, try Ganoksin. There are some nationally- and world-renowned jewelers who will write tutorials and may even answer digest posts. They don't have a typical forum (Orchid forum archive: http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/index.htm), but the weekly threads can be emailed to you as a digest. The Ganoksin PMC library is here: http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/directory/library/subject/53 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Sugar Lady Report post Posted January 25, 2012 Thanks for the links. I'm currently exploring the site right now. So many interesting things to look at. I'd only seen a small craft based bit of the metal clay before and had no idea just what things really could be done. I don't know if I'd ever be able to be as good as the ones I've seen on the site so far, but I would like to have the option of making things that I need that I just can't seem to find. I have a lot of sketches of designs I'd like to create. I end up modifying things that I can find, if it's possible. It'd be sure nice to be able actually MAKE the doodads I need instead of being forced to make do with what I can rig. of course, the expense part of working with silver and such....that does make it a wee bit more of a challenge, I guess. I do recall talking to a lady at Tandy not too long ago that used to design her own silver jewelry. She said that the cost of silver just got to where it wasn't worth it anymore, and I think now she concentrates on making custom handbags. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
