Happy Closet Pyro

Happiness Factor 1)  Butane torch = playing with fire

Found at Lowe's

Happiness Factor 2) = solder, to be used playing with fire

lead free solder... again, at Lowe's

Happiness Factor 3) Kobalt Flat Angle Hammer for pounding things!


have you guessed I love Lowe's?















Result = Major Happiness (and stress relief)

Hand stamped copper head pins.  Still in the practice stage

Okay, my first attempt at flattening out the copper headpins and stamping them.  Not sure if I like that I hammered a little way up the pin or not. Still need some practice on this.

pre-1980 pennies (copper) and two foreign coins
Hammered to a fare-thee-well and ready for stamping

Hammered the be-jabbers out of several old pennies. Pre-1980 pennies have the most copper in them (some early 1980's do, too, but why fuss with trying to find out which, eh?)  And two other coins that were foreign... sorry, don't remember from where. The larger one was of an Asian design, so either Japanese or Chinese.  I have plans to create a design and hammer/stamp them onto the coins and create a tribal-style necklace for my Ren-Faire character.  Keep watching to see how this goes.

Ahh... playing with fire and solder and a rubber stamp....
Hmmmm....

Now, THIS!  I found a tutorial by Gail of Can't Stop Making Things. Now, in her tutorial, she mentions two things: 1) you don't need to use flux for this solder project and 2) no, the rubber stamp won't melt. Well...
No, she's right about the stamp not melting. How-some-ever, if you get the solder TOO hot, it smells like it's melting (PHEW!). Make sure you open a door or window while doing this. Also, a fan going might help. (or, even, working outside!)  Part of my problem was, in all likelyhood, that I didn't  know exactly how hot to get the copper or how melted to get the solder. Or, even, how much solder to use (kind of a messy looking thing, isn't it?) so I'm still working on that learning curve. As for the flux, well, I had to use it but I'm wondering if it was because this copper round had already been beaten and textured. Again, learning curve.  I also tried a bit of scrap metal I believed was copper but, either it wasn't, I got the metal too hot or (again) it was textured and wouldn't hold. Ah, well, play and learn. Amiright?

Keep checking back and see how things (hopefully) continue to progress.