Story of the Skull Ring Resurrection


Heavy Magic .................wax skull resurrection project

Hello all

I decided to throw a thread in here on my wax work that you could follow along on the
progress of my current Skull Ring resurrection..

I recently carved my first skull ring working on it over a 2 week period till I was sure it was right,
and a great representation of my style.

When the time came to go to casting, I finally pried it from my hands and handed to the caster
for production, only to return and find it had been destroyed by in a "mishap" during the throw
*&%@$!!!! for which they had of course a million reasons none of which add up to more than lack of Craftsmanship.
what are you going to due.....but gear up and go at it full tilt again.

As I said this was my first ring I had attempted
and now, it's my second go at it.So, I will take you on the ride with me just for the fun of it,
since we have this amazing technology at our fingertips we might as well use it... right.


These first pics are of the one I finished and had destroyed by the caster.

 

 

 


The following are the progress of the second go.

I don't own a Jewelers bench, My #1 sewing machine table works just fine at this point, the mess is just part of the process.

enjoy my stress as I attempt to bring the Magic one more tme.......... heh heh.

 

First pic is of the ring blank wax I have cut to
a reasonable size.

second pic is of my King Skull Wax I have cannablizedand grafted onto the ring blank which at this point
has been roughly shaped the way I want it, and I have started to blend the cheekbones into the piece,

along with starting the wax crazy hair I have chosen for the piece.







-as you can see I was a bit into this piece before deciding to do this thread and document it.

-building up the crazy hair with a wax pen.





I really liked the first one but already the hair is different on the new one,and I plan on some kind of design covering the back of the ring.

The wax pen works similar to a soldering iron
wherein the tip gets hot so you can shape wax and sort of paint wax with it.
there are tons of different kinds out there
I prefer the battery powered kind.

 -working on the ring band I routed out the back a bit and carved a nice cross,
but since this is my first ring I realized it would be impossible to resize it with the design in
the middle of the back which is where you cut the ring if needed
so I cut it out and here is where I am at this point
laying in a scroll design with green wax so I can see it against the silver wax.

still have a ways to go with the design to get a heavier thicker look to the scroll More 'Manly'
effect.













 

 -here I have made the scrollwork bolder
and made some slight engraving marks in it.
it will be a bit smoother in the end but it's
coming along.





I made my marks for the cut out area from one side to the other with a with an exacto blade. (guidelines)
I've used a blade for so many years now on leather and silver that I can cut a pretty straight line.
Then slowly scrape away the wax where I want, for a few hours with best wax tool I can find with a flat edge using a million tiny strokes.

as far as a flextool on wax I rarely use it
because if you make the slightest slip you can go too deep gouge everything surrounding the area your working on. and when that happens you spend your time building up the wax and smoothing down your mistake just to get back to where you were before it happened.

For me it is too easy to take too much off in a Split second, so choose the slow path I guess, a little at a time.

it gives you time to think about what you want by the time ya get there.:)

That to me is where the Treasure hunt is
"when you don't have expectations your free to move about the cabin."

 

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I'm in the final days of the waxwork

I'm excited about how this piece is coming out
it really made me laugh last night, as it seems to have taken on a life of it's own now which I wasn't expecting
to happen and it has made the long journey well worth it.

I still have a ways to go with refining and all the while thinking of the limitations in casting I have to think about before I let it go

I will have a cold mold made of the wax this time for sure..

I would like to have it ready as soon as possible
but I have had such bad luck with casting
I really can't say yet

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Jaw is on, being modified and refined.



 ...thing makes me laugh.
well it made it this time.





I like this one better , just has more expression
the smile is pretty genuine heh heh.






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