Level up!
Learned a new skill today. Made one of these chains as a bracelet. Only that I made it in brass instead of silver. I can't afford silver at the moment. Will make some sort of clasp for it tomorrow.
Incidentally, the silver smithing-teacher is a hell of a lot of fun, and as it turns out he was in the same class as Rikard here at Bäckedal years ago.
On the tanning front, the sheep skin is done. Have gotten a lot of compliments for it ("This dosn't look hand made! It's as soft as an industrial hide!"). The glacé goat is also done. Getting that soft was so much fun! No pulling and scraping and swearing over that one. It was pretty much to grab the edges and pull a bit, and it got soft immediately. Took me about an hour, in comparison to the
days I've spent on the sheep skin.
This means I get a vacation from the tannery. I have another sheep skin in a lime bath, which will make the hide swell and the hairs fall out. It'll be ready for dehairing on Sunday of Monday, I think. After that there will be some work in getting all the leftover lime out. After that some fermenting in wheat for a couple of days, then a bit of washing followed by a few days in a bark bath. Then there's the egg & oil mix, and then I can leave it for a week. After a week it's time to wash the excess fat out and time to mess up my shoulder again. The bruise has faded now, but it's still a bit swollen.
Incidentally, the silver smithing-teacher is a hell of a lot of fun, and as it turns out he was in the same class as Rikard here at Bäckedal years ago.
On the tanning front, the sheep skin is done. Have gotten a lot of compliments for it ("This dosn't look hand made! It's as soft as an industrial hide!"). The glacé goat is also done. Getting that soft was so much fun! No pulling and scraping and swearing over that one. It was pretty much to grab the edges and pull a bit, and it got soft immediately. Took me about an hour, in comparison to the
days I've spent on the sheep skin.
This means I get a vacation from the tannery. I have another sheep skin in a lime bath, which will make the hide swell and the hairs fall out. It'll be ready for dehairing on Sunday of Monday, I think. After that there will be some work in getting all the leftover lime out. After that some fermenting in wheat for a couple of days, then a bit of washing followed by a few days in a bark bath. Then there's the egg & oil mix, and then I can leave it for a week. After a week it's time to wash the excess fat out and time to mess up my shoulder again. The bruise has faded now, but it's still a bit swollen.