Look What I Got In The Post!!!!

Why can’t all letters be like this? I received this lovely letter from fellow student Abigail Udale, whose uni work is reviving the good old fashioned letter in the face of the digital age. Although I’m sure she’s destined for a fulfilling career in something wonderful like textile design, I secretly think she should work for the government to bring joy to whoever has to open up a council tax bill.

If you want to see more beautiful letters you can visit her blog at  http://abigailudale.blogspot.co.uk/

Or if you’d like one of your very own you can confidentially submit your address here: www.postable.com/abigailudale

Etching Samples

I am thinking about surface effects that I can put onto a water jet cut bowl, which I wrote about in my last blog post. I am unsure if any of these are possible without scratching in the construction process, but what's a project without a bit of problem solving...

Accidental samples are always my favourite. Nickel shouldn't be this vibrant when heated. The only thing that could have caused it is that I didn't rinse off the ammonia properly, which was used to neutralise and clean it, having been etched with ferric chloride. 

This is my double check sample. I think I'm right about the ammonia, but the nickel needs to be left to air before being rinsed.

One thing I love about ferric chloride is the streaks it leaves on the etched surface, which is brought out more when polished.

Blue steel!!!

I would love a piece that has a simple high polish but maintaining it during the riveting process would be really difficult. One thing I could try is polish the nickel sheet before it goes onto the water jet cutter, sandwiching it between 2 pieces of MDF to reduce chance of scratching and burrs, and then wrap it all in masking tape when bending the metal.