Lunar

The moon has been so beautiful this week that it provided inspiration for last night's work.

I started out with a sheet of silver nickel which I annealed and then milled with some plastic netting from the produce department of a local store.

I selected those areas with the most interesting texture to cut discs which I then filed, sanded and domed.
I had started out with the intention of making some pendants, but revised the plan when I had my domed discs ready. I thought rings would be the best way to capture the look of a full moon since I would not have to interrupt the surface to accommodate a chain (although I could have done that with a rear surface soldered bail, but...........nevermind). I chose some brass segments that I had on hand for the ring base.
The disc was soldered onto the brass segment. My first soldering attempt did not take, and I was a little startled when I unclamped the pieces and the brass segment came rolling at me. I couldn't react quickly enough and watched with wide eyes as the segment rolled off the soldering station, onto my lap and then onto the floor. Darn (actually....that's not what I said), and yet another piece of clothing ruined. Brass that is around 650 degrees will do that. The image above is what the piece looked like when I removed it from the pickle solution. I cleaned the surfaces with a brass brush and a little bit of pumice powder.

I like the end result and think that the disc did retain some of the 'lunar' character that I saw in the milled sheet metal.

How appropriate that the name Cynthia has its origins in Greek mythology and means goddess of the moon.

(My trick for photographing a ring? A small dab of Sculpey can hold a ring of this size in place while remaining hidden from view of the camera.)