On the Construction of a Copper Armillary Sphere

Apart from making jewelry for Lithic Design, I have found over the past couple years that I really love making art objects.  Astronomical and nautical instruments have always fascinated me, so I figured an armillary sphere might be the perfect Summer project. 

Armillary spheres are representations of the celestial circles around the Earth.  For instance, these spheres usually have rings like an equatorial colura (measured in degrees with rotation around the North and South axes), an equatorial (measured in degrees with rotation around the East and West axes), and an ecliptic (a western zodiac symbol ring with a 23.4 -degree offset to match the earth's tilt).  

If that all sounds like gibberish to you, you're not alone.  It took a lot of research to figure out what these things symbolized and how they moved.  In the end I still don't really have a firm grasp on most of it.  After hours of researching and sketching, I decided that art value was more important than scientific, mechanical, and historical accuracy for this piece.  I would love to continue learning about these instruments and make a functioning sphere one day, but for now I'm quite happy with how this endeavor turned out.

Here's a look into how my armillary was constructed:

Sketches of the Rings and Sphere Setting

A much fancier stand than I actually created!  Maybe I'll swap it out in the future. 

Hand drawn details for the etching process

holes drilled, all resist applied before etching in ferric chloride

Looking back at this, I really could have just used the thermos body that came with the top...It sure does keep out particles though! 

Soldered eye pins

Rings soldered together and pins starting to be soldered in place

Salt and vinegar bath to clean up the base and rings 

I honestly regret not getting a picture of the riveting process for the body and base.  It was a ridiculous two-person act.

Finally finished up after more cleaning, a patina, and final polishing.

What's next?  I'm have astrolabes and nocturnals on the mind, so either of those might be in the queue.  

- Kaley

Lapis Lazuli and Amber Earrings

Handcrafted Lapis and Amber Earrings

These two pairs of earrings are brand new in the shop!   Here's a little look at some of the stages of production:

I apologize for not having any pictures before this point, but this is the first set of components I crafted from sterling silver (and part of their original sketch).

Here are the amber settings again with ear wires added + the settings for the lapis studs.

Cleaning up the bottom components for the amber earrings.  These were tricky to solder the twisted wire border on, but it worked out in the end!

If you're interested in either of these pairs of earrings, check them out in the Lithic Design Etsy shop:

Click here for the Lapis Lazuli Pair

Click here for the Baltic Amber Pair

God of the Forest Necklace- Copper Antler and Stone

"God of the Forest" Necklace- Chrysocolla, Copper, and Silver

Sketching, Making a Stencil, and Drawing the Shape to be Cut Out by Hand

Chrysocolla-  This Stone Looks very similar to Malachite with its Banding

After Sawing out the Outline of the Antlers

All Finished- Textured, Bezel Soldered, Tumbled, Stone Set, Oxidized and Polished

 Interested in purchasing this one-of-a-kind necklace?  It's for sale at Lithic Design on Etsy!

The holidays are coming up before you know it!  Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in a custom piece.  I'll have Christmas shipping deadlines posted to my main page in my shop announcement as we get closer to the 25th of December.

- Kaley from Lithic Design

Mineral Finds in Maine

I just got home from a vacation in Maine, where I learned that mineral mining is huge.  It’s one of only two places in the US where tourmaline is mined.  The other is southern California.  With that being said, I sort of went a little crazy at the local rock shops...  Not all of these were mined in Maine, but the quartz, amethyst, beryl, and tourmaline specimen definitely were.  

Amethyst Druzy, Maine Tourmaline, Boulder Opal, Maine Blue Beryl (Aquamarine), Quartz Crystal Points, Amethyst and Citrine Crystal Points, Fluorite Octahedron Crystals, Agate Slice, and a Pyrite Sun (sometimes called a Pyrite Sand Dollar).

 Most of the crystal points will be cage set, but some of these will be placed in my curiosity cabinet.  I visited just about every mineral store I came across (there were SO many), and learned about mineral mining in Maine from the shop owners.  Most Maine tourmaline was mined during a couple of years in the 70's, and I believe during the early 1900's.

Fluorite Octahedron Crystals

Fluorite under ultraviolet light displaying fluorescence 

There are many, many mountains and quarries to mine in. Some are free and some can only be accessed with a group or with permission.  I found that most of the tourmaline specimens I saw in the shops were from Mt. Mica.  Mica is EVERYWHERE in south west Maine, I swear.  I've never seen so much of it in one place.

 Mt. Apatite is free to mine in, so I took a day trip there, but I was too exhausted to really do any mining once I reached the quarries.  I think if I had more energy, I would have been able to find something interesting, but I did collect quite a few chunks of quartz that might be used as photography backdrops or garden stones.

Chunks of Quartz from Mt. Apatite

If you're interested in trying it for yourself, I recommend doing quite a bit of research about the different places to mine.  Most people I talked to had the most success digging through the excess material dumped in quarries.

Munchin' Moose Enjoying his Breakfast

And hey, I got to see this little guy too!  He was much smaller than the moose I saw in Utah years ago.  I'm guessing he was only a year or two.

Keep on the lookout for jewelry made from these stones in my shop: Lithic Design.  I have a 10% off coupon up right now through the 23d which is SUMMER10.  There's a little place to type the code in when you view your cart on Etsy.