Newsletter
May/June 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
Articles
Q: I love working with silver but prices have been so high lately. How can I stretch my stash?
A: We did get used to rather reasonable prices on silver for the last 6 or 7 years, but it has risen and the pundits are calling for it to rise even more. While pundits are often wrong, rather than wait and see, I’ll offer some tips on making the most of the supply you have and can afford.
Save all of your scrap! Here are some suggestions as to what you can do with your scrap metal:
-Use it for casting either into an ingot or with one of the direct casting methods such as broom casting, water casting, etc. If this interests you, I wrote an Ask Betsy column in the February 2020 newsletter different types of direct casting which you can find on https://massconline.com/newsletter
March 24th, 2021
Q: How do I keep metal dust from covering the lines I’m trying to follow when I’m sawing? I’m using rubber cement to glue the design on the metal, but the adhesive seems to just attract the filings and I can’t see where I’m going!
A: It is amazing how much dust can be generated from a saw stroke! It can be annoying, but there are a few ways of dealing with it. You can use your fingers to brush the particles away, but sometimes it’s hard to get close enough to the saw blade. There are a number of things you can use to keep the area clean and, while many of these involved having to stop and start, a couple of them permit you to saw continuously. Try one of the following to see if it works for you.
March 24th, 2021
Members Spotlight
My journey as an artist began in my childhood.I grew up in the Mojave Desert in a small town called Hesperia. I went to kindergarten in a one room school house from the 1800s and fell in love with the Arts there. My high school teachers were painters and crafts people. I learned to draw and paint, work with leather, enamels and clay. At the end of my senior year I left for California State University Long Beach to major in Art. It was there I met some influential teachers like Alvin Pine and was drawn to the Jewelry/Metals department.
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Membership in the Metal Arts Society of Southern California provides for participation in periodic workshops in the field of metal working and other related areas. Workshops are offered throughout the year and are conducted by renowned artists from all over the country. We now publish every two months instead of 5x a year. The MASSC News provides interesting articles on workshops, bench tricks, and other areas of interest to it's members – all in outstanding, vivid color (digital format only)!