(no subject)

[arontius]

.....I was catching up with a few orders of Ingasbo circlets today. I've been running low on Fabulustre and my usual source, Alpha Lapidary, is not yet back into business. So I've been conserving my 'stash' as keenly as possible.

.....So today I started experimenting on first reducing the amount I used all together. Then alternating between a layer of rouge polish, followed by a layer of Fabulustre. It was interesting how different the metal was to work. Not necessarily all good, but not all bad either. And the clean up time was phenomenally short!

.....The rouge does not leave the 'buttery' finish that straight Fabulustre does, so I don't think that I'll ever ditch Fabulustre completely. But the rouge is much cheaper and can be found at the local hardware store. I might try several different grades of rouge and see if a finer grade will get a better finish.

.....Fabulustre is still my preferred though. Not only is it easy to work, it also leaves behind an oil that keeps the metal soft, supple and shiny more than straight rouge.

.....I would also make a bet that the Fabulustre actually keeps the surface looking and feeling better for a longer period of time. I have one of the circlets set aside to compare with other circlets to see how long it takes to start 'fading'.

.....Six circlets made it through the mill. One was an order out of state and one was an order for two circlets of 'Wolves' pattern for Eadric and Katerina. When they placed the order they did not know Ingasbo was me and I didn't recognize their modern names right off. I would have given them the 'friends' price (i.e. reduced) if they had talked to me first. I felt kind of badly that they ended up spending as much as they did. I need to send out a reminder that people who know me can get the 'friends' price if they talk to me about what they want, first. :-)

.....Now that June Faire is over, I'm really hoping to catch up on a few projects. Including a number of Ingasbo projects. Here's hoping...

.....Aaron / Arontius.

Comments

[slysidonia.livejournal.com]

Fabuluster is one of my favorite polishing compounds. It works great on softer metals and i love the finish too. I also use Zam, which you can use on softer gemstones like turquoise amber and chrysocolla. Have you tried Indian Jewelers supply,or Rio Grand. Alpha supply doesn't have a location in Bremerton anymore?

Alpha.

[arontius]

Alpha closed their store-front about a year ago. If you go to their web-site they say that they are coming back as an online retailer, but the last time I checked (maybe a month ago or so) the web-site had the same message on it. Sad, I really liked Alpha.

I have never tried Zam before. I'll give it a try and see how it works on the circlets.

Thanks, A.