You sure are talented. All I can say is "WOW"! Al

A conch sconce! Now everybody will want one just so they can make their friends try to say it three times quickly.

Jim

Dcarch:
Amazing, beautilful artwork.
After I finish eating ( whatever you called it ),
I'm going to send the Photo's to my daughter.

Hope you don't mind.
She is into Seashells things.
Lou

Woweeeee, I LOVE what you've done with the shells and the forks! Thanks for sharing these pix!!!!
Sooz

Stunning...they are beautiful!

"Posted by althetrainer --------
You sure are talented. All I can say is "WOW"! Al"

Thanks Al. I had lotÂs of fun making them.

"Posted by jimster --------
A conch sconce! Now everybody will want one just so they can make their friends try to say it three times quickly.
Jim"

LOL Jimster. I made sometime ago a lamp with a large clam shell, so I have a clam lamp, conch sconce, and a sauce saucière. Now say them quick three times.

"Posted by hawk307 --------- Dcarch:
Amazing, beautilful artwork.
After I finish eating ( whatever you called it ),
I'm going to send the Photo's to my daughter.
Hope you don't mind.
She is into Seashells things.
Lou"

Thanks Lou. No problem at all. I enjoy working with young people a lot. They inspire me with their creativities.

"Posted by sooz --------
Woweeeee, I LOVE what you've done with the shells and the forks! Thanks for sharing these pix!!!!
Sooz"

Thanks Sooz. Just an exercise in thinking outside the shell.

"Posted by marigene ------
Stunning...they are beautiful!"

Thanks, mari gene. I am glad you like them. May be I will rub the lamp three times, and a genie will appear? ;-)

dcarch

I am, as always, in awe of your creativity and artistic talent.
Both with food and "stuff".

Just can't decide which I admire most.

Thank you for sharing.

Rusty

dcarch, I really like the shell which is held by the forks, the one sitting on the plate. That's really very delicate and pretty.

Annie

Bet you could do this!

Here is a link that might be useful: Really? A fork?

Love the lamp one.... I need to ask, do you anneal the forks and then forge them? Or are you shaping using pliers or something else?

Also - when you are cutting the handles are you using a saw or snips?

Really nice job.......

Alexa

"Posted by therustyone ----
I am, as always, in awe of your creativity and artistic talent.
Both with food and "stuff". Just can't decide which I admire most.
Thank you for sharing. Rusty"

Thanks, rusty. What happens when your Mom told you not to play with your food as a child. Now I get to play. LOL

"Posted by annie1992 -----
dcarch, I really like the shell which is held by the forks, the one sitting on the plate. That's really very delicate and pretty.
Annie"

Thanks, Annie. I went to a craft store and bought some scent oils. I have pine scent in the lamp oil. It made the house smelling great.

"Posted by jojoco
Bet you could do this!
Here is a link that might be useful: Really? A fork? "

Or something like these? :-)
{{gwi:195452}}


{{gwi:165367}}

"Posted by caliloo -------
Love the lamp one.... I need to ask, do you anneal the forks and then forge them? Or are you shaping using pliers or something else?
Also - when you are cutting the handles are you using a saw or snips?
Really nice job.......
Alexa"

Thanks Alexa. Stainless steel flatware bends very easy if you heat them up red hot using a propane torch. You can also hammer (forge) them into shapes. I used a snip to cut the handles.
Just an unrelated comment; There has been discussions regarding seasoning cast iron. As you can see, stainless steel also gets blackened under high heat.

To All:

I bought hundreds of st. steel flatware by the pound cheap on eBay. Once in a while I have big parties and picnics, they are great to use. I hate using plastic forks and spoons. Food tastes much better using real utensils.

dcarch

dcarch, I sure agree with you on the plastic utensils too, but I never thought of ebay. I just bought the cheap forks, etc., at Sam's Club because when the kids were home we ate outside by the pool a lot, and they always had a bunch of friends. Somehow I lost forks and spoons a LOT but I always break plastic forks when trying to eat or cut something with them.

I'm definitely going to check that out on ebay, thanks.

Annie

The blackening you see on the stainless (and almost any other metal you anneal or heat with a torch) is often refered to in jewelrymaking as firescale. It can be avoided by fluxing the piece before heating and dropping it in a pickle to clean it after you have heated it. Now this isn;t Sharon's Dills that I am linking to but a specific solution that we had in the studio that sat in a crock pot (turned on low).

And I love the heart from the fork tines.

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: pickle solution for metal

Wowee wow! Do you ever sell your stuff? It's really elegant!! I'm with Annie, I really like the shell which is held by the forks, the one sitting on the plate.

Again, I ask: Really? A fork? That fork is amazing. Looks like a perfect server for a small tart. Bend it the other way and you have a bracelet.
Alex, I used to spend a lot of time in a silver shop at an arts camp in CT when I was a teen. I totally remember flux and the pickle (old crockpot there too).

"Posted by annie1992 -----------
dcarch, I sure agree with you on the plastic utensils too, but I never thought of ebay. I just bought the cheap forks, etc., at Sam's Club because when the kids were home we ate outside by the pool a lot, and they always had a bunch of friends. Somehow I lost forks and spoons a LOT but I always break plastic forks when trying to eat or cut something with them. I'm definitely going to check that out on ebay, thanks.
Annie"

The cheap plastic ones break, and the good plastic ones are too wasteful to throw away. Cleaning a lot of flatware is easy. I dump them in a bucket and blast them with garden hose to get rid of any food thatÂs stuck. Then I pour hot water with dishwashing liquid to soak them for a few hours. After blasting rinsing them again, they are completely clean.

"Posted by caliloo ---------
The blackening you see on the stainless (and almost any other metal you anneal or heat with a torch) is often refered to in jewelrymaking as firescale. It can be avoided by fluxing the piece before heating and dropping it in a pickle to clean it after you have heated it. Now this isn;t Sharon's Dills that I am linking to but a specific solution that we had in the studio that sat in a crock pot (turned on low). And I love the heart from the fork tines.
Alexa"

Thanks, Alexa. I sometimes want the metal shiny. In this case I thought the blackened look works. Yes, I had a hobby making jewelry before. I had used pickling solution to clean the pieces.

"lowspark -----------
Wowee wow! Do you ever sell your stuff? It's really elegant!! I'm with Annie, I really like the shell which is held by the forks, the one sitting on the plate."

Thanks, lowspark. No, I donÂt sell them, not yet. May be it would be fun for retirement.

"Posted by jojoco ----------
Again, I ask: Really? A fork? That fork is amazing. Looks like a perfect server for a small tart. Bend it the other way and you have a bracelet.
Alex, I used to spend a lot of time in a silver shop at an arts camp in CT when I was a teen. I totally remember flux and the pickle (old crockpot there too). "

Thank, Jo. It all started out when I was dating. Buying jewelry was too expensive, so I got into jewelry making.

Parsimony is the mother of creativity.:-)

dcarch

Scungilli Marinara huh? It looks yummy. Beautifully presented!

...and for dessert a few fork and shell creations! I think I'd really like knowing you! Thanks for sharing!