Lava Beads

Over the weekend I went to the local bead store I found these really cool lava beads. They are about the size of a quarter. I made a simple pair of earrings and am working on a necklace. The necklace will use 8 lava beads. The center 'bar with stone' is a piece of round silver wire. It's about 5mm in diameter. I forged one end to be square, then I files off the edges. The top has two rings and the bottom a stone mounted in a bezel. The stone is pink tourmaline. It's not quite finished as I need to drill a hole in the silver wire and I don't have a drill press.

A new design

Helen asked me what I am planning for my next project. I just made a couple pair of earrings (photos to come soon) but longer term I want to learn CAD/CAM. Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing. In one of my previous jobs I worked with a guy who had a milling machine and it was fascinating watching him create things out of blocks of metal.

There are few different disciplines to learn and master on the path to understanding CAD/CAM. Here is a nice explanation of what is involved.

It's common to think of a metalsmith as hammer and anvil, torch and metal. CAD/CAM design and production places the metalsmith's artistry in a new location, the computer lab and machine shop. Do these techniques make you any less of a traditional metalsmith or more of a metalsmith? Does working in the same medium where you could as easily design a door knob or pair of shoes take away from the experience of being a metalsmith?