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Brass Teardrop Pendant

Brass Teardrop Pendant
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Here are some picture of a teardrop pendant i made out of a small scrap of brass sheet metal. I based my piece on Mrballeng 's instructable, Teardrop Pendant . I'd been looking at all of his instructables and was really interested in having a go myself, but this was the only one that i had the right tools for.

The only tools i used were pretty basic and you could do it with even less if needed:
•my rotary tool with cutting disc, grinding bit, sanding bit, brass wire brush and buffing wheel;
•a fairly heavy hammer- i used a claw hammer;
•a carriage bolt and piece of wood to act as a dapping block;
•a few needle files (although not nessary, i don't think they made a difference to the piece, but can be easier to add a little more controlled detail when shaping);
•400 grit wet and dry sand paper;
•pliers to hold the piece (if i do it again i will find/ make some rubber tips for my pliers as i had to spend a while sanding out dents from where the pliers had been gripping the piece);
•A small drill bit to wrap the loop around;
•A permanent pen to draw on the design;
•My workmate, safety glasses and dust mask;
•and some liquid metal polish, like brasso (you probably should use polishing compound from dremel or something like that but i used what i had and it worked out fine)

My attempt turned out better than I had previously expected but it still isn't great and can only stand in the wake of Mrballeng's standards. It didn't end up looking much like a teardrop in the end because i didn't leave a long enough stem to wrap behind to form the loop so it flattened the top off top much. Anyway, it polished up fairly nicely and only took a few hours. I am pleased with it to say it is my first attempt.

mdog93

p.s. Sorry if the pics aren't very good. I should really have waited until i could take photos in natural daylight but i couldn't wait that long :P
9 comments
May 29, 2011. 7:29 PMrustler_666 says:
very cool, you should add some type of clear coat because brass turns skin green
Dec 22, 2011. 8:08 AMThe Metal One says:
the metal polishing compound he put on their should prevent corrosion (the cause of skin green-ness) so no clear-coat required.
May 31, 2011. 11:07 PMrustler_666 says:
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc thats why it will react with the acids on your skin and turn it green, you could suspend the pendent from paracord or leather cord and attach the clasps after the cord is threw the loop, it should look cool and then you can wear it
Apr 23, 2011. 9:08 AMMrballeng says:
Your first attempt looks better than mine did. Great work and good going for trying your hand at it.
Apr 24, 2011. 8:30 AMMrballeng says:
3 or 4. the hardest part for me was rolling a loop into the top without breaking it.

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Author:mdog93