Brass Teardrop Pendant

Intro: Brass Teardrop Pendant

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

Comments

[phoenixflight]

where can i buy a brass sheet on the cheap

[mdog93]

Well, I would have to say, you can't really buy brass anywhere cheap these days but your best bet is online. Or find a local metalworkers that uses brass and go down and see if they either have and scraps they'll give you for free or cheap or if they'll sell you some of their stock...

Where are you from?

[phoenixflight]

Grandville MI.

[rustler_666]

very cool, you should add some type of clear coat because brass turns skin green

[The Metal One]

the metal polishing compound he put on their should prevent corrosion (the cause of skin green-ness) so no clear-coat required.

[mdog93]

Does it? I thought that was just copper. I'm not gonna be wearing it anyway- didn't make the loop big enough for a chain.

[rustler_666]

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

[mdog93]

I thought because of the zinc it didn't go green, just loses it's shine quickly. Even on a cord it still wouldn't hang freely I don't think the hole really is too small.

[Mrballeng]

Your first attempt looks better than mine did. Great work and good going for trying your hand at it.

[mdog93]

Thanks :), how many times had you done it before the one you posted in the instructable?

[Mrballeng]

3 or 4. the hardest part for me was rolling a loop into the top without breaking it.

[mdog93]

yes, i found that a little tricky, but i didn't leave anywhere near enough stem to roll. Meaning i ended up with a flat top on my tardrop and the extra widt made it tricky to roll. I didn't use visegrips like you did- i found it difficult like that. I just clamped it on the edge of a wooden vice and kept moving it round in the vice until it had gone nearly the whole way round then turned it over and lightly hammed it until it contacted the back.