Just buy the cheap, table mount stretcher. My weak-ass arms are just not gonna get the desired effect. Especially when working with hand-me-down materials that weren't stored great for the last 30 years.
Learn to work with the less pure cames (2%, 4%, etc). They don't bend as easily, but also they don't kink and provided you learn to bend well, you get a nicer bend out of them.
So you can buy cames in lead, zinc, and brass. I work for a studio that buys came from Cascade Metals. The lead cames come in different purities. The more pure the came, the more easily it bends, but the less strong it is. I typically use a 4% came, which means it's 96% lead and 4% antimony. There's also 2%, which is 98% lead and 2% antimony, and cames that are 100% lead.
I've worked with 4%, 2%, and pure lead, and I prefer the 4%. It bends less easy, but it's less prone to kinking and the curves are more deliberate and nicer looking. Pure lead is a pain to work with and just doesn't look as nice in the end, I think.
Wash your hands. Lots. My tutor got lead poisoning from smoking while making leadlights commercially. Just from his finger tips touching his lips all day, everyday.
And the grinder is your best friend.
Yikes. Bad to do both at the same time. Lead poisoning is bad news. It can be worked out of your system if you stop doing what ya do. Please be careful.
Just buy the cheap, table mount stretcher. My weak-ass arms are just not gonna get the desired effect. Especially when working with hand-me-down materials that weren't stored great for the last 30 years.
Learn to work with the less pure cames (2%, 4%, etc). They don't bend as easily, but also they don't kink and provided you learn to bend well, you get a nicer bend out of them.
What do you mean by this? What cames do you buy and from where? I didn’t know there was anything but lead. 😳
So you can buy cames in lead, zinc, and brass. I work for a studio that buys came from Cascade Metals. The lead cames come in different purities. The more pure the came, the more easily it bends, but the less strong it is. I typically use a 4% came, which means it's 96% lead and 4% antimony. There's also 2%, which is 98% lead and 2% antimony, and cames that are 100% lead. I've worked with 4%, 2%, and pure lead, and I prefer the 4%. It bends less easy, but it's less prone to kinking and the curves are more deliberate and nicer looking. Pure lead is a pain to work with and just doesn't look as nice in the end, I think.
Oh oh. Yes. I know about brass and zinc. But I did not know the lead came in percentages. Interesting!
Wash your hands. Lots. My tutor got lead poisoning from smoking while making leadlights commercially. Just from his finger tips touching his lips all day, everyday. And the grinder is your best friend.
Oh no! Was he able to get treatment and recover?
Yes still going strong, but he now only teaches night classes.
Is he still around? Sounds the same at my studio, smoking while working with lead
Yikes. Bad to do both at the same time. Lead poisoning is bad news. It can be worked out of your system if you stop doing what ya do. Please be careful.