Just Take it Apart and Put it Back Together

A posting by Carlon Ami, NCAP Intern

​I'm not sure anyone believes me when I tell them that I learned to drive a tractor before learning to drive a vehicle.  Either way, this is fact.  Also important to this fact is that I learned very early in my tractor use that things break.  Now that equipment is not cheap, and you have to learn how to either hide what you break (like my uncles do) or get it fixed.  Thankfully, my older brother is a pretty awesome welder.

​I don't say this just because he's my brother or because he has saved my butt more times than I can remember but because he taught me a critical lesson once.  I was stressed because I somehow bent the support beam of the blade that keeps it perpendicular to the surface of the ground.  There was no way that thing could be fixed, I almost just bought a new one.  He had me bring it to him, he checked it out, then got to work.

​Over the course of a couple hours we laughed, sweated, cursed, and learned.  His advice:  "Just take it apart and put it back together."  Since welding is very closely related to soldering I apply that same concept to jewelry fabrication.  How do I make this fit?  Is this going to be strong enough?  Can I do this?  The answer: of course you can.

​Don't let convention limit you.  If you can reasonably imagine it, you might be able to build it.  If it doesn't work out, you can always melt it down later for casting material.