Amber Listserv / Amberiod

[tamber12 at aol.com]

Hi Susan,
 
Thanks for being up front.  One process that comes to mind is using amber dust.  A friend used to save all his dust and shavings from grinding pieces into cabochons.  Evidently there can be quite a bit if you do enough shaping.  Anyway, he sold the dust and shavings to a guy who was going to press the dust into an amberoid type substance for jewelry.  I don't really know how that turned out, but perhaps this is one other thing you could investigate.  Maybe someone here on the list knows the process, or knows if it produces a good product.  
 
 
Tammi
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: ambershift at susanjacob.com
To: amber at ambericawest.com
Sent: Sun, 8 Apr 2007 6:40 PM
Subject: Amber Listserv / Amberiod


This is my first post to the list. I know most of the discussion revolves around finding amber and bugs in amber and authenticating finds, but I was wondering if anyone knew a resource for learning the process of forming Amber into shapes. I’m designing some jewelry around amber and I’d like to create beads and such with it, but in formed shapes. I don’t have the time or experience in carving, but I can do molding and I’d like a reproducible shape anyway. Beyond heating the amber to 400 degrees Fahrenheit in a vacuum and pushing that through a 120 mesh sieve to form amberoid blocks to work with, I really don’t know what has been done by artisans in the past (and my Polish family has no roots in the amber business, I’m sorry to say). From that slab (or chunk), I know how to press it into a mold, but I’d love any other resources on that too to compare notes. My current process does darken the Amber a couple of shades. Currently, I can only use chunks of amber to press, as fusing multiple pieces in the mold provides a very brittle bond.
No, I’m not planning on using any information for creating imitation pieces, and I’m not putting plastic bugs into it either. I will be upfront with my customers as to the fact that the amber is processed amberoid.
Thank you for any advice in advance.
Susan
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