PB Cohen Creations

I love turning tiny circles into monster faces, but it's really hard to hang onto the things while you're drilling or sawing. Apart from the awkwardness, they're really easy to lose — particularly the 1/4" ones. I'm sure I'll find a few hiding around the work room years from now.

So this time I tried gluing a bunch of them to a strip of brass. This way, I could hold onto that piece of brass while I created faces.

I got the idea from one of the jewelry/art magazines that are being published these days. I like these magazines because there's usually a little tip or trick or simple measurement I can learn about each month. Unfortunately, I can't find the issue I got the glue idea from: a fellow was repairing a box, I think, with a very thin layer of gold or brass or something. The sheet metal was 30+ gauge, very thin, and very difficult to cut. So he glued it to a thicker piece of sheet metal, made his cuts easily, burned the glue off with his torch, and had a nicely-pierced thin sheet to make his repair.

I am pretty sure he mentioned Superglue (Cyanoacrylate or similar) in his article, but I didn't have that on hand so I tried the Rider's Hobby Shop brand instead. It was not entirely successful, as you can see from the clear tape I added as they started popping off. The clear tape also wasn't entirely successful, but the combination of the two made the task a little easier. I'll try actual Superglue next, since I have over 50 of these things to play with.

Wikipedia suggests Cyanoacrylate is safe to use, although ventilation is recommended, and the article warns that if it is spilled on cotton or wool the material (and you) can get burned. Fun (?) with chemistry.