PB Cohen Creations

I've talked about cutting faces into 1/4" circles before. After having limited success with Rider's Hobby Shop brand glue, I tried using the Superglue brand of Cyanoacrylate. On the first try, this was almost entirely unsuccessful — and only in part because I almost glued three fingers together. Several times. That stuff takes a surprisingly long time to dry on your fingers well enough to get past the stick-your-fingers-to-your-face stage. I managed to keep my fingers free while gluing the metal, but unfortunately most of the circles popped right off. So I got serious, and am currently taking every step I can think of to make this work.

First, create a small indentation for eyes and any mouths that will be drilled with a center punch. Second, treat the brass strip and the backs of the circles with a grinding tool, so the surfaces of the metal will be rough enough for the glue to grip. You can see how rough I've made the surface of the brass by clicking on the photo above for a big version. Third, flatten everything on the bench block. Fourth, make sure all the metal is clean. Fifth, glue the circles to the brass, and let sit overnight. Sixth, slowly drill all initial holes with a very small drill bit, using larger bits later if needed. Seventh, when sawing out the rest of the details, try to make sure the brass strip is flat against the bench pin.

So far, I've had about an 80% success rate. Still not perfect, but much better than the whole tape routine I was trying before. Meanwhile, remember the drill bit I got stuck in a hole (picture below)? That turned into the little guy on the bottom of the Tres Amigos pendant on the right. I haven't finished the pendant yet- no final polish, no patina. But you can see it will turn out just fine.