SCA enthusiam
Sep. 22nd, 2009 11:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaYesterday when I listed a few good things from the day I failed to mention another (isn't it wonderful when you have more good going on in your life than you remember to list all at once?). There is a new SCA family which has recently moved to Milan. I've been exchanging e-mails with them, and will head over to their house (about 6km away, and right near a metro station, so I can either spend a hour walking, or quickly take a train) on Saturday. They are keen to help wake the local shire back up. I think I may safely describe the local shire as having been asleep--our seneschal hasn't been to an SCA event in three years, though he's attended a large variety of other Medieval re-enactment things, many of which are in other countries. But this new family has been in the SCA about as long as I have (more than 25 years) and we have a variety of interests in common, and they are keen to do stuff and be active. Exchanging e-mails with them has kick-started my enthusiasm, and I'm looking forward to getting some local activities at which I can play.
Today I tired filling my first capsule. It is a very relaxing task first putting in the tiny amount of water, then the powder, then a tiny piece of graphite and then carefully cleaning all of the powder away from the edges of the capsule. That last part is crucial, because even one grain between the edges of the gold when crimped shut can prevent the weld from working. Having had one of my colleagues demonstrate just that (unintentionally) last week, I spent far longer than she did on cleaning the edges, Then, when I started squeezing the edges together I noticed that the powder was starting to creep up, so I carefully pushed it back down again. Alas, once the edges were shut enough that I couldn't see inside it must have continued to creep, because after I first crimped it with the pliers, and then also put it into the big clamp and then trimmed the edges smooth and tried to weld it the first attempt caused half of it to weld beautifully, and the gold to melt away revealing a huge clump of powder between the edges of the gold. Sigh. Tomorrow I can try again. I hope. I've got that meeting to go sign the rental contract and pick up the keys, so I may opt to clean the new place and start moving, which might interfere with doing uni work...
Today I tired filling my first capsule. It is a very relaxing task first putting in the tiny amount of water, then the powder, then a tiny piece of graphite and then carefully cleaning all of the powder away from the edges of the capsule. That last part is crucial, because even one grain between the edges of the gold when crimped shut can prevent the weld from working. Having had one of my colleagues demonstrate just that (unintentionally) last week, I spent far longer than she did on cleaning the edges, Then, when I started squeezing the edges together I noticed that the powder was starting to creep up, so I carefully pushed it back down again. Alas, once the edges were shut enough that I couldn't see inside it must have continued to creep, because after I first crimped it with the pliers, and then also put it into the big clamp and then trimmed the edges smooth and tried to weld it the first attempt caused half of it to weld beautifully, and the gold to melt away revealing a huge clump of powder between the edges of the gold. Sigh. Tomorrow I can try again. I hope. I've got that meeting to go sign the rental contract and pick up the keys, so I may opt to clean the new place and start moving, which might interfere with doing uni work...
