# Ding! Ding! Ding! We Have a Winner!



## Bitter Jeweler (May 17, 2012)

A month ago I was asked if I could design and make an award for the City Club of Cleveland. It was to be based on the 100+ year old chinese gong they have used for the past 100 years to start every meeting. I've been really busy lately, and I was really unsure of the tight deadline and venturing into areas a little out of my normal realm. So I says "Sure! Let's do it!"

*ugh* What a roller coaster ride of stress, worry, and pitfalls it has been. It's interesting what size/scale becomes complicated for a jeweler, yet too small for many foundries. I finally found a guy who's business is to cast in that size range. Of course, he was taking a vacation soon. It worked out in the end. 

The gong was first modeled in CAD software, figuring it would be easiest to mill each panel seperately and assemble them, rather than hand cutting the bell from wax (solid or in sections). So again we are faced with the scale, and common supplies available to me. I found wax tablets thick enough to mill these pieces, and ordered them, for next day AM deliver. Time was not on my side, remember. I ordered them at noon on Friday for saturday delivery. Well, 6PM comes around and I get the call. "We are out of that wax, and we won't have more till June 5th" she said. "#&%$@!" I said, adding "Cancel it!"  I can't believe she asked if I was sure I wanted to cancel it. Crap! It's too late to order from anyone else, and I HAD to get these pieces cut and assembled over the weekend. Solution? Gather all your wax scrap, go buy an electric skillet, and a cookie sheet. I melted the wax and made my own wax tablets. Phew!

There were some issues in milling, because I am still learning all this CAD/CAM stuff. But I made progress. I screwed up enough, and was down to the exact number of tablets I needed. The scenic design was hand carved after the wax pieces were assembled.  Every part of this project was wrought with trouble of one sort or another.Foe example, the plaque antiqueing (black background) would not color evenly, or it would flake off. I did that over like 5 times, and finally had to say "good enough". I learned a lot doing it. The result isn't perfect, but it will have to do. I finished it today, and it will be presented tomorrow. Yay for "just in time" delivery!

So here it is... 
(The bronze gong alone is 6 inches tall, to give you an idea of scale)








Oh, yeah. It is going to THE Ted Turner!
I might get to meet him tomorrow, but I will be at the presentation for sure, and I am allowed to bring my camera. :mrgreen:
It's kinda exciting making something for a billionaire. Thoughts run through my mind, like, will this be just "another" award to him? Will he realize this was hand made for him? Will it wind up on a shelf, in one of his homes, or in an office somewhere? I don't expect it to be THAT special, but it's interesting thinking about the life of an award/trophy.

Lighting the gong for this shot wasn't too hard. I tried black reflectors on each side, white in front. I tried all white reflectors, but it looked too flat. I am happy with a black reflector on one side. I think it adds depth and demension.


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## GeorgieGirl (May 17, 2012)

Dayum... That's a beaut. Congratulations!!!!


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## HughGuessWho (May 17, 2012)

Wow. That's exciting. And a nice piece of work. Congrats are in order.


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## SCraig (May 17, 2012)

Beautifully done.  I'm always impressed by beautiful machining, I've tried it and failed.  Great job!


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## Dominantly (May 17, 2012)

You've got some crazy skills my friend.

Looks great.


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## BlackSheep (May 17, 2012)

It's gorgeous, well done!


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## Kerbouchard (May 17, 2012)

Very cool.  Not many people get to personally design something that will be owned by a person of that stature.  I can definitely understand your aprehension about wondering how much a guy like that would care about an award like this, especially after you have poured so much time and energy on it.  Hopefully, he appreciates it for what it is.

Ahhh, the toils of being an artist...which sir, you definitely are.  

Nice work on the award and the photography.

For nit picks...the highlight on the wood is a bit uncontrolled and the background isn't quite uniform, and personally, I would have loved to see another black reflector on the left side.  If you have a chance to reshoot, I would probably use a flag to take care of the reflection in the wood, a black panel to the left to add some dimension, and a levels/curves adjustment to make sure the background is uniform.

As far as the craftsmanship, I offer no critique except to acknowledge a master at his trade.


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## sm4him (May 17, 2012)

:hail:
I am in awe of the Master.

No, seriously...that is just too, too awesome. The creation, and the story behind it.

Glad it all worked out. I am a HUGE fan of The Last Minute!


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## paigew (May 17, 2012)

Beautiful! You are a man of many talents!


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## cgipson1 (May 17, 2012)

Beautiful work! But then I know you wouldn't settle for less!  Congratulations!


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## jwbryson1 (May 17, 2012)

Awesome.  :cheer:


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## Derrel (May 17, 2012)

Nice trophy! I have had amazing luck with Birchwood & Casey Brass Black at turning brass very dark, and having the finish stand up to handing and wear for years...literally--years. qj8rbDxQ-38GCiNGdF6524Uu69x6g0YgH8o4ofW1o4ejjLRDVte-CCuW7Xj_nVX5PGFggkoiPRdGKXmhZUm8AEf9Ny5uFq0ZDKfD3rIGJoXChWCRrDn1yVUCFJDR_WFSaElJHsSMeYibUUe4o0jb2AFmZrT4FCCqz9O69NApKdBoBvecokbQ0jTu3-JTmw


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## PixelRabbit (May 17, 2012)

Simply beautiful work.


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## Tony S (May 18, 2012)

Nicely done.  I know now who to get ahold of when I need a piece made for my wife.


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## mishele (May 18, 2012)

You're amazing my friend....=) I knew you could do this!! They came to the right person!!
Congrats!!


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## Dagwood56 (May 18, 2012)

Wow, that's gorgeous work!


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

Kerb, I'll address your post later (I do have a shot with black reflectors on both sides).

Thanks for the kind words.
It was exciting, the whole process, the pressure, and finally actually shaking hands with a billionaire.


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## Joel_W (May 18, 2012)

Oustanding, simple outstanding.  I wouldn't even known where to start.


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## tirediron (May 18, 2012)

:thumbup:


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## sm4him (May 18, 2012)

Wow, Ted has really aged a bit since the last time I saw a photo of him!

But--a Billionaire is holding YOUR creation. Now, THAT rocks!


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## GeorgieGirl (May 18, 2012)

Bitter, you never sleep, I'm pretty sure of that. Your mind never rests because you are always creating and thinking and detailing, I'm pretty sure of that. I am soooo glad that YOU were chosen for creating this award. You are a dilligent soul and no one else could have accomplished what you have as a result of your talent and effort. That stood out to those who chose you to develop this piece, but to us you always have insististed on the best efffort no matter what the task. And you persevered and you achived no matter what the challenge was that you faced on this project. 

Ted holds in his hands something deeper than even he can say Thank You to; his Thanks for an award are cursory and required. Our appreciation of what he is holding in his hands are sincere and simply understood.

Good Job, Bitter, very nice work and Thank You for sharing it all with us.:hugs:


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## jake337 (May 18, 2012)

Congrats!  Something to be very proud of.


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

Hehehe, yeah, he's old. 

When I was introduced to him, the woman told him I was the guy who made the award. He said, "But I haven't seen it yet." She told him he had, that they showed it to him, then we were interupted by the camera guy taking our picture, then there was that awkward moment where he had an issue with his camera. LOL So, I guess, now i can say I had an awkward moment with Ted Turner.  That was the extent of our meeting. Oh well.

Kerb, here's the pic for you.






I prefer the first for it's asymmetry.
It's funny, I want to say I like the highlight on the base, but if I am honest with myself and you, I was trying to prevent it. I couldn't hold both pieces of poster board up to catch the highlight on each side of the base, so one stayed. The background looks even on my calibrated monitor, but on my laptop at work I can totally see what you are talking about. Easy enough to fix.


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

GeorgieGirl said:


> Bitter, you never sleep, I'm pretty sure of that. Your mind never rests because you are always creating and thinking and detailing, I'm pretty sure of that. I am soooo glad that YOU were chosen for creating this award. You are a dilligent soul and no one else could have accomplished what you have as a result of your talent and effort. That stood out to those who chose you to develop this piece, but to us you always have insististed on the best efffort no matter what the task. And you persevered and you achived no matter what the challenge was that you faced on this project.
> 
> Ted holds in his hands something deeper than even he can say Thank You to; his Thanks for an award are cursory and required. Our appreciation of what he is holding in his hands are sincere and simply understood.
> 
> Good Job, Bitter, very nice work and Thank You for sharing it all with us.:hugs:



Kind words GG, (and everyone).

Doing this job made all kinds of thoughts go through my head. Like, I mention up top, does he realize it was hand made? Does it really mean anything to him? Is it just another bauble for his mantle or shelf somewhere? Will he show all his friends? 

It was also interesting being there to watch him get the award. It was interesting being the one who made the award being given, and nearly no one in that room, knew or would know it was me, or that it was even hand made. To everyone in the room, it was just another award, like we've all seen being given to people. But for me, it is still a piece of me. So, yeah, it's an interesting perspective to hold.


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

This was the shot of the day...


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## manaheim (May 18, 2012)

Congrats, man.  And very nice.  I marvel to think that you actually create things like this.  I always expect stuff like this to come out of some sort of magic cloud in the sky, and yet... boom... it turns out, you're the magic cloud man.


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## Derrel (May 18, 2012)

Pretty sweet! Are you famous now??? It's a very distinctive award! "Triumph after tribulations!"


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

Haha, thanks Manny!

Hmmm...maybe I should retire the Bitter Jeweler moniker, and go with Magic Cloud Man instead!


Nah. It doesn't have the same *ring*.


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## TiltShift (May 18, 2012)

Beautiful!


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## mishele (May 18, 2012)

:hug::
I'm so happy for you!! What a wonderful moment!! Hopefully, this will only be one of many.....:hug::


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## sleist (May 18, 2012)

sm4him said:


> Wow, Ted has really aged a bit since the last time I saw a photo of him!



He's just grumpy because Jane still looks hot (to some) and is flaunting it in Cannes, while he's in Cleveland. 

Congrats Bitter!


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## IByte (May 18, 2012)

A round of applause for our local celebrity on TPF....golf clap lol.


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## pgriz (May 18, 2012)

Actually, I don't think Mr. Turner appreciates what his hands were holding.  And why would he?  His field of expertise is elsewhere.  

David, very impressive work.  People who work materials and make them into objects of art are a special breed.  Especially if one goes through the effort because you are putting yourself into the object, and that object becomes, in a little way, a bit of you.  The recipient may or may not know what they hold, but it is their loss if they don't appreciate or understand.  The beauty was in the creation.


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

But, I'm not a celebrity, IByte.


So this is another shot I liked from today.











...and then, playing photojournalist:


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## Desi (May 18, 2012)

Bitter, I enjoyed the story as much as the beautiful object that you made.  Your heart must swell with pride when you think of it.


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 20, 2012)

This is the image the local paper ran with:

http://media.cleveland.com/plain_dealer_metro/photo/ted-turner-city-clubjpg-c29e9510881b19e7.jpg

Really?


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## IByte (May 20, 2012)

Bitter Jeweler said:
			
		

> But, I'm not a celebrity, IByte.
> 
> So this is another shot I liked from today.
> 
> ...and then, playing photojournalist:



So modest Bitter, not everyday a billionaire holds a piece of artwork from a person on a forum. Honestly, congrats.


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## Kerbouchard (May 20, 2012)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> This is the image the local paper ran with:
> 
> http://media.cleveland.com/plain_dealer_metro/photo/ted-turner-city-clubjpg-c29e9510881b19e7.jpg
> 
> Really?


Dude, that blows...

On a semi-related note, have you thought about contacting anybody from the paper to highlight your work?  For instance, the thread you made about building the ring was very interesting and very popular.  It couldn't be that extensive, but I imagine a story like that could be ran in the lifestyle section.

In this case, a 'How it was made' story for Ted Turner's award would make great copy and it shouldn't be that hard to convince somebody at the paper, as well as somebody at your local news station.

Unless there is something in your contract prohibiting it, if I were you, Monday morning I would start making some phone calls to see if anybody is interested in the story.


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## charlie76 (Jun 21, 2012)

Damn that things got style!!!


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## Infidel (Jun 21, 2012)

Old thread, but thanks for bumping it, as I would have missed it otherwise. Bitter, I think if Teddy read this thread, he would appreciate the honor that much more and no doubt tell the story to all of his friends. Cool story, bro, and nice work!


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## c.cloudwalker (Jun 21, 2012)

Infidel said:


> Old thread



Really? What will you say when a 4 or 5 year old thread is being revived...?


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## c.cloudwalker (Jun 21, 2012)

Bitter,

As usual with you, beautiful story. Especially interesting to me because this millionaire is one of the very few I would actually shake hands with 

So I'm jealous. For the handshaking, not for the work you had to put out. Even if, maybe, he is going a bit senile. Or is that not what you were trying to tell us.

But something bothered me from the very start of your thread and that is the "gong" thing. I didn't see a gong in you photo, I saw a bell. 

I thought to myself, maybe, I don't know what a gong is afterall and, wanting to make sure, I went and looked it up. Hate to tell you but this is no gong. It is a bell.

photos of gongs - Recherche Google



Very nice story otherwise. And I hope you have many more of that type to tell us in the future.


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## tmjjk (Jun 21, 2012)

Amazing Bitter... what an incredible talent.  YOU are a true artist.  So grateful that you are a part of this forum! Awesome story...


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## Bitter Jeweler (Jun 21, 2012)

c.cloudwalker said:


> But something bothered me from the very start of your thread and that is the "gong" thing. I didn't see a gong in you photo, I saw a bell.
> 
> I thought to myself, maybe, I don't know what a gong is afterall and, wanting to make sure, I went and looked it up. Hate to tell you but this is no gong. It is a bell.
> 
> ...



Well, I was told by several people, that a bell is struck from the inside, and a gong is struck from the outside. This gong has no clapper, and they strike it with a mallet from the outside. So, it's a gong. 

Incidentally, I was just asked about making 1400 little 3inch versions for party favors, for their 100th anniversary banquet.
Wheeeeeeeee!


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## IByte (Jun 21, 2012)

Bitter Jeweler said:
			
		

> Well, I was told by several people, that a bell is struck from the inside, and a gong is struck from the outside. This gong has no clapper, and they strike it with a mallet from the outside. So, it's a gong.
> 
> Incidentally, I was just asked about making 1400 little 3inch versions for party favors, for their 100th anniversary banquet.
> Wheeeeeeeee!



.....oo that might lead to more photo toys, I'd say change a little bit and go for it bitter.


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## Tradewinds (Jun 21, 2012)

What a great real life story, thanks for sharing, it's the stuff dreams are made from.


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## yerlem (Jun 21, 2012)

1400 tiny gongs?? That sounds lime a lot of work... Congrats!
I just read this whole thread, I never cease to be impressed by your amazing talent, Bitter.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Jun 21, 2012)

Aww...thanks yerlem.

I am getting estimates to "farm it out", which means I make the original and send it elsewhere to be produced én mass. That way, I don't have to touch them. 

Which is cool, because I never had contacts to do that, and now I do. Networking FTW!


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## c.cloudwalker (Jun 22, 2012)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> Well, I was told by several people, that a bell is struck from the inside, and a gong is struck from the outside. This gong has no clapper, and they strike it with a mallet from the outside. So, it's a gong.
> 
> Incidentally, I was just asked about making 1400 little 3inch versions for party favors, for their 100th anniversary banquet.
> Wheeeeeeeee!



This is very cool. Good going!



Not that it matters much because you are not going to tell your customer his gong is not a gong but I love learning so I went and asked Google if there is any such thing as a bell with no clapper and it gave me this: The Korean Bell of Friendship and Bell Pavilion, Angels Gate Park, San Pedro  (see the caption under the photo on the right.)

So then I went and looked up Merriam-Webster for the definition of the gong:
Gong - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

and for the definition of the bell:
Bell - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary


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## sm4him (Jun 22, 2012)

Kerbouchard said:


> Bitter Jeweler said:
> 
> 
> > This is the image the local paper ran with:
> ...



^THIS is a great idea.

One of our local TV stations has a segment they do called "HomeGrown" where they highlight famous, semi-famous, and "you never heard of them but they were somehow attached to someone famous" people who are from this area.  They've done stories on Dolly Parton, Kenny Chesney and David Keith of course, but also more obscure and interesting people who connected with someone famous in a less obvious way. Recently, they did a story on the band KISS and their lawyer, who is a local guy (they are evidently getting desperate now, lol!). 

Seems to me like this story would play very well on local TV or in the newspaper!


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## Bitter Jeweler (Jun 22, 2012)

That's great! I like learning too.

What you will find really funny, is one of the people who gave me my information, worked for Webster's in my building. LOL
As a side note, they moved down the street, and my shop is now in part of their old space.

I will no longer call it a gong. :thumbup:


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## Bitter Jeweler (Jun 22, 2012)

sm4him said:


> Kerbouchard said:
> 
> 
> > Bitter Jeweler said:
> ...


I am not great at selling myself, and would find it very awkward to call the newspaper and suggest they do a story on me.


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## sm4him (Jun 22, 2012)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> sm4him said:
> 
> 
> > Kerbouchard said:
> ...



Hmmm...and how would you feel about answering the phone and telling them the story, after they get "wind" of it from an "online source?"


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## Bitter Jeweler (Jun 22, 2012)

That would be fine, but I think it's a little late now, and not topical?


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## IByte (Jun 22, 2012)

Bitter Jeweler said:
			
		

> I am not great at selling myself, and would find it very awkward to call the newspaper and suggest they do a story on me.



But I'm sure your local paper have an art section.  If not, there should be other publications where you can make yourself known.


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## sm4him (Jun 22, 2012)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> That would be fine, but I think it's a little late now, and not topical?



I think it could be quite timely, with the new development of making a boatload of little baby gong/bells for the 10th Anniversary celebration.  When is the anniversary celebration? Is it this year?  If so, the whole story could tie together very nicely.


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