Making a Pendant From Paint
Peter’s made a lot of jewelry for Shop Time, but somehow he’s never made a pendant.
It’s time to fix that.
For this project, Peter decided to use some material from a prior project where he made a hair clip out of paint with the help of Carl Jacobson.
The technical name for these paint blocks is Fordite, although they’re also called Detroit agates (to the frustration of rock hounds around the world).
Made out of layers and layers of accumulated automotive paint, it’s kinda like an industrial fossil. With a bit more color.
With a bit of fiddling, Peter manages to mount the Fordite on his lathe and shape it with a chisel and a scraper, rounding it into a disk and revealing some of the layers.
After that, it’s over to the drill press to sink a 3/8th’s inch hole and then back to the lathe for a bit of creativity.
By lining up the pendant’s hole with the center of the wooden plate on the lathe, Peter can add an extra bevel to the pendant.
All the pendant needs is a coating of polyurethane and a cord.
And there you have it! A pendant made entirely out of paint. It’s a pretty neat slice of industrial history, isn’t it?
Asher is a freelance writer who has worked on everything from EdTech to indie games. You can catch him online on Medium or in person in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. He claims to have the best chili recipe in the Midwest.
