Rosewood and metal brooch with Shellac flakes

brooch brass, Rosewood, Nickelsilver, aluminum,epoxy, enamel powder, garnet10mm,

amber4mm,onyx3mm, Mother of Pearl 3mm, Shellac flakes

Rosewood is hard and dense, but not as hard, dense and oily as other woods like Ebony and Cocobolo. It is relatively easy to carve with a thin cutting disc for metals and with steel burrs.

meteorite ring campo del cielo with Lapis lazuli and Amber

custom ring stainless steel, welding steel, brazed brass inlay, lapis lazuli 3mm, amber 4mm, Shellac flakes, epoxy,enamel powder, meteorite Campo del Cielo

"The Campo del Cielo refers to a group of iron meteorites or to the area where they were found situated on the border between the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The crater field covers an area of 3×20 kilometers and contains at least 26 craters, the largest being 115×91 meters. The craters' age is estimated as 4,000–5,000 years. The craters, containing iron masses, were reported in 1576, but were already well known to the aboriginal inhabitants of the area. The craters and the area around contain numerous fragments of an iron meteorite. The total weight of the pieces so far recovered exceeds 100 tonnes, making the meteorite the heaviest one ever recovered on Earth. The largest fragment, consisting of 37 tonnes, is the second heaviest single-piece meteorite recovered on Earth, after the Hoba meteorite.^[1]"

^(wikipedia)

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_del_Cielo} 

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes, which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough all-natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph (gramophone) records were also made of it during the pre-1950s, 78-rpm recording era.
Shellac is one of the few historically appropriate finishes (including casein paint, spar varnishes, boiled linseed oil and lacquer) for early 20th-century hardwood floors, and wooden wall and ceiling paneling.
From the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac
 

Cocobolo wood brooch

brooch Cocobolo wood,nugold,nickelsilver, brass,copper,aluminum,glas

s gem,Carnelian7mm,epoxy,petrified wood,enamel powder

this wood is very dense and hard and oily, even more than ebony. Dust should not be inhaled when working on it.
It is wood, but it behaves almost like a metal in some ways. Hard steel burrs, grinding stones, fiberglass enforced wheels and diamond discs are necessary to carve it. Cutting big pieces works best with a big metal saw. Files get clogged easily because it is so oily. Large amounts can be removed with a very coarse file.
It can be polished like a metal with polishing compounds and takes a very high shine.