Thread: Ants wanted

I think you need Bull ants, none around here but we have spiny ants, a bit on the small size and I don't think they have large enough jaws.

Toothless Bull Ant - Myrmecia fulviculis or M. mandibularis
Golden-tailed Spiny Ant - Polyrhachis (Hagiomyrma) sp., Polyrhachis ammon.

Have you run this past the ethics committee?

Originally Posted by AlexS

Have you run this past the ethics committee?

It was fully discussed with the ethics committee and approved so long as the dead ants did not suffer in the process of the design making and their remains were disposed of in accordance with the rules of the local ant community.

Cultana,
There are a lot of bull ant nests here and I am on very good terms with all of the residents. I ran your request past them and got no volunteers, so unfortunately we are unable to assist in your murderous project.

Regards,
Geoff, Jaws, Fang and Nipper.

We have thousands down the back. I'm pretty sure we could ambush a few of the scouts, and no-one would be the wiser.

Feel free to come and select your victims.

Cheers

I reckon we could get you some fire ants. Plenty of them here in seqld. Probably the last thing you would want though.

Lots of jack jumpers around my place, you're more than welcome to them

Not sure if metho would kill them or just annoy them, they tend to be aggressive little buggers.

green ants are about that size , they nest in trees so 3 would be hard to collect ,. 3000 would be easier

Guys thanks for the offerings but in most cases you all live too far away for me to personally pick up them up.

SawDustSniffer: Yes I first thought of those green ants. I have dealt with them when I lived up in Darwin. Impressive nests as well.

Snowyskiesau: The jack Jumpers sound and look like what I am after.


Let me explain the whole ant thing first.

In some ways it’s a bit Salvador Dalí in design, but I hope not as strange or a fluid as his.

This is for a diamond ring, the stone is a bit bigger that I first mentioned, approximately 4.5mm diameter at the main, widest, edge.

It is supposed to have two ants holding the stone in their jaws. Each ant rises out of the main ring base and in essence is presenting the diamond. So about half of each ant is proud of the main ring base.
It looks though the stone needs to be in a holding clasp ring and the ants hold that instead of provide the clasping for the stone.

Design logic,(if any): Ants are part of a working community and work towards that community. They work for it not for themselves; they give to the community and to the queen of that nest. Hence the ring is intended through its design to convey the concept of two people working toward a viable relationship and the giving toward that relationship.

It is to be in white gold. I did want the ants to be cast in yellow gold so they stand out in the design. It may be a bit of a problem doing this though in the casting process.

I have found a manufacturing jeweller who is interested in doing the work but he needs the ant models. He is keen to do this work and considers it to be bit of a challenge as well.

So yes this is for real request.

Hi cultana,
Why don't you just google ants, bull ants, green ants, Australian ants? There are hundreds of photos available from every conceivable angle and of much clearer resolution than most of us could see with the naked eye.
Regards,
Geoff.

Originally Posted by Boringgeoff

Hi cultana,
Why don't you just google ants, bull ants, green ants, Australian ants? There are hundreds of photos available from every conceivable angle and of much clearer resolution than most of us could see with the naked eye.
Regards,
Geoff.

Geoff,
there are basically three ways of making the ants in gold, white or yellow.
One is to take an actual ant and mould it in cold rubber and then use that to make a wax model and cast that into gold using the investment casting technique.

Another is to take an image like you suggest, or much better to model the pattern from a 3 dimensional subject, carve wax by hand, and then cast that in gold.
( There are now services that will do this step using computer generated patterns also)

Third is to use the model as above and go directly to gold using all the skill of the goldsmith to carve the metal and fabricate the ants.

I once made a scorpion this way, it was great fun!

To do this work, seeing the detail is a must, so magnifying it up is just how it's done anyhow.
Most miniature work fails because getting proportions right on known objects is a challenge because the margin for error is fractions of a mm, and when it's wrong, it's obvious. An actual model to copy is a huge help.

Regards,
Peter

The intended process is to end up with a cast wax ant to work into the ring base. The wax casting being made from a real ant as as Peter said, rubber cast or similar process. The whole ring is then cast in essence as a lost wax process. Detail and scale are critical and the ants also provide that when viewed under a big magnifying glass.




The ring is something I promised my wife and has been on the roundtoit for a year or more. Though she suddenly passed on late last year I intend to complete this.

cultana,
that's a wonderful way to commemorate a partner.
It will be a pleasure to wear, and not obvious at all what it all means.....As all jewellers will tell you, getting those types of thoughts into a piece of jewellery is when we do some of our best work!
Let us know how you get on.
Regards,
Peter

There seems to be a free 3d graphics model for an ant if it is of any help.
3d model formica rufa ant