Techniques and Materials
I wanted to share with you a bit about the techniques and materials that I love using. I feel like this will be an ever growing list and I look forward to adding to it! If there's anything you are interested in seeing just let me know!
Techniques:
Riveting:
Soldering:
This is a method of using a flame from a torch to melt solder and create permanent connections between two pieces of metal.
Sawing:
All of my pieces are hand sawed and finished. I do not use a laser cutter.
Texturing:
All of my metal is textured by me.
- I use hammers, stamps, and a rolling mill to create the textures you see in my pieces. I do not
- use pre-textured metal.
- I hand fuse sterling silver, argentium, and gold dust to my pieces to create a texture.
- I melt layers of the metal to create texture, called reticulation.
Patina:
I create color on metal in many ways.
- I use alcohol inks to create a watercolor type effect on metal.
- I use Liver of Sulphur to create color or take the metal to black.
- I use heat to change the color of some metals.
Materials:
Sterling Silver:
This is a metal that is 92.5% pure silver. That is why many silver pieces are
marked with a .925 stamp.
Fine Silver:
This metal is 99.9% pure and is softer than sterling. Many bezels are fine silver.
Argentium Silver:
This metal is 93.5% - 96% pure and tarnishes very slowly compared to sterling
silver.
Titanium:
This is a very strong metal that cannot be soldered. It can be heated to produce beautiful colors. It is hypoallergenic.
Metal Dust:
This is what I collect as I saw out my pieces. I use the “saw dust” to create a beautiful rough texture on my pieces by fusing it using heat from the torch.
Other Base Metals:
I also use commonly known metals in my work such as copper, brass, and
bronze.