Texture With A Rolling Mill

Last week in class we focused on the rolling mill. It is an awesome tool that can lead you into an infinite number of directions. A rolling mill can be used to thin metal. But for class we used the mill to add texture to metal.  Textured metal can become the focal point of a piece or the background of a piece.  Texture adds mood and character to a piece.

The rolling mill that we have at the workspace is a crude but well made tool. I believe it was made many years ago by an instructor. It is not as easy to use as a mill you could buy today, but the rollers are smooth and as long as you are careful, you can make good impressions with your materials.

Metal can be similar to clay when hit with a hammer or put through a rolling mill. A slab roller for clay is similar to a rolling mill for metal. I realize now I do not have a picture of our little machine. But because of the malleability of metal, it is pretty incredible what can be pressed into metal. See the picture of the feather below.  Two passes were made to show what a difference annealing your metal can make.

24 gauge copper with 2 presses from a  feather. Click on the photo to see a larger image and the individual barbs of the vanes in the feather. Sadly you destroy the feather in the process.  Also please note that you should only use store bought feathers. Pretty much every bird is protected by law and that includes their feathers.

The first pass can be seen with the vertical line running through the copper. The vertical line is from the shaft of the feather but the vane of the feather is not visible. But after annealing the copper you can see the second pass of the feather through the mill and you can see both the shaft and the vanes of the feather. Pretty amazing because a feather is very thin material. With a dip in liver of sulfur the vanes should even appear more clear.

Above you can see the other items I rolled through the mill - ribbon, paper ribbon, and index card cuts.

Here you can see a little sketch of buildings on index paper, then I cut out some of the windows and some of the lines with an exacto knife. I did not cut out every line or every window.  I also had some bits of triangle pieces of paper added to the piece. You can see that one of the triangles slid before rolling and looks like it is "sitting" on top of the square picture.  The other bits of white index paper are just loosely laying on the metal.

This blue paper is a ribbon that has the feel of rafia. I am not 100% that it is rafia but it made fun lines in the copper

Here is a piece of ribbon with the rougher side of the ribbon against the copper. It makes a nice texture and presses very clearly.

A student experiment. First after a few adjustments, the copper was rolled with the blue paper ribbon. Then another pass was made with a curly piece of brass wire.  The wire planished or burnished the texture of the ribbon so the curvy line is shiny and catches the light and makes a wonderful contrast to the paper texture.

This student cut out flowers from scrapbook paper and rolled her sterling silver with the flowers sandwiched between two very thin sheets of copper that she had. The copper actually pressed concentric waves into the silver as well, since it was so thin the rollers really crushed the copper.  But we liked the effect.  The results here are after a dip in liver of sulfur and a rub with sandpaper.

Not everyone worked on the roll press. Here a student is working on a sculpture of a flower.  Placing a dapping punch in a vise, protected from the vises teeth with blue painter's tape, the punch becomes a stake and he is able to get the curve he wants in the petals of his flower.

Lots of discs in copper and brass punched out with the disc cutter

Already a student has earrings finished after the third week of classes. Discs, shaped in a dapping block and large silver wire jump ring  and a splash of color with the crystal drop.  

The items are endless that you can use with metal and a rolling mill. Experiment and have fun!