Intermediate Metal Techniques

HI! I started a post over a month ago about patinas and I still haven't finished it! I did however work on a handout for my "Intermediate Metals Class" which starts tomorrow so I thought I would post that. I worked a long time on it and think it might be helpful. It includes a bit on foldforming as well because foldforming is cool.

Intermediate Metal Techniques
The Workspace
April  2013

Terrie Hoefer
515-231-0841
terrie@silverleafshop.com

Welcome to Intermediate Metal Techniques! This class requires that you have taken the Beginning Metals class or have experience with several metal smithing techniques such as sawing, filing, and knowledge of terms such as hardness, gauge, annealing, etc.  This class will focus on Foldforming, Soldering, and Bezel Setting.

Foldforming is a fun technique that you can spend years learning and experimenting with. It gives wonderful texture and depth to metal and can add life and a story to your piece. Copper is wonderfully suited to foldforming. Copper can be folded over and over again, almost infinately. It anneals beautifully and can be the focus of your piece or an accent or it can be an entire sculpture.  I recommend the book “Foldforming” by Charles Lewton-Brain.  There is also an active Foldforming group on Facebook, and if you are serious about Foldforming they will let you join J

Annealing – Anneal after every fold. You can pickle but it is not necessary. Make sure you rinse well after pickling so you don’t have pickle trapped in the folds that could continue to damage your metal or your skin etc.

Hammers – There are lots of different hammers and mallets around. To begin, you can use your basic chasing hammer, ball peen hammer or even a mallet if there is a texture on your copper you want to protect. As you practice and learn how the metal moves with your hammers, you can begin to practice with forging hammers and raising hammers.  Brainpress.com has great information: http://www.brainpress.com/Foldformingtools.shtml.

Pliers – You will sometimes need flat-nosed pliers or a knife to pry open your folds. Usually you want to open them without leaving unwanted marks on your metal.

One of the most talented artists at The Workspace solders a ring

Soldering is fun to learn but takes practice. We will practice on scrap copper so you can get a feel for the heat of the flame, the different types of solder, and dealing with fire scale and other tricks to creating successful solder joins.  Safety first! Make sure you solder in a ventilated area, know and understand your torch, tie back loose hair and clothing, keep flammables away from torch area.

Solder – Solder comes in Hard, Medium and Easy. Hard melts at the highest temperature and has the most silver in it, easy melts at the lowest temperature and has a higher alloy content. Because hard solder has more silver it will tarnish slower. Always use hard solder first if you will be soldering more than once on a piece. For instance, use hard solder to solder a bezel closed. Then use medium or easy to solder the bezel to a back plate.  Medium solder melts at a slightly lower temperature so it will flow before the hard solder will. That way, your first seam won’t melt!

                Solder will not fill gaps. The two items that will be soldered together must fit tightly. When solder flows, it actually becomes part of the metal that is being soldered together. So a tight fit is very important.

               Your metal must also be very clean. Dirt, oil will prevent solder from working properly.

                Solder comes in wire and sheet. You can also buy solder that is in a syringe or already in a paste. The kind you use depends on what you are making. For most joins, wire or sheet solder can be cut into little pieces. Make sure you keep the solder labeled and separate from silver wire or other silver that you can confuse it with. Also don’t mix up hard, medium and easy solder. Keep the solder labeled and packaged. You don’t want someone to use easy solder when they need hard!

Flux – Flux prevents firescale by protecting the solder and metal from oxygen. Too much flux can bubble in the flame and cause your solder to bounce out of position. Prevent this by heating very slowly until the flux dries and turns white. We use Handy Flux, if it is dried out add some water so it is a paste and spread on your metal. You can coat your whole piece to help keep your piece from discoloring from the flame but is not necessary. Flux also needs to coat your solder.

                When flux turns clear you are approaching soldering temperature.

The Torch – We have a wonderful torch at The Workspace with four torch heads. Usually one of the smaller torch heads will produce enough heat for your jobs. If you are working with larger or thicker gauges of metal then you may need to use a larger torch head. However I am able to solder small rings with just a kitchen butane torch, but it took a lot of practice!  Please learn all safety procedures with the torch. Tie up hair and loose clothing. Keep paper and flammables away from the torch station. At the end of the night help make sure the torch tank has been turned off and the torch hose has been bled (emptied of gas). After bleeding the hose, make sure the torch head has been closed.

                The hottest part of the flame is right in front of the bright blue cone. Also a flame that is loud and hissy will have too much oxygen in it and cause firescale problems. Too bushy of a flame may not have not enough oxygen and may not be hot enough to have a successful solder.

                Solder flows toward heat!  Heat your entire piece so the metal that is farthest away from your join doesn’t continually suck needed heat away from your join. As you approach solder temperature you can focus the flame on the seam.

                Remove the flame as soon as the solder flows. Quench in water and place in the pickle pot with copper tongs. Please make sure the crock pot gets unplugged before the last person leaves!

·         Clean metal and solder with scratchy pad or sandpaper

·         Join must be tight and touch. Solder does not fill gaps!

·         Flux the piece and solder

·         Heat slowly and heat the entire piece, watch the changes in the flux

·         When flux turns clear you can start to focus the flame on where the solder needs to flow

This is a great resource to have while learning how to solder: http://art.jewelrymakingmagazines.com/Projects/Subscriber%20Projects/2010/07/14%20Soldering%20Tips.aspx

http://art.jewelrymakingmagazines.com/ is a great website with lots of free tips and projects. They even have videos that are well produced.