A friend has commissioned me to make a ring based on one he saw
recently. He claims it had two metals to it, silver and black.
And so, I sat down and researched through my books. I already
knew about Niello, which unfortunately has lead, and sort of
about Shakudo with a patina of rokusho. In my reading, I came to
the conclusion that Niello would have a much deeper colour, while
Shakudo would probably be less toxic. If I were to do Niello,
would it be okay to do it outside? And, since it is a ring, I
read that you could use a gum (would something like KlyrFire be
okay?), but you’d have to do it in a kiln and keep the piece
rotating constantly so the Niello doesn’t flow out. Stupid
question, how the heck would one do that? And, if I was to do
Shakudo, would it be good enough to get the Reactive Metals
shakudo and their so called “Baldwin’s Patina”, or should I do
the traditional rokusho patina?
Many questions, I know. I missed out on learning how to do
Niello because my school decided that year that it was too toxic
to continue teaching. One last question: ummm, what about plain
old Jax? Thanks everyone!
Tobey Robinson
Adoremus Creations in Metal
Burnaby, BC, Canada
ICQ: 2643004
Shakudo, would it be good enough to get the Reactive Metals
shakudo and their so called “Baldwin’s Patina”, or should I do
the traditional rokusho patina?
Tobey, while Reactive Metals materials are great (I’ve just bought
a whole load of stuff rom them and their service is great too) I
would just make my own Shakudo: 60 parts of Cu to 40 parts of Ag.
Melt the copper and add the silver to it. Make sure it is well
blended (using a quartz rod) and pour the ingot. It appears very
silver after quenching and pickling, but this is superficial.
In my experience, however, Rokusho doesn’t make it very black. I
suspect that the ‘Baldwin’s Patina’ would be better.
I’ve never used Niello, but it’s one of those techniques that I’ve
been wanting to try for ages.
It is possible that the black metal is niobium- it takes a very
nice heat treated black oxide. I have been using niobium to make
wedding bands for years. (Niobium is named after Niobe, the
goddess of grief :). I fabricate a gold alloy tube that fits
inside a seamless tubing band of niobium, and solder two gold
rims on the sides.
Rick Hamilton
Richard D. Hamilton
A goldsmith on Martha’s Vineyard
USA
Fabricated 14k, 18k, 22k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography,
and sailing whenever I can… http://www.rick-hamilton.com
How about true cobalt based or better rhodium base god the luster
and ping when hit w/ a spoon? WoW. And, it only has to be microns
thick once you have your surface prep’d and a nice finsh to blast.
Dauvit, Shakudo is a copper gold alloy, 95% copper 5% gold is a
common recipe. The alloy you describe is Shibuichi which translates
as “three quarters” and is typically 75% silver 25% silver it will
not patina black in Rokusho. Only shakudo will patina black in with
rokusho if you do it right it is a difficult patina to do but is a
nice black with purple undertones from the gold.
Jim
@jbin
James Binnion Metal Arts
2916 Chapman St
Oakland, CA 94601
510-436-3552
It is possible that the black metal is niobium- it takes a
very nice heat treated black oxide. I have been using niobium to
make wedding bands for years. (Niobium is named after Niobe, the
goddess of grief :)
Whaat. Nice irony there. Actually I thought she was ‘just’ the
sister of Titus.
. I fabricate a gold alloy tube that fits inside a seamless
tubing band of niobium, and solder two gold rims on the sides.
And it gets the black oxide finish at the same time? great idea.
A goldsmith on Martha’s Vineyard
Is this what Bob sang about in ‘I don’ wanna work on Maggie’s
Farm’?
Brian
B r i a n � A d a m J e w e l l e r y E y e w e a r � @Brian_Adam1 ph/fx +64 9 817 6816 NEW ZEALAND
The alloy you describe is Shibuichi which translates
as "three quarters" and is typically 75% silver 25% silver
Uhhh … I don’t mean to be picky here, but is this a typo??
Which part is silver, and what is the other part? Thanks!
Marrin Fleet @Marrin_and_Mary_Dell
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
(About halfway between the Gulf of Mexico
and Canada, on the Mississippi River;
home of Elvis and W.C.Handy)
75% silver 25% copper