I have never done this before so I hope I’m doing it right. I can’t
tell you how important the Ganoskin is. I can’t start my work day
with out it. I have been reading it for over a year now and finally
have the guts to ask my first question or should I say questions.
My senior year in college I was really into electroforming. However,
I wasn’t able to really explore the full capabilities that
eletroforming offers. I have worked out a series of art that I need
to explore, but to do this I either need a tank or access to one. My
old adviser and director of the program isn’t the type of person who
will let me pay for time to use his tank ,( I would have to pay for
a 3 hour course that I have already passed, and I can’t afford), and
he isn’t the type of person who will share n building
one. He likes to keep his competition at his feet. I have tried to go
to him and ask, but he is unwilling like he was when I was “his
student”. great craftsman, horrible teacher.
So my question is this my dear friends, where can I find more
on how to build a tank. I’m not looking for a tank to
mass produce jewelry, but it needs to be a larger bath.
I need on both copper and silver electroforming. I know
the basic safety issues but I would like more a more in-depth
I’ve seen rectifiers on e-bay but are there other places
to get supplies? Is there a book out there? I found one book at the
library that gives the very basics, which I already have. Thank you
for listening and I look forward to hearing back form everyone! Any
is good )
Amanda
in Ohio you can almost taste the Spring in the air!
"In this article, I hope to present a very simple description
of electroforming. In his book, Jewelry: Concepts and
Technology (New York, NY: 1982, Doubleday), Oppi Untract
defines electroforming as the "process of synthesizing a metal
object by controlling the electrodeposition of metal passing
through an electrolytic solution onto a metal or metallized
form." Very simply, a metal skin can be built up on a metal
surface, or any surface that has been rendered
electroconductive through the application of a paint that
contains metal particles. This differs from electroplating
basically because the skin is much thicker and can exist as a
self-supporting structure if the original matrix is removed."
So you should probably also check out Oppi’s book, which you simply
must have anyway.
"The fourth book in Jim Kervin's new series, The Enamel and
Electroform Decorated Beads of Kate Fowle Meleney, is 34 pages
devoted to the methods I use to create my sculptural beads and
my enameled and electroformed surfaces. Great photographs and
detailed instructions are included. Price: $15 for an
autographed copy."
and which lists the source for the conductive paint:
Back in the late 60’s or 70’s, Rock and Gem had several serial
articles on electroforming. I saw one of them not too long ago when I
was going over some of the old magazines. One article was all about
how to build your own electroforming system. If I find it I will
notify…but you could go to them and see what they can tell you.
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple elegance
IS fine jewelry! @coralnut2
I Googled and found this site which should help you to set up a
tank. It also includes books which are available on the subject, and
Rio is said to have a basic setup for electroforming. I also ran
across a lady to has several research projects on electroforming for
UC San Jose in CA.
Remember, your activities for the last four years have taught you
the basics of your subject, how to research, and how to communicate.
Now is the time to research and communicate. Don’t be to hard on your
instructor, sometimes the last lesson is frustration (motivation) for
the will to move on.
You can improvise a tank of any size which will be quite long
lasting by simply draping a sheet of polythene sheeting into a box
which could be cardboard, wood, metal or whatever and hold the
sheeting firmly in place with a few bulldog clips. An alternative
would be one of the cheap plastic stacking storage boxes which, over
here, are available in all the ‘five and dime’ type shops. I bought a
couple yesterday which are about 1 foot square and 9 inches deep with
a snap on lid for 1UKP each (about $1.75US or $2CDN). You can heat
these with a fish tank-type heater and thermostat.
Just in case my post about the Penland book confused anyone, I want
to clarify that the list of techniques are in the Penland book as
master classes. They are not separate books by those artists.