How can I get a matte finish on gold

Jewelry Discussion
21

Dave

You can try different size guitar strings for lighter or heavier
textures.

Creole

22

What is the difference between the airbrush and the air eraser?
I have the Paasche airbrush, the “travelers” model, that so far,
I’m running off canned compressed air. Can i use the aluminous
oxide with it? I have a cabinet sand/bead blaster, but no
compressor, -any idea what is the minimum size compressor I could
get away with?

Also, I’ve asked this before, but maybe someone has come up with
an answer since then. I used various metal dyes and patina
solutions on bronze castings. After I get the exact colors I
want, or the lovely pale green, powdery patina, I want to fix it
and protect it for outdoor use. Lacquer disrupts the patinas,
and mostly dissolves the dyes. I just got the airbrush, and
tried it with water based acrylic lacquers- the dyes did fairly
well, but the green powdery patina now looks like green enamel
paint, and is splotchy to boot. I’ve tried using a spray
fixative, before lacquering, to no avail. Help!!!

Third question of the night. I heard about using Shrinky Dink,
(polyform) sheets in making models- by cutting out a shape with
an exacto knife, and then putting the design in an oven for a few
minutes. It shrinks from 1/2-1/3 in size, and becomes 4 times
thicker. It can then be sprued up and cast. I tried cutting
it today, with a brand new fine exacto blase, and found it very
difficult to cut. I ended up using a manicure scissor to make
interior cuts, but they weren’t great. After I shrunk it, it was
very brittle, I had hoped to curve it on a dowel after I took it
out of the oven, but it cooler and harden within seconds. Has
anyone else tried to work with this tuff?

Thanks everyone, Ruth

23

It=B9s been a long time ago but I had a friend who made cuffs out
of shrink art. She formed the sheet around her padded arm or a
madrel of some sort while it was still hot. I think that you
could make some simple drape molds to form them out of plaster
or clay.

Marilyn Smith

24

I use a small airbrush compressor i bought at the art store for
about 85 dollars. It works well for sandblasting but i run in to
moisture problems during extended use (houston, tx. is a swamp).
You can try a bottle of co2 or a portable compressed air tank
like the filling stations use for portable air. you can usually
find them at a surplus dealer fairly cheap and you can fill them
at the local gas station. I do however use the air eraser with
glass beads and get a better finish then with alum oxide eraser
which seems to give a darker finish.

25

Deb,

Flow some wax over the granulation on the ring. It will protect
it from the sand.

Skip

                                  Skip Meister
                                NRA Endowment and
                                   Instructor
                                @Skip_Meister
                                07/05/9720:11:34
26

Hi,

Sorry I’m so late, I was out of town. A micro blaster is a
micro blaster. The difference is in the tip and the tank.
Aluminous oxide tips are small and made of hard metal and ceramic
with a hole of varying sizes for the job needing to be done. The
glass bead nozzle is bigger. Dental labs use old Al2O3 tips that
have enlarged through use for general sand and bead blasting.
The Al/oxide is in the 50micron size, the beads are much bigger.

Skip

                                  Skip Meister
                                NRA Endowment and
                                   Instructor
                                @Skip_Meister
                                07/05/9719:52:01
27 
Third question of the night.  I heard about using Shrinky Dink,
(polyform) sheets in making models- by cutting out a shape with
an exacto knife, and then putting the design in an oven for a few
minutes.  It shrinks from 1/2-1/3 in size, and becomes 4 times
thicker.  It can then be sprued up and cast.   I tried cutting
it today, with a brand new fine exacto blase, and found it very
difficult to cut.  I ended up using a manicure scissor to make
interior cuts, but they weren't great.  After I shrunk it, it was
very brittle, I had hoped to curve it on a dowel after I took it
out of the oven, but it cooler and harden within seconds.   Has
anyone else tried to work with this tuff?

Ruth

I bit late but I have worked with this stuff for crafts. You do
need a new, sharp exacto blade to cut your design. To be able
to form around a dowel, you have to grab it out of the oven and
wrap it around the dowel as fast as you can before it cools. As
far as casting it - no experience.

Claudia