Kumboo and Findings

Jewelry Discussion
1

I realize that you do Kumboo as a final application. When do you put
the findings on? Nancy in Michigan

2

Hi Nancy. All soldering–including findings should be soldered on
prior to keum boo.The only thing you do after the Keum Boo is setting
of stones. Alma.

3

Nancy, I was taught that the piece should be finished—all findings
are added before you Kumboo. However, you can add your findings
afterwards, but just check the Kumboo for air bubbles or just to be
safe I re-burnish the gold.

4

I realize that you do Kumboo as a final application. When do you put
the findings on? Nancy in Michigan

I do the kumboo after the depletion gilding and texturing. Then I do
the forming, folding, dapping and put on the findings. Does that help?
K.P. in WY

5

Hi Nancy. All soldering–including findings should be soldered on
prior to keum boo.The only thing you do after the Keum Boo is setting
of stones.

I frequently use keum-boo on raw sheet and then forge, solder,
construct etc afterwards with no ill effects. I normally use hard
solder too. Keum-boo can be done at any point in the sequence that you
want. Charles

Charles Lewton-Brain
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada

6

Dear nancy,

Just to really confuse the issue… I put Kum boo on before
soldering, forming, roller printing etc. Very occasionally I might
put it on after the findings etc have been soldered. I find that by
putting it on before hand, allows me more flexibilty in the end
design, and I am not so hung up that I am going to spoil a finished
piece. I am aware that tradition is to put the gold on last, however
I used to make spiculum forms, and it was very difficult to put the
gold on a rolling piece that would never stand still! I have even put
the gold on a flat piece of metal and then raised it.

Necessity is the mother of invention and new ideas!!

Felicity in West Oz, where the blue skies always shine.

7

Hi Charles: You are right when you say that the keumboo process can
be done at any stage in the construction of a piece. I’ve made some
stock sheets using various alloys of gold to get a palette of colors
and then stripped the sheet to get narrow ribbons which I then turn
into tubes using a drawplate. One of the problems is the formation of
bubbles under the appliques as a result of expansion of trapped air
during the bonding process. In the above case the act of drawing down
to make small diameter tubes appears to press out the bubbles which
can also be reburnished, if small, doing other types of construction.

Another trick I’ve used is to take the just Kumbooed piece from the
hot plate to the rolling mill (having first preset the rollers to the
thickness of the base piece) and roll it through. The appliques
become flush and I think I get fewer bubbles on reheating. For what
it’s worth J.Z. Dule