Good morning and Happy New Year to all,
How does one do a proper Florentine finish on a ring wide band?
I am starting with an 18 / 10 line graver which I believe is the
proper tool to use.
Any help would be of course appreciated.
Thank you,
Laurie
Rio and Rosenthal’s and I believe Kassoy all sell a great florentine
bur- easy fast and no constant resharpening the graver!, otherwise I
have used an 18/8, but have just as much confidence that an 18/10
would accomplish a finer deeply cut finish… all in all though i use
burs now as opposed to the handwork and time a graver takes to get
the same result. A fellow at the bench in our studio uses files
(swiss pattern barrette) to get a less deep less bright (inside the “
grooves”) finish. it is matte when he uses the files but can be
polished without removing the texture with some dialux blue after he
files the texture on the gold… But for the telato cut them in a
perpendicular and with an 8/6 for a finer velvety finish, most like a
linen finish on paper- if you want rigato cut them in the same
direction, without the cross-hatching like other traditional
florentines. Traditionally they were done with 3 or 5 line bent
burins, or occasionally a double bent liner ( for modelato or ornato
finishes which are more deeply cut and ornato almost like lace). keep
the gravers/burins polished and sharp using wintergreen oil or
whatever you prefer on the stone or diamond whet block so the graver
glides over the metal instead of gouging at the end of your stroke.
also I blow the groves out with canned air whilst making the finish
by hand a small burr of metal can get caught in the grooves
so-to-speak, and cause a deeper gouge in spots. all in all the
Florentine burs give you a consistent finish though if you are
applying it to multiple pieces. rer
18 / 10 line graver which I believe is the proper tool to use.
Laurie, I’ve generally used #14 liners or sometimes #12. The second
number is how many lines there are, of course. That doesn’t mean not
to use an 18, if you want to. 45 degree angle, just start cutting all
the way around. You’ll find it easier to push off the edges from the
inside - instead of trying to catch the edge in the beginning, do
what you can and then go back and touch them up so the graver goes
over the edge from the field of the ring. (You’ll see). Just push,
don’t wiggle the tool - not so easy, and the bigger the tool, the
harder it is. Do the whole ring one direction, touch up any holidays,
and then go back at 45 degrees the other way, ideally just cutting to
the same depth or you can obliterate your previous work.
By the way, florentine is a complete finish - 100% both ways - but
there are others. “Linen” is 100% the first way, and then skip a bit
on the second pass, which takes a bit of artistry to do well. And
there are some others…Florentine is pretty easy, it’s just a lot
of work. I won’t say you need a sharp tool because you never don’t
need a sharp tool.