I am working on a project with reticulated silver, with thin gold
wire fused around edge.
(reticulated piece is 10mm x 5mm, the thin gold wire is 2mm wide x
0.5mm thick) (gold wire is 14 kt yellow gold)
My goal here is to create an edge of gold around the reticulated
piece that kind of looks like it is “painted on” as opposed to
soldering a thicker gold wire frame around piece.
Where the silver meets the gold, I would like to achieve a more
irregular, fused look, as opposed to a cleaner join that soldering a
wire would create…
The problem I am having is that the gold wire is “balling up” during
the fusing process, creating gaps around the edge of the piece,
between the balls.
I would appreciate any comments regarding this problem, and how I
may achieve this desired look.
You could try Kim-Boo, which is a 24k overlay on silver. The
process is explained in Metals Technic, edited by Tim McCreight ISBN
0-9615984-7-6
24k foil is burnished onto piece which is heated to 500-700*F. I
think that would give you the painted on effect you want.
If you are set on using wire, try more of an indirect heat rather
than playing your torch directly on the work. You are leaving your
torch to long in one place, melting the gold wire.
My goal here is to create an edge of gold around the reticulated
piece that kind of looks like it is "painted on" as opposed to
soldering a thicker gold wire frame around piece.
Hoover & Strong makes gold reticulated sheet. It is available
already reticulated, or you can reticulate it yourself.