I am interested in adding textured metal pieces to the polymer clay
jewelry I design, and am hoping to pick your collective brains.
Basically, I am trying to figure out if I should invest in an
inexpensive rolling mill to texture my own or just try to find a
source for pre-textured sheet (copper, brass, silver)? My goal is
ultimately to cut round & oval shapes with my disc cutter, file them
& possibly patina & dap them before adding them to my fired clay.
I’ve taken basic metalsmithing classes but I don’t have a torch and
am not setup for annealing in my studio.and everything I’ve read
about rolling mills indicates that metal should be annealed & pickled
before running it through the mill. I am wondering if it would be
safe to texture sheet sent directly from the manufacturer without
annealing it myself.OR. am I better off trying to find a source for
pre-textured sheet?
I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge and appreciate your
input!
I am trying to figure out if I should invest in an inexpensive
rolling mill to texture my own or just try to find a source for
pre-textured sheet (copper, brass, silver)?
You can find a good range of pattern sheet at David H. Fell Company
in sterling, and a small but very interesting selection of cast
relief-textured sheet at Reactive Metals (in sterling and shibuichi).
My money’s on using materials at hand (more time to use them
creatively), unless you are not satisfied with the selection, or you
want to create proprietary patterns.
David H. Fell has textured metal, although they have cut down
considerably on the number of textures available, and the metals they
are available on:
I bought a lot of it before I discovered the rolling mill and
etching and a number of other texturing techniques. Putting texture
on metal is just about my favorite thing to do.
Most suppliers offer sheet in dead soft and half hard, so rolling
through a mill isn’t a problem. It would be good for you to try
rolling both to see which will yield the finished hardness you need
for your projects.
Also, many suppliers also offer textured sheet. Cruise the catalogs
to see what’s available.
One problem with buying textured sheet metal is that the textures
are limited. On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind playing around with
David Fell’s “Japanese scallops” for a while:
You might find someone in your area with a studio who would be
willing to texture metal for you–that might be cheaper than buying
it commercially. But, before you decide, check out the recent “Living
without a torch” thread. You really can set yourself up for
annealing:
However, since you’re working with polymer clay, why not investigate
PMC? The possible textures are unlimited and, instead of a rolling
mill, you would buy a kiln that gives you pinpoint temperature
control. I find the way most polymer artists work–baking what is
essentially a toxic substance in a toaster over, when a few degrees
too much heat can force you to evacuate your home–a whole lot
scarier than what most metalsmiths do.
If you have access to inexpensive 26 gauge copper, brass or aluminum
sheet, you can pattern it by hand using various textures, and use a
rolling mill to transfer the pattern to sterling or gold. I’ve even
used very heavy gauge foil to do the job.
A junk hammer face can be filed, drilled, or “flexshafted”. When
sheet metal is hammered with this hammer, various textures can be
developed. It’s a more random texture but good for many uses. Also, a
hammer with a broad face can be used on top of things like screen. It
won’t give a big impression of the weave but is great overlapped. Low
tech can be good and oh yes, don’t use your good silversmithing
hammers for these projects.