Textures with rolling mill

Hello! I am interested in creating textures with a rolling mill. I
have not had much sucess getting a very defined texture on my
silver. I annealed the sheet and used fabric for an impression, but
didn’t get very impressive results. Does anyone have any tips? What
materials work well for giving an interesting texture on sheet
silver?

Thanks,
Casey

Casey, I use all kinds of things from paper towels to wire mesh for
creating textrues with my rolling mill. I(f you are not getting a
well defined texture perhaps you are not applying enough pressure. I
sandwich the material being used between two pieces of silver, or
sometimes I use a piece of brass, or copper as a backing.

Alma

I am interested in creating textures with a rolling mill. I have
not had much sucess getting a very defined texture on my silver. 

1). Set your rollers for a dead pass on the metal you wish to
texture. A dead pass means the rollers are set just tight enough to
contact the metal without compressing it.

2). Fold a piece of paper towel into eighths. That is to say, fold
it, fold it again, and fold it a third time so you have eight layers
of paper towel.

3). Make a sandwich with the fabric on top, the paper towel on the
bottom and the silver in the middle.

4). Run the sandwich through the mill. The paper towel will provide
compression, smushing the silver up into the fabric and giving a
well-defined pattern.

Lee

Casey -

I find that cloth is too soft to impress well. I 've had better luck
with wallpaper and sandpaper (be sure to protect your rollers).

Debby

What materials work well for giving an interesting texture on
sheet silver? 

I went wild with this when I got my first mill. I dry a lot of
organics and roll them…they have to be dead dry: corn husks,
leaves, file folders with decorative punch-outs, the punch-outs from
the file folder, ferns, lace, ribbons, aida cloth for embroidery,
shoelaces, skeletonized leaves from the craft store, torn paper,
wrinkled paper, wire cable covers, faux horse hair braid for
stiffening hats (fabfic store), piece of old woven bamboo placemat,
dishtowel, plastic scrubber, plastic bag that fruit comes in, cicada
wings, sandpaper, hat veiling…to name a few.

I always roll with the transfer material between two sheets of metal
so I don’t get junk on my rollers.

Donna in VA

I annealed the sheet and used fabric for an impression, but didn't
get very impressive results. Does anyone have any tips? 

One tip to improve crispness is to put 3-4 layers of paper towel on
the other side of the metal from the material you are printing–
that is, sandwich your sheet of metal between the paper towel and
your texture source.

Fabric generally gives a pretty fuzzy impression, probably because
it IS fuzzy. Papers, especially handmade paper, may be more
satisfactory. The torn edges of glossy paper such as brochures are
printed on make a great-looking texture. Crumpled foil is good…
there are a million things. I like to experiment on small pieces of
copper and mark the results for reference. A current favorite of
mine is haircut leftovers. The hair prints deeply and crisply with
very little pressure.

So, just try lots of things!
Noel

Hi Casey, I hope you are using a power roller. Doing these types of
designs with a hand roller is less than the results you might be
looking for. What ever you put on top of your precious metals must be
harder than the metal itself. Go to an electronics supply house and
get different washers both flat and lock and if you have a special
position for the design then use a clear spray to hold the
impressionable material in place until it hits the rollers. the items
will move or will stretch during compression. Experimentation always
produces a different pattern. Good Luck and use extreme care with
your roller ( assuming it is electric) you will need a clear head to
do your work.

Stephen Wyrick

I love making textures with the rolling mill. Fabric may be too
subtle to use, though I’ve used paper towels and watercolor paper to
create soft texture. Lace works well as does roughly textured fabric
like burlap. Screens and wire also work well. My favorite texture is
done with sandpaper. Different grades of sandpaper create a
wonderful effect. Finer grades create a finish that looks
sandblasted. I like to use different types of paper punches on the
sandpaper before rolling it as well. For example–a 1/8 inch round
punch used randomly on the sandpaper then rolled creates the sparkly
sandblasted finish with raised smooth polka dots. It’s a fabulous
look! You can use patinas to darken the metal and then polish the
raised dots! Just start experimenting. Once you get started you will
get hooked. It’s fun!

Vicki Embrey
in Baltimore where it is 101 degrees!

1 Like
I find that cloth is too soft to impress well. I 've had better
luck with wallpaper and sandpaper (be sure to protect your
rollers).

I have had some excellent results with both fabric and paper. I have
found, however, that not all paper, nor all fabric, gives the results
one might hope for.

I reccomend keeping some scrap copper sheet handy near the rolling
mill, and testing texturing materials on the copper to get an idea of
what they will do.

Lee

Check Jinks McGrath’s “THE JEWELLER’S DIRECTORY OF DECORATIVE
FINISHES”. Excellent book ! I haven’t tried most of her examples yet,
but I want to try them all.

Brian Corll
Vassar Jewelers

Go to an upolstery fabric store, there are a number of heavy textured
fabrics available there, look for larger, thicker, cord supported
designs, the thicker the fabric and the more variations on the
thickness of the fabric that you can feel between your fingers, the
stronger the effect. Bridal laces, especially the re-embroidered kind
(cording added on top)also work well, metal window screen in all
sizes, various plastic screens and grids, Christmas ribbons (gold
mesh in various densities) also work.

I still don’t have a mill, but I love seeing and hearing about the
wonderful textures people create. I make mostly sterling cuff
bracelets that tend to be heavier and harder to bend. If I tried to
incorporate some rolled elements, I’m afraid that the banging and
torqueing involved in getting the bracelet into shape will damage or
destroy those tender textures. Has anyone had success doing serious
banging on rolled textures?

Thanks!
Allan Mason

Hi, there bracelet bender, I use a large block of polypropylene with
the concave curve machined into one side, I use a 2" diameter poly:
bar and a heavy hammer to form the bracelet.

Any amount of hammering will not damage the pattern, make sure the
silver is annealed.

Sam.

I don’t do cuff bracelets, usually, but I have done rings with
roller texture, and have done shell forms with roller texture also.
The main danger is cracking of the silver, particularly if it is thin
guage. Annealing helps.

Lee

Go to an upolstery fabric store, there are a number of heavy
textured fabrics available there, look for larger, thicker, cord
supported designs, the thicker the fabric and the more variations
on the thickness of the fabric that you can feel between your
fingers, the stronger the effect. 

I don’t mean to be contentious, but I have to disagree. It is my
experience that the opposite is true. Thick fabrics kinda spread
under pressure, and give an indefinate result. Multiple thicknesses
cause thinner areas to “drop out”. Thin fabrics such as net or tulle
or simple lace work great, because individual threads print well.
Gauze or cheesecloth make wonderful textures.

Again, the bottom line is experiment, experiment, experiment.

Noel

Has anyone had success doing serious banging on rolled textures?

I make cuff bracelets which have rolled texture but I use the Bonny
Doone synclastic forming set instead of banging. By the time the
forming is done the bracelets are work hardened just the right
amount and I never lose any of the pattern.

Donna in VA

Has anyone had success doing serious banging on rolled textures? 

Oh Boy, some serious restraint going on right now on my part…Ok,
from “Jewelry Concepts and Technology” by Oppi Untracht…“When
rolling metal, after 3 or 4 passes, depending on the metal, it
becomes work hardened because its crystal structure is compressed and
elongated in the rolling direction, a condition called grain flow. In
this type of fibrous structure, rolled metal strength is always
greatest along the grain flow direction, and weakest at right
angles.”

The book goes on in another paragraph to describe ways to roll in
one direction and then turn the sheet 90 degrees and roll in that
direction. Presumably, this would serve to keep the sheet equally
strong from either direction when one is going to do forging
(hammering, bending, shaping etc).

Although, this is not a definitive yes or no to your question (again
restraint), I hope it helps give an idea how to keep sheet as strong
and workable as it can be.

Thank you to the poster who suggested fine sandpaper for a matte,
sandblasted look. I can’t wait to try this.

Good Luck
Kim Starbard

p.s. If anyone has anything to add, would you please? I am taking in
any and all info that I can, thanks

If I tried to incorporate some rolled elements, I'm afraid that the
banging and torqueing involved in getting the bracelet into shape
will damage or destroy those tender textures. Has anyone had success
doing serious banging on rolled textures? 

I was wondering about that myself. Also the polishing, especially
where the sandpaper textures are concerned.

Janet Kofoed

If I tried to incorporate some rolled elements, I’m afraid that the
banging and torqueing involved in getting the bracelet into shape
will damage or destroy those tender textures. Has anyone had success
doing serious banging on rolled textures?

I was wondering about that myself. Also the polishing, especially
where the sandpaper textures are concerned.

Yep, a conventional polishing on a wheel will diminish the texture.
For that matter, a high polish will tend to diminish the appearance
of texture and contrast.

I either wire-brush my textured pieces, or give them a rub-down with
moistened baking soda. Does not injure the texture and gives a nice,
matte finish which shows off the whiteness of the silver nicely.

Lee

Has anyone had success doing serious banging on rolled textures?

I was wondering about that myself. Also the polishing, especially
where the sandpaper textures are concerned. 

Not to belabor the obvious, but if you want a sandblasted type
surface, you don’t polish it…

Noel