Thanks and Granulation

Dear Ron:

Thanks for your reply. The Maryland Institute, College of Art
Jewelry Center is a great place to learn and work. They were
written up in the August issue (I think it was August-definitely
this summer) of Lapidary Journal. The instructors and
atmosphere is incredible.

For the granulation, you heat the piece, with the granules glued
on, with a medium torch head (we were using #1 or #2 torch heads
with acetyline gas) and a low-pressure, very, very bushy soft
flame. You don’t want to force a lot of heat on the piece, but
really just pass the torch back and forth over the piece with
the furthest end of the flame just “kissing” the piece. You
need to watch closely and you will see a small flash at the base
of the granules, indicating that they have fused. If you
practice a few times, the flash gets easier to see. The split
second you see the flash, remove the flame. Especially with
fine silver, if you don’t get the flame out of there you will
slump the granules and even melt the piece.

I hope this helps.  Sorry about the small novel, part II.

Deb Lally
@dlally

For the granulation, you heat the piece, with the granules glued
on, with a medium torch head (we were using #1 or #2 torch heads
with acetyline gas) and a low-pressure, very, very bushy soft
flame. You don’t want to force a lot of heat on the piece, but
really just pass the torch back and forth over the piece with
the furthest end of the flame just “kissing” the piec

Hi Debra–Sounds much like the way I learned to fuse granules.
It helps to start out by slowly going around and around the whole
piece with the tip of the bushy flame, making a cone of heat
which helps to heat the whole piece evenly. Then a few passes
over the granules usually gets them to fuse. Sandra/ ElegantBee

For the granulation, you heat the piece, with the granules glued
on, with a medium torch head (we were using #1 or #2 torch heads
with acetyline gas) and a low-pressure, very, very bushy soft
flame. You don’t want to force a lot of heat on the piece, but
really just pass the torch back and forth over the piece with
the furthest end of the flame just “kissing” the piece.

Hi all,Did you know that you can actually cast “granulation”?
well, it is actually a little trick that works quite well. Make
your design out of sheet wax. Now open a capsule of “Contac” cold
medicine. Inside you will find beautiful and uniform sized
granules. These are then attached to the wax in whatever pattern
you like and cast.Voilla! Instant granulation look.

The granules will stay solid longer than it takes for the
investment to set. I do howver recommend to paint your design
with investment ever so gently and then invest the shell.

Have fun playing with this.
This bench trick was brought to you by
PLATINUM GUILED INTERNATIONAL USA
Jurgen J. Maerz
Manager of Technical Education, JA Certified Master Jeweler