Marriage of Metals Tutorial

Marriage is what brings us together today. Marriage... of metals! This project contains at least two different shades of awesome, and I'm going to let you know, in reasonable detail, how to achieve that awesomeness for yourself.

Awww, I went for the pink latex, sucka!

I started off by acid etching a small sheet of 18 gauge copper. Eighteen gauge is a little thicker than one millimetre, and you are not going to want to go any thinner than that for this project. You want the acid to burn off a significant amount of your metal, so we have to use the thicker stuff.

Here is a list of the things you'll need to gather:

• Ferric Chloride - this stuff stinks and it's fairly viscous. Keep everything clean and well ventilated. Ferric chloride is used to etch circuit boards, so you should be able to find it at an electronics supply store.
• glass container - mine is about the size of a bread pan
• packing tape
• paintbrush
• latex or nitrile gloves
• resist for etching - as you can see from the photograph, I used Staz-On ink with some rubber stamps, but you can use other things for a resist including permanent markers, press and peel paper, spray paint (spray it on and scratch through it with something sharp) or nail polish. 
• Baldwin's patina - this will patinate your copper without affecting the silver.
• 18 gauge copper sheet
• solder flux
• silver solder (I used hard solder, but any temper will do)
• solder tweezers and cross-locking tweezers
• torch
• soldering pad or brick
• mild acid in a crock pot for pickling (I used Sparex)
• a hand file (a flat bastard works! Hah!)
• a ring clamp
• emery papers in 600, 1000, and 1500 grit, or your choice of abrasive and polishing media
• your jeweller's saw with blades and a bench pin to saw your shape out, OR
• a disc cutter
• you might need some extra PPE, such as goggles, apron and respirator.

Gadgetzan Waterworks, LLC. Immortalized in metal.

I scrubbed my metal with some soap and a cloth. I applied my resist by simply stamping a design onto the metal with Staz-On ink. True to its name, it did, in fact, stay on quite well during the etching process. 

If you use this method, you may pooch a few tries, as the stamp really likes to slide around on the metal and make a blurry mess of things. You need a steady hand and a bit of luck to get it right. If you get a big icky mess, you can always wipe it off and try again. I had to try 3 or 4 times to get it to where I wanted it.

Purple, blue, and pink in the same outfit. I figured we'd need a photograph for proof that it happened.

I got ready to use the Ferric Chloride, so I put on some goggles, an apron and my trusty, stinky, pink latex gloves. 

I put a length of packing tape on the back of my metal and burnished it down so that the Ferric Chloride would not seep underneath. As you can see from the photograph, this length of tape is long, and I used it to suspend the metal with the etch side down into the chemical bath from the sides of the glass dish. 

I agitated the solution every few minutes by rocking the dish back and forth. Do this gently - no splashing!

It took about 30 minutes to get to the depth I wanted. I tested the depth every ten minutes by lifting the metal from the bath and brushing it gently with my paintbrush to see how it was coming along. Some of the ink lifted off the design in places, so go gently with that paintbrush.

My peacock tail looked like a passably good etch. It was time to marry those metals!

I used quite a lot of flux (I just sprayed it on.) I heated the whole piece of metal, and then began placing my paillions of solder in all the low points. I cut the solder paillions quite large for this project - about 1mm square. You can try stick feeding the solder, or using solder paste if you like. I'm not sure if there is any "best way" to do this part, you just need to get the solder all over the place in an even layer.

I heated the metal up until the solder flowed, quenched the metal in cool water, pickled, and repeated the process a few times until I felt the solder layer was evenly distributed in all the etched points.

The metal looked like this coming out of the pickle. As you can see from the next photo, I cut a little bit off the edges. I wasn't going to use that metal and I didn't want to have to file too much, because in this project, filing is a BIG DEAL and you're going to do a lot of it.

You need to file your metal evenly until the copper peeks back through. This is a touchy process. You want to stop the filing before you're totally done, because there is still going to be some sanding with emery paper that will remove even more of the metal. Be careful that you don't take off too much. 

A word to the wise: use a ring clamp to hold your metal when you file. 

 

After I sanded my metal with emery papers to a satiny brushed finish, I scribed a nice oval on my metal and cut it out with a jeweller's saw. You can use this method if you like, or you can punch your metal with a disc cutter. I've also given my metal piece a subtle dome. You can do this with a dapping block, a mushroom stake and a nylon mallet or a hydraulic press, or you can leave your metal flat.

Baldwin's Patina will give your copper a beautiful caramel brown colour without affecting the colour of the silver solder. I bought this patina from Rio Grande, and the instructions state that you should clean your metal, heat it (the heat from the hot water in your tap is great) and then apply the liquid with a swab or brush. I had to rinse and repeat a few times to get the following colour:

Do you see how I filed just a bit too much in the middle? SNAP.

The patina is mostly comprised of ammonia, so it's a bit stinky. But you are already in a well ventilated area for this entire project, right?

Hmmm, what kind of setting should I make? Stay tuned...

I hope you enjoyed learning about this technique. It's a bit chemically intense, but it's a fairly straightforward technique. If you are inspired to make your own marriage-of-metals piece of jewellery, please share your results with me!

Making it match - tips for the wearer and for the designer

You take care to make sure your shoes don't clash abominably with your clothing; you wouldn't wear purple pants with a red shirt - but so often I see people wearing earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, all in different (and incohesive) styles.

I wouldn't say it's imperative for jewellery to match up perfectly. It doesn't need to be a matching set to match. I've put together five tips for the jewellery aficionado to pull it all together, and another five tips for the jeweller on making matching pieces.


You're a devotee of lovely jewellery. Keep your style cohesive by following a few rules:

1. Choose the right colours. Of course they don't need to be perfect, but if you have an electric blue stone in your necklace, don't choose earrings or a bracelet with clashing colours.

2. Find the right balance. If you have earrings that are very elaborate and "loud" choose a bracelet or necklace that is simple. Maybe you have the kind of personality that can pull off a "loud" style in all of your jewellery pieces? Then you should choose a perfectly matching set.

3. Metals should match. Typically, it looks a bit off if you are wearing yellow gold rings and silver toned rings at the same time. You might not think anyone is noticing, but I can assure you that somebody is! That somebody is ME, and I'm silently judging you. Just kidding. But I'm serious about matching metals. Just do it.

4. Think about the clothes you're wearing. You like long, flowing skirts and you're into boho chic? That huge pair of gypsy hoops and 25 bracelets works with your outfit. Don't make the same mistake and wear the same jewellery with a business suit. Of course, that's an obvious example, and most fashion choices are much more subtle than that, but just take a second to ask yourself if your jewellery feels right with the clothes you have on.

5. Break the rules sometimes. Why not? Be an innovator. You might hit on something great.

You make jewellery. How can you put together a lovely matching set for a client or for yourself?

1. Use the same materials for all pieces. This is the easiest way to make it all come together. Use the same colour of gems, beads and metal.

2. Repeat the same techniques in all matching pieces. It's not absolutely imperative to do so, but it will certainly tie the jewellery together with a common style if the same techniques are utilized. I used filigree, granulation, and a dark patina on the earrings and necklaces above. Repetition of the same technique tells the wearer that the jewellery is a set (and pulls attention away from the fact that the paua in the earrings are far more blue than the cab in the necklace!

3. Keep notes, sketches, and photographs. You never know when you are going to be asked for something that matches something you sold ages ago. It's such a good resource to have a comprehensive record of your designs, anyway. I always refer back to my sketchbook to cannibalize old ideas, and I think I might totally forget about pieces I've sold if I didn't photograph everything!

4. Don't be lazy. So you have three identical components and you want to throw one on a chain, and the other two on earring hooks? I think you can do better!

5. Go ahead and break the rules. Like I've already mentioned, the stones in the necklace at the top don't quite match the earrings in the set. The bracelet above is executed in a different metal than the earrings. As long as you can get a sense of cohesion, I believe you've made a matching set. Just don't break rule #4.

It runs in my family

When my grandfather died, he didn't leave behind a lot of material goods. Notable to me were his lathe and several wooden rosaries. Hand turned wooden beads, put together with base metal wire or strung on a cotton cord. He was a jeweller of sorts, and I didn't know it. I thought I had nothing in common with him. I don't remember a single conversation between us - I only remember his disapproving looks and unsmiling face. When he died and this hobby that we both shared was revealed, I went to my parents' medicine cabinet where I'd stashed a small jewellery box that grampa had turned from the trunk of a young tree and painted, gifted to me one Christmas with a string of dollar store false pearl and gold tone beads. The ivory coloured paint still had a faint smell. I discarded the necklace and secreted the box away.

I started making jewellery the same way most young girls do - stringing beads, melting potato chip bags down into keychains, coiling pieces of plastic coloured electrical wire discarded by some SaskTel worker. Whatever I had on hand would do, and I still cherish the roots of that creative spirit in me, sending out feelers into the art world.

These small bracelets and keychains and neckaces were small beans compared to what my dad could do with a nickel, though. By some magical means, my dad was able to take a humble coin and hammer it into a simple ring. I remember asking him how it was done, but the answer seemed so esoteric - containing mystical machines and apparatus that I could only imagine. Metalwork was beyond the scope of my admittedly vast imagination at the time. My dad was handy with his tools - an auto body mechanic by trade, he is familiar with the way metals behave and concerned with the asthetic sense of an object, in tune with its lines and its symmetry. Why shouldn't this sense transfer to the objects which in daily life serve an exclusively decorative purpose; jewellery? My sister's grad ring was a handmade present from my dad, and I am the proud owner of a carved and polished sandstone pendant from his imagination and hands.

Last week I showed my dad some rings that I had been working on, and he inspected the workmanship and said, "well, you sure put my little nickel rings to shame, didn't you?" I remembered those days when making a nickel ring was just a fantasy, solely my dad's arcane intellectual property. I think back on the time I spent in art school learning to smith, and I wish I could have enjoyed those classes alongside my dad and grandfather.

I am always hungry for new techniques, skills and materials that will round out my artistry. Metalwork is, by far, my favourite and most rewarding technique, but I venture into woodwork, like my grandfather, and simple stone carving, like my dad. I don't have to look far for inspiration. It's in my blood.

****jewellery by Gracebourne. Click the photo to view the listing on etsy****