The final project for Intermediate Metals was finished this morning. I now have an urn for Boots' ashes.
The last time I posted I was working on the chasing & repousse of the paw print for the lid. I finished it and put the hinge on and then decided that the 20 gauge brass I used was too thin for my liking. I then raided my metals store and found 18g bronze which I decided would be better for the lid and base. I also found 18 gauge copper which would allow me a deeper etch on the body. Yes I did the chasing & repousse again... Since the copper was 12" x 6" I redid the calculations for the lid and base to make them the right size for the size of the copper (tube)
I also redid the art work for the body by removing some of the paw prints thus allowing me to make others larger. Once that was done I mirrored the art work so it read correctly when etched and I inverted the black and white so the text and paw prints would etch.
In class I set up the etching solution - ferric chloride, applied the masking to the copper and taped the back and edges. The timer was set for one hour and the etching began. At one hour, I decided I wanted slightly deeper etch so the time was reset for 30 minutes. When the copper came out of the solution I had to clean it and remove the tape. Then I neutralized and disposed of the ferric chloride.
Next up was forming the tube. Since the tube was longer than the diameter it was best to use a keyed seam, not a butt join. This required me to bevel each side of what would be the seam and then cut into one edge so I could bend every other section up or down to make the keys (see the picture from a book, below). The sheet was annealed and then put in the slip roller to form it to a "tube" of the approximate diameter. Then I wired it in place and prepared to solder the seam which required me to flux the inside and out; place the solder chips inside, on the seam, and have a long stick of solder at the ready just in case I needed more. TWO torches with BIG tips were lit; one flame, held by the teacher, was used on the outside and the torch I was holding was used to heat the inside to get it up to temperature and for the hard solder to melt and flow into the seam. It went perfectly, no holes or gaps and only a little solder to clean up on the outside. After cooling, I cut the binding wire off and pickled it to remove the oxides.
The next task was to add the hinge to new lid which I did last weekend. Monday I went into to use some equipment I did not have at home - large stakes to planish the seam, to thin the overlapped seam area and to get the cylinder round, again. Tuesday, I went in early to get started on soldering the base on the tube which went well but I had one pin hold so after cleaning I then soldered that closed.
To solder the top half of the lid on required some creative thinking since the top edge was angled. I removed the temporary pin holding the two haves together and using the tube, I traced the outside edge onto the underside of the lid. I cut some tab into the extra material to keep the lid in the right position while I then wired the top to the body. Using medium solder and just one torch with the biggest tip, I was able to get it soldered in place and there there were no gaps or pin holes. After cleaning it, again, it was time to solder the base on, also with medium solder which also went perfectly.
Yesterday (Friday) was the final tasks: trim the base, trim both side of the lid, to a preliminary polish, set the hinge pin, and final polish.
This morning I cleaned everything while wearing gloves to remove all dirt and oils. Then I put the urn on my hot plate and slowly heated it to get a heat patina - slighly gold at the bottom, then some blues, raspberry in the middle, and a gold-ish orange at the top. Once it cooled I was a able to use Jax Black to patina the paw prints and text black. After it drived I applied a good amount of wax and buffed it.
I turn it in, to be graded, on Thursday. There is a max of 125 points to be given on this project and I hope to get ALL of them but if I loose a few I can accept it. I know I will get an A in the class as I have 5 extra credit points from the stone setting assignment(s).
I also redid the art work for the body by removing some of the paw prints thus allowing me to make others larger. Once that was done I mirrored the art work so it read correctly when etched and I inverted the black and white so the text and paw prints would etch.
In class I set up the etching solution - ferric chloride, applied the masking to the copper and taped the back and edges. The timer was set for one hour and the etching began. At one hour, I decided I wanted slightly deeper etch so the time was reset for 30 minutes. When the copper came out of the solution I had to clean it and remove the tape. Then I neutralized and disposed of the ferric chloride.
Next up was forming the tube. Since the tube was longer than the diameter it was best to use a keyed seam, not a butt join. This required me to bevel each side of what would be the seam and then cut into one edge so I could bend every other section up or down to make the keys (see the picture from a book, below). The sheet was annealed and then put in the slip roller to form it to a "tube" of the approximate diameter. Then I wired it in place and prepared to solder the seam which required me to flux the inside and out; place the solder chips inside, on the seam, and have a long stick of solder at the ready just in case I needed more. TWO torches with BIG tips were lit; one flame, held by the teacher, was used on the outside and the torch I was holding was used to heat the inside to get it up to temperature and for the hard solder to melt and flow into the seam. It went perfectly, no holes or gaps and only a little solder to clean up on the outside. After cooling, I cut the binding wire off and pickled it to remove the oxides.
The next task was to add the hinge to new lid which I did last weekend. Monday I went into to use some equipment I did not have at home - large stakes to planish the seam, to thin the overlapped seam area and to get the cylinder round, again. Tuesday, I went in early to get started on soldering the base on the tube which went well but I had one pin hold so after cleaning I then soldered that closed.
To solder the top half of the lid on required some creative thinking since the top edge was angled. I removed the temporary pin holding the two haves together and using the tube, I traced the outside edge onto the underside of the lid. I cut some tab into the extra material to keep the lid in the right position while I then wired the top to the body. Using medium solder and just one torch with the biggest tip, I was able to get it soldered in place and there there were no gaps or pin holes. After cleaning it, again, it was time to solder the base on, also with medium solder which also went perfectly.
Yesterday (Friday) was the final tasks: trim the base, trim both side of the lid, to a preliminary polish, set the hinge pin, and final polish.
This morning I cleaned everything while wearing gloves to remove all dirt and oils. Then I put the urn on my hot plate and slowly heated it to get a heat patina - slighly gold at the bottom, then some blues, raspberry in the middle, and a gold-ish orange at the top. Once it cooled I was a able to use Jax Black to patina the paw prints and text black. After it drived I applied a good amount of wax and buffed it.
I turn it in, to be graded, on Thursday. There is a max of 125 points to be given on this project and I hope to get ALL of them but if I loose a few I can accept it. I know I will get an A in the class as I have 5 extra credit points from the stone setting assignment(s).
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