For my first post, I thought I would share something that I recently made with the help of my friend Barbara. This was made for our mutual friend Irma who just celebrated her 50th Wedding Anniversary.
I love working in metal especially silver; this was made with sterling silver so it will be a bit more durable. I have not been brave enough to make something big in gold. I have made small earrings in gold and hope to work more, with gold, as I progress through my degree.
About the dish. This was formed in using a manual hydraulic press after the silver with first annealed and then run through the rolling mill to impress the texture/design. Then a pancake die (think cookie cutter) was used, again in the press to cut the silver to shape. The silver, at this point is work hardened so it was annealed again so the dish could be formed my placing the sheet on a thick piece of metal with the shape cut out of the center, this is called a silhouette die. Then using a rubber sheet shaped like the inside of the dish, the press is used to push down on the rubber and the sheet and the sheet bends into the space of the die and Voila the dish is made. Then the edges and back are polished.
The dish was given to Irma today and she was moved to tears that we would make her this.
I love working in metal especially silver; this was made with sterling silver so it will be a bit more durable. I have not been brave enough to make something big in gold. I have made small earrings in gold and hope to work more, with gold, as I progress through my degree.
About the dish. This was formed in using a manual hydraulic press after the silver with first annealed and then run through the rolling mill to impress the texture/design. Then a pancake die (think cookie cutter) was used, again in the press to cut the silver to shape. The silver, at this point is work hardened so it was annealed again so the dish could be formed my placing the sheet on a thick piece of metal with the shape cut out of the center, this is called a silhouette die. Then using a rubber sheet shaped like the inside of the dish, the press is used to push down on the rubber and the sheet and the sheet bends into the space of the die and Voila the dish is made. Then the edges and back are polished.
The dish was given to Irma today and she was moved to tears that we would make her this.
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