[Jewelry making - Article 00538] - Re: [Orchid] Alternative metals

[Len and Judy Bjorkman]

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>     Since you work a lot with brass, have you torch textured it? and
>     if so are there any shortcuts I don't know about.  It just seems to
>     take a hellacious amount of heat and an unbelievably long time
>     before any results show. 

>     Also, is there anything in particular you use to keep your
>     brass/mixed metal pieces polished?  Or do you let it tarnish or
>     give it a brushed finish? 

    Kay, I wish I could say I have torch-textured brass (I  assume you
    refer to reticulation).  I want to, and  it's on my list of many
    things to try!  However, I have been  collecting tips on how to  do
    it. There are some things from Ganoksin Bench Tips ("Reticulation -
    Ridges and Ripples," by Sharon Elaine Thompson and Hoover & Strong; a
    1997 article by Charles Lewton-Brain, "Reticulation Notes"-- these
    are both about silver, but have some useful tips) 

    From an earlier Orchid message (I don't have the  year, but the
    heading is "Nugold reticulation") Scott Thomson tells how he got
    great results reticulating Nugold (red brass). The older jewelry
    book by Chuck Evans, on page 94,  says that Nugold and nickel-silver
    reticulate very  well and require no preparation (he has other
    suggestions, too). In Tim McCreight's 1979 book, p. 65,  he says the 
    same thing and recommends pre-heating the underlying soldering pad. 
    Both suggest using an oxy-acetylene torch. Since both of these base
    metals melt  at higher temperatures than does sterling, it  does
    require a lot of  heat. I'd suggest looking in the Orchid Archives
    for more on reticulation. 

    As for polishing, I feel like a broken record on this  subject, but
    for most  of  my mixed metal pieces I use Jax-Black or any patina
    solution for base metal which contains selenious acid. I rub off the 
    excess black with a pumice slurry and one of those leather fingers. 
    It  leaves the recessed areas  with  nice  shadows and then the
    jewelry piece needs only the occasional rub with something like a
    Sunshine cloth. This process also prevents rings and bracelets from
    leaving those green  areas on your skin (or,  at least,  on  my
    skin!). When I  don't patina my jewelry, I use a quick dip  in
    Tarn-X, rinse, and dry, followed by a brisk rub with a Sunshine (or
    other silver  polishing) cloth, if  necessary.  For a matte finish, I
    tumble the jewelry in abrasive  ceramic  or plastic  media.    

Hope this helps! 
Thanks to  Trevor for his remarks, too!

Peace,
Judy Bjorkman

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