True damascus steel is made by a casting process utilizing very high carbon steel. The material is held at or near the temperature of fusion for an extended period of time. This causes the formation of large, high carbon dendrites in a matrix…
Preparation for writing this piece began, I guess, when I was six or seven years old. At that age, my whole world was confined to a small yet comfortable apartment in Brooklyn decorated in the material evidence of my parents’ modest means.…
This paper describes a process that combines techniques researched by others with a few well known facts about the properties of certain metals. This information was applied to a metal fabrication process specifically designed to extend…
This article, “Transparency Making for Photoetching”, is the first of two parts written by Allan Liu and Carol Webb. Check out the second part of this article series “Photoetching for the Studio Jeweler.”…
Martha Glowacki’s works are sculptural abstractions on the theme of landscape. They demonstrate her interest in the imposition of order on the randomness of nature and her discovery of pattern, both natural and manmade, in the landscape.…
Five thousand years of Korean goldsmithing was interrupted from 1913 to 1953 due to the Japanese invasion and the Korean War. In looking back, goldsmithing or metalsmithing programs in Korea’s colleges and universities formerly…
In photoetching a photo transparency defines the area of a metal plate to be etched. The transparency is the control unit, the program, that prescribes which parts of the light-sensitive resist will chemically harden, polymerize, to become…
The use of PnP paper-originally designed to create printed circuit boards-to meet the artistic needs of metalsmiths, jewelers, and enamelists. With results similar to photo etching, but without the expense and more complex procedures,…
This method of etching uses a prepared ferric chloride solution which also contains hydrochloric acid. This ‘etchant’ is not a pure acid, but etches copper and copper alloys (like brass and bronze). It will not work on silver. It is available…
I have found through may research on metal etching that there is a plethora of information out there. I hope by compiling it and offering it to you, you will be better able to choose the best option for your champleve needs. There are of course means…
Metalsmiths and enamelists have used ferric chloride for several years as a safer alternative to nitric acid for copper and brass etching purposes. Although it is generally thought of as etching with an acid, ferric chloride is actually a…
Etching uses chemical corrosion rather than mechanical force to selectively remove metal. Simply put, the idea is to cloak parts of an object with an acid-proof paint then submerge the piece in acid. The caustic liquid eats away at exposed…
Photoetching metal is simple AND FUN! Etching can be used for printing processes, as an artifact of art, or for roller print embellishment. It involves a mordant (acid) to etch an image onto metal and a resist to repel the mordant. A resist can…
This technique involves the transfer of an image to metal using a material that will “resist” the dissolving action of acid. Where you apply a resist the metal will be protected; everywhere else, the acid (ferric chloride) will etch the metal,…
Earring “Flamma”. Damascus: Demidov V. Artel “TAU”. Saint-Petersburg. Russia. Artel “TAU” creates jewelry designs, video and photography.