Lesson 9: Textures
We have a variety of tools to texture your metal. Try each of them to see what they do. Try several of these together, layering the effects. After you texture your metal, do not put your textured side on a metal surface and hammer. You will lose your texture that way. If you want to form your metal, put the texture side up and use a plastic/rawhide mallet. Alternately, form using the stump or sandbag.
Do all hammering on the stumps- it cuts down the noise!
Decorative Stamps and Chasing tools- Hit the end of the stamp with a rawhide or plastic mallet, rocking the stamp gently back and forth. The harder you hit the deeper the impression. If you hammer on a steel block, you will get a crisper impression than if you hammer directly onto the stump or wood.
Hammers- Each different hammer face shape will give you a different impression. The round ends are great for giving the “hammered look” that you see a lot of. The riveting or cross peen hammers are great for making lines.
Roll Printing metal:
• Anneal your metal.
• To roll print metal, you create a “sandwich” of metal, what you want to get the impression of, and metal.
• Copper will give the best impression as it is the softest metal.
• You will get impressions on both pieces of metal.
• You can use fabric, plastic or metal mesh, dried or plastic plant matter, cardboard or manila cut outs, paper stamps, etc. to create the impressions. Try different things!
• Make sure that your imprinting material is cut slightly smaller than the metal plates.
• Because the roll printing will stretch the metal, do all cutting and piercing afterwards.
• The tighter the rollers, the deeper the impression. You may want to have a helper when rolling through.
• If you get anything on the rollers clean them off IMMEDIATELY with a damp paper towel. Then roll a dry paper towel through to make sure the rollers are completely dry. Then put a small amount of oil on a paper towel and give the rollers a light coat of oil to protect them against rust.
