so, i used a rotary tool and a roughish bit to take off some of the patina and this is what they look like...
the rounded square shapes are totally uninspiring, but i do like these...
my dilemma is this...should i burn off the patina in the kiln and try the whole shebang again? i am equally of 2 minds...1. i don't even like gold-why bother? and 2. i'm no quitter.
4 comments:
Hi Holly,
Just run your torch over them back and forth a few times and it should clear off the patina. Then quench and wipe off any grease with alcohol and try again with the Aura 22. Keum boo with foil is a lot easier to do than keum boo with the Aura 22. You'll get it, I'm sure. I sometimes have to do it twice to get the effect I want with the liquid. If the heat and the pressure of the burnisher aren't right, the gold might not bond properly with the silver. It looks like a bond because the particles of gold are being burnished, but if the diffusion bond between the silver and gold has not occurred, then the gold particles are just being burnished as they sit on top of the silver. Whenever I say "diffusion bonding" I feel so much smarter than I am, ha ha!
Hey, 3 day weekend for you, right? Happy Columbus Day. xoxo
P.S. Have you ever used Pyrex rods for anything in your classes? If you have access to any of those you can make your own burnishers for keum boo. (by melting the ends and shaping them with a torch.) They don't overheat and stick, like a metal burnisher and an agate burnisher can. I have a pyrex burnisher that Jayne Redman gave me, but I've never tried making one of my own. (Maybe we could do that along with the rivets this winter?)
i WAS just thinking...."diffusion bond?!...DAMN, she's a lot smarter than i am!" thank you SO much for that information! it was so clear and EXACTLY what i needed! when are you going to offer classes? it's really about time for you to start thinking about it...
oh, yes...3 day weekend ahoy! going to see mom in cape cod....
xoxo
h
ps...i'm going to go looking for the email you sent with the info about when you're going to be in my neck of the woods so we can make some plans...
where can i GET some pyrex rods?
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