Unpredictability of recycled metal

My Friday aim was to mage a second larger bowl out of the zinc coated brass from the spray backpack; and to make some fold formed leaves with inspirational words inside.

As you can see from the photo below for some reason the silver plated brass I was using for the leaves just did not take to being annealed and worked.  The metal seemed to become brittle and just snapped. As i have indicated on earlier posts the metal that has been used over the years as the base for the silver plate varied greatly in quality and it is hard to tell the difference until it is being worked.

On the other hand the zinc plated brass worked a treat. This bowl is about 250-300mm wide and 50mm deep. It is quite thin metal so I line it with a second heavier bowl to give it strength. The end result is the soft rippled edges - almost like paper or the petals of poppies.

Barry Smith © Zinc plated brass bowl with spiral

I also like the great contrast and highlights I got using this metal - but alas the big pieces are used now. Smaller pieces can be used for small bowls and Bazola bits.

One of the larger bowls will be part of an outside font; and the other an inside font or offering bowl. Both will go into the March exhibition.