 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - Solid silver golf-formed and then flattened leaves |
I have a commission to make flat but fold-formed leaves out of solid silver (925). I needed to see how many leaves I could make from two .7mmX15cmX30cm sheets of the silver (see sheets below).
I managed to source the metal from a company in Australia that sells recycled silver sheets - which was good. The sheets were highly polish silver and therefore were covered on both sides with film. Because I was needed to produce hammered but otherwise unmarked leaves I tested to see if I could do the fold forming etc with the film on. No opportunity to anneal the metal. Good news - it was possible because I was using soft silver and worked gently.
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - Sheets of solid silver - film on both sides |
Mark up of the metal.
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - Careful mark up to get the most out of the sheets and a variety of sizes |
Some process photos.
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - Thirty-eight blanks marked for folding |
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - Folded blanks and marking up for cutting the half leaf shapes |
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - This is what 161grams of offcuts looks like - about 22% of the silver in all - needs to go back to the metal company to be recycled again. |
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - Hammered leaf forms |
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - unfolding the leaf forms and flattening them with a hard rubber hammer. |
The finished stash of leaves - I managed to make 38 leaves ranging in size from 7.5cm to 11cm.
 |
| ©2018 Barry Smith - Thirty-eight leaves - showing some fronts and some backs |
A full day in the studio-garage; and a good outcome.
They look lovely. What a process.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing the finished job. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteAmazing work B - the silver leaves looks magnificent!
ReplyDeleteoh they turned out a treat!
ReplyDeleteOh it must be a joy to hammer solid silver ...
ReplyDeleteOMG - P, R, F, MC and LA - I can't believe I missed responding to your valued visits and comments. Blogger has played havoc a bit but still!!!! P - I'm not sure where these are going but my contribution is good. R - I'm not a fan of new silver given I try always to recycled - but I agree the outcome was delicious. F - yes soft and cool. MC - different to my usual work. LA - the elasticity of the 925 silver is very seductive. All - go well. B
ReplyDelete