Simple Gold Bangle

What was made from the gold rod I was forging in the stone matrix;
Keeping it simple...
18k Gold bangle
This one is made-to-measure for a close fit, so is not circular, but ovoid like a wrist.

Stone Matrix

I found myself in need of making a round rod into a half-round section,

that is, flat on the bottom and round on top. So I thought Id try an ancient solution;

carve a matrix into a stone block. 

The stone is basalt, quite hard. I used a chisel and some files to carve a round groove.

These basalt blocks or 'bluestone pitchers'- a common sight in Melbourne where I live, I believe many of them were hewn by convicts ( and bear the broad arrow mark).

This made me remember a fountain here in Melbourne that was hewn from basalt by a prisoner, William Stanford. He was a horse-thief and highwayman, who discovered a talent for masonry while in the clink. Trust me, basalt is not the sculptor's friend! Good story, good story, but I digress....

I think this matrix technique was very common for the ancient smith, I have seen many examples, but couldn't find a good picture to show you.

(Usually this operation would be achieved by a passing the rod through a mechanical roller or by extruding the rod through a half-round draw-plate, but these methods tend to be very consistent in texture and form. (yawn))

So I put the rod in the groove and hammer it in...

the bottom is now flat, and the top is round, but beautifully stone-textured. ( albeit a little dusty!)

It was nice to work outside in the grass and yarrow for a change.

Namesake

You've heard of Goldenrod?

Here's the namesake: A Golden Rod.

Unexpected Visitor

My new apprentice?
I had to lure her out with a trail of bread...

Noo / Auld Ulno

Slightly different Ulno Bangle.

Made from gold and an 80-year-old bicycle spoke.

This older iron is blacker

and gooder.

The Shape of Procrastination

Black Coffee: check
Water: check
Hey this hexagonal tumbler fits beside my bench anvil...
Hmm, lets get some more symmetry; reorganise pliers from big to small...
("always be Knolling" as Tom Sachs would say)
Take a photo... post on blog...
OK, enough procrastination already!!

(|||||||||||||||||||||||||||More Combs|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||)

 Another comb, another permutation of the ingredients, this time; forged surface and chiselled dip.

Combing

Nearly there...
This comb has a forged dip on both sides- I did this after the tines were cut, so it was tricky to control the displacement of the metal without contorting the straight tines.
A different methodology would be wiser. ( forge first, then cut?)
But I'm feeling my way.
Possibly this form and texture could have been achieved more easily by casting techniques, but this thing is all made with saws and hammers folks.
Perhaps I'll make a silver version if anyone wants one.
I like this one, it feels really good in the hand.
It's asking you to take it on a long journey.

Combs being made.

Work in progress; Im trying to strike a pleasing contrast between regular/ irregular - playing off the neat tines against a 'roughly hewn' dip. (I used a scooped chisel for that bit.) Its not easy. Feeling my way...

Go Native

I never tire of making these- Native gold wedding ring. It is really like some hunk of lightning or blob of sunlight. Same material and method as the Goodness ring.

Rolled Gold and Granulation- pt II

Back to the rolled gold wire- Mitch over at Hickoree's Hard Goods asked to make it into a pretzel pendant. 

(...gotta get me a Hill-side tie...)

Yes, the gold is a weird colour, but dont worry about it. ( its just that marble dust I was talking about)

A Pretzel Needs Salt.

So Im going to put some tiny gold granules on there.

Granulation is an ancient technique, mastered by the Etruscans. Seems to be a bit controversial as to how it actually works- but this is how it was taught to me by Dr Robert Baines:

Making the granules:

Place gold filings on layers of charcoal dust.

Heat this up, and the bits will melt into spheres; granules.

The dust helps to keep them separate. Then wash off the dust.

It'll be tricky to attach these things to the pretzel, they're really tiny. Smaller than this: "."

Ancient method: 

-malachite powder (see pic above)

-organic glue 

(Theophilus Presbyter prescribes quince pips, I think? or gum tragacanth is also good. I used a Uhu stick! Seemed to work- felt a little irreverent tho')

-flux

You paste the granules on with a little of this mix.

Heat it up gently with a bushy flame. The glue burns off ( creating a local reducing atmosphere)

Then there's this critical moment when you get a little flash of the metal just before you melt everything.

(stop before that)

The tiny amount of copper in the malachite powder melts with the gold just where the spheres meet the substrate. A very discrete join.( Is it diffusion bonding? Or is it just fusion?)

 A weird pic, yes, the pretzel is on the right with some of the granules bonded nicely. See how they are still spherical? ( bit fuzzy, sorry) Good Job!

Ironically, I decided that I was being too technical- the granules were too good, too spherical- not 'baked-in-salty' enough- so I decided to melt them in a bit, undoing my fancy-pants granulation.

The pretzel is ≈ 6mm long.
See, I told you the black stuff would come right off.

Stone Rolled Wire

Awhile back I posted about the history of wire-making.
Well, I think its interesting.
Before steel tools were developed, smiths would roll a strip of gold between stones to make a 'snake',
a bit like you do with pastry or clay- between your hands.
Its difficult to do this with other metals Ive found, but gold is very malleable and ductile- so, once again, it proves to be a friend, willing to go on any adventure...

I recently completed an interesting commission- with a request for stone-rolled wire.
Here's the process. Some interesting ancient techniques used...

Here, Ive cast a long cylindrical ingot, then rolled it with a marble block on a marble slab.
(fairly frequent annealling was required) I think it took about 30 mins to roll this down to a wire.

Marble is a pretty soft stone, true, but Ive found that if the stone is too hard or too smooth, it just skids over the metal, instead of gripping it and making a nice rolling motion.
A little bit of marble dust is created, and gets rolled into the surface of the gold. Not sure what the consequences of that are- marble dust would be calcium carbonate (yes?) - so what will happen when I heat that? Black stuff? Im supposing it will just fall out, leaving a pitted surface, so much the better!
A dip into lemon juice would soon get rid of it...
In any case, the high purity gold wont be affected greatly- its non-reactive.

Dusty fingers..
The resulting wire has an interesting surface and irregular, slightly ovoid profile- not so 'perfect', but more dynamic and therefore mysterious.
It is a bit of a funny colour- dont worry- it'll come good.

Next time: what I made with the wire...

Natron Flux

Metalworking can be pretty tricky.
How did people even discover how to do it?
Mostly by accident or serendip, we might say.
What impresses me is that we solved many problems without knowing the complex science behind it.
(In keeping with that, I will try to keep this discussion very simple)

For example, you can join two pieces of metal together by introducing another metal that has a lower melting temperature.
But when you heat certain metals in a flame, they get black on the outside.
(a reaction with oxygen in the air)
This black stuff prevents the joining of the metals.
So someone discovered a way of solving this problem- and today we call it Flux. (latin for flow)
Flux is a substance that you paint on to the metal, and as you heat it, it melts and becomes like a glassy coating that creates an oxygen-free world on the surface of the metals. No more black stuff- and everything flows.

Today, goldsmiths tend to use Fluoroborate flux. It works well, but folks, the vapours are bad for you to breathe in. Be sure to read the safety data if you use it.

Before that (and still), most would use Borax flux (sodium borate) which is a naturally-occuring mineral.

It is sold as a sculptural cone-shape, which you can grind up and mix with water to make a paste.

It doesn't work as well as, and is harder to remove than Fluoroborate flux but its slightly less harmful, I gather. Still, read the safety data if you use it.

Seeking an alternative, I had read that the ancient Egyptians used something called "Natron" as a flux, so I thought Id look it up, wondering about its toxicity. Might it be a viable alternative? Not that I think ancient Egyptians did things better- I mean, they worshipped flies and reportedly, would treat wounds with faeces. But still, I'd like to know more about Natron.

Historical Natron (sodium carbonate decahydrate and sodium bicarbonate) is a naturally occurring mineral that can be gathered from dry lake beds. In fact, there is a lake in Tanzania, called Lake Natron. (There is a Lake Borax too...)

Apparently this pink lake is an important Flamingo breeding ground - lots of pink!
Natron was a very useful substance in the ancient world; used in soap, mummification preservatives and glass making and so on.
Turns out Sodium's elemental designation; Na, is related to the egyptian word natron.

Where can I get some? Lake Eyre perhaps?
Does it work as a flux? Are the vapours toxic?

Scrimshaw

Remembered this scrimshaw badge I made, back in 2003...
At the time, Alice was wearing this at some Brunswick St. café and the waiter said "hey, you should make these and like, sell them..."
Yes...yeah...yep...

Johnny

So... I got a press!

5 tons of pressure.

200 kgs of cast iron.

And 200kgs of thanks goes to my Dad, who helped me transport it, man I wished I had photographed that, it was crazy and Dad was wearing this red zizzou beanie- you know, for capers such as this one. 

(+ thanks also to kindly neighbour Adrian for extra muscle.)

Quite a biffer, I think I will paint it almost-black.

Potential names:

"Johnny" ( because its a John Heine, and I think this is my favourite so far)

"Stampy"

"Squishy"

"Biff"

"Trogdor"

"Menhir"

OR

"Brain Surgeon"

"The Butterfly"

"Spiderweb"

"Snowflake"

okay, yeah its turning into a dad-joke...

Im starting to get used to its hulking presence already, like the proverbial elephant in the room.

Now I've got to knuckle down and get some dies made. 

Further Adventures With Wholemeal Gold

More wedding rings being made from native gold nuggets, in the Goodness style. Here, the ring is unjoined. It starts off pretty rugged.

When you have a specified width, height, profile and circumference to meet, and you are achieving this just by hammering, you have to pay attention. Gold is very malleable, but its not like clay- once you've stretched it, you can't really shrink it back. It may come across as if Im just feeling my way through the whole task, but in fact, Im constantly checking and measuring with a vernier calliper. 

You will notice the spots... these are naturally occurring inclusions of other minerals, present in the unrefined nuggets. I recently described this to a groom-to-be as "like real vanilla seeds in an awesome ice-cream". Basically, you won't find this in a shop. Folks are really responding to this material and process- thanks for giving me the privilege of making them for you. I genuinely feel moved when I make these, its not an ordinary task for me. 

Ulno in The Storm

A pair of Ulno bangles for Ebony.

Gold and Iron.

There was a terrific/terrible storm here, so I went outside under the eave and photographed these in the strange light. Then the hail drummed out a fearful tattoo on the tin.

Westwoods

At last- westwood rims for my 1930's bike- these are an old style rim that are hard to get around here. They still make them in India and China, where the popular bikes are based on pre-war english roadsters. But if I go to a local bike shop and say- "got any westwood rims?" they say "west-what?!"
...or my favorite customer service phrase ever; "it costs money just talkin' about it".
Anyway- finally got some + dusty tires.
I think these rims should be black though, yeah... all the steel should be blackened... hmm...
And check out the fillet-brazed head stem.

DN at New Mociun Store

MOCIUN store is open!
Really like those vitrines and tables.
Caitlin has a great eye and makes tasty wearables, so I was really happy when she asked me to send jewelry for her new store...
Note: If you loved my Sunrise Ring, definitely head over to Mociun and grab one before they all get snaffled... there aren't many and I cant keep up!

MOCIUN

224 Wythe Ave

Brooklyn NY

Open Wed-Sun 12-8pm

Closed Mon Tues

Finito

Finished native gold rings, in the Proven Goodness style.
Quite simple- but its all about the texture, folks.
I make hammers with specially textured faces, then tap all over the surface, about one million times.