Inlaid Mysterons

...and other experiments with mixed metals...

(5/07)

For Donna.

Copper, with inlaid sterling.

Silver rings, soldered to a copper backing, forged and filed flat. The copper was etched in ferric chroride then heat-blackened.

I did a couple of similar combinations as test pieces, which were interesting but not entirely successful:

Brass wire, soldered to fine silver, forged & filed flat, then etched in ferric chloride. That leaves a pinkish silver chloride on the surface of the silver The chlorine is driven off by gentle heating, but the black survives.

Brass wire, soldered to fine silver then forged and filed flat. Etched in ferric chloride, which didn't do much, then heated to drive off the chloride from the silver and wrinkle the remaining silver-solder surface.

I wish I knew why the brass wire didn't blacken on this piece as it did on the one above.

I also had a first go at mokume, without great success:

This was copper and silver, 8 layers of 0.25mm, baked at 750C for 2 hours :

I managed some gentle pattern formation with a ball burr and light forging, but when I tried more aggressive pattern formation with punches the whole thing just delaminated.

I think it wasn't clean enough, and it certainly wasn't hot enough, and it probably wasn't sufficiently well clamped.