|
|
Forging precious metals
|
|
Forging precious metals is no other thing than beating on it with a hammer. Suitable for forging are the metals finegold, finesilver, platinum, 14 carat and 18 carat yellowgold and sterlingsilver. Precious metals get forged cold, but they have to be annealed before being forged. |
|
< Exercise 1 Flatforging Take a small piece of silver or gold and put it on a flat piece of iron (or an anvil). Use a 500 g hammer to beat(smite) on it. When it became thinner and flater you stop. Then anneal it again, dip it into water and dry it again. Then you can start to forge again. Repeat this four or five times. The easiest metals to forge are finegold and finesilver. |
|
< Exercise 2 Formforging Take a piece of sterlingsilver (a sheet of about 1mm thickness) and forge it with a bullethammer. For the base use a curved piece of hardwood or a wooden ball). After having annealed it again, put in in water and dry it. Then you can forge it again. |
|
Here you can see a woodball clamped in a vise.
Hold the silver sheet over it.
Then forge a curved form in the silver with a bullethammer.
|
|
< Exercise 3 Hammer beating structure (hammer blow) Take a small piece of silver or goldsheet, about 0,8 mm thickness, and put it on a flat piece of iron. (You can also take flat wood for your base.) Beat on the whole surface with the bullethammer. Then you have to anneal it. Than you put the worked side of the metal on wood, and beat on the other side with a plastic hammer. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times until the surface seems to be evenly. Every time you annealed the metal, you have to put in water and dry it afterwards. |
|
|
|