Jewelry Making Techniques In Adding More Colors To Metal

By: Susan Phelps Click author's name for more of his/her articles

This is reasonably fascinating for somebody that hasn't heard of methodologies in adding more colors to their metals and has just been doing beaded jewelry making. Basically, there are 3 common materials that can be bonded, glued, or dripped onto metals to add more colors.

The 1st one is epoxy ; this is a low-tech material that you may use in your work. This is an inexpensive medium which will produce countless results. Resin and hardener are the 2 parts of the epoxy mix. It's simply a matter of time for it to cure and become a hard, sturdy, super glossy plastic substance that may be drilled, glued and sanded, when they are mixed. This is the same as 50 coats of varnish and dries to a mirror finish. Here's where the color comes in, use acrylic paint, gouache, jelly powder, makeup powder, or anything else that you can think of.

Try playing with epoxy on some of your jewelry designs. You can try layering, drip it into etched or stamped depressions on sterling or copper sheets, and pour it into bezels ; you can try dipping things into it too. Vital reminder, you need to suspend any dipped work while waiting for it to cure. Epoxy is glue ; you don't want to glue it to anything. Epoxy cures fast, epoxies that are available in ironmongers sometimes comes in 5 and ten minute varieties, and others are fast too, so be sure of your working time, only mix up as much as you can use in the 5 or 10 mins. Don't mix it with anything you ever wish to use again, or simply mix them up on a bit of scrap paper with a stick. And, don't inhale or touch epoxy with your bare skin before it cures. Epoxy can be dangerous to your well-being, always consider proper precautions in working with this kind of chemical. Two-part epoxy is available from the ironmongers in tiny 2-sided syringes, and you will also find it in massive 2 bottle kits from craft and hobby suppliers.

The second material you may use to add colors to your metal is polymer clay. Polymer clay comes in a selection of colors. This is created from PVC ( polyvinyl chloride ) and goes under varied brand names, like Fimo, Sculpey, and Friendly Clay. When using metal and polymer clay, to make polymer clay jewelry, cut metal sheet parts to make mosaics, and then fill the pieces of sterling tubes with clay. You can try messing with liquid clays and colored powders that are available on the market. However, polymer clay is created subtley different when it comes to quality from each manufacturer. So when using it, particularly when baking it is important to first read the instructions. You also need to condition the polymer clay before using it. Exercise conditioning by kneading the clay with your hands, or running it through a dedicated blender just make sure to use dedicated tools.

The 3rd material you may use is the enamel. Enameling is not like the 2 materials we've discussed earlier. Enameling uses powdered glass or glass granules, and a torch and kiln. These are all required in making glass beads. Everybody knows that glass beads can be really colorful, so you are able to add this to put more colors in your metalwork.

In this process, the glass is melted in thin layers onto a metal form, frequently on copper. The layers of liquified glass are customarily colorful and do not fade or chip under normal conditions, but bending metal can cause cracks in enamel. Explore enameling with the use of powdered glass from enameling suppliers and a butane torch. Enameling providers also sell copper blanks and also try enameling sterling silver etchings and stamping. In working with these materials for these methodologies, always use caution. Read and understand first all of the instructions and cares to avoid accidents.

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