repousse pitch

[gary]

Hi
I've just joined the forum and am also just starting out in jewellery making. I am a little confused about repousse pitch, I have a couple of recipes that I have found on the web one uses tar, which dose not seem to be available for love nor money in my area and the other uses resin; but does not indicate what kind of resin?
If someone could help me on this or direct me to an affordable ready made, i would most grateful...

thank you

[Wallace]

Hi Gary,

given this is cookies site, I will link there first. They offer this. I think it has pine residue rather than tar. Peter, James or Dennis may be along later and could clarify it up.
This is for Chasers Cement Product Code : 999 0104
Catalogue Page : 512
£13.30
exc. VAT
£15.96
inc. VAT


or there is of course the sticky stuff available at Walsh (pitch bowl also available)

http://www.hswalsh.com/itemdetail.aspx?i=TP57&a=P


or the whole lot at Bellore: http://www.bellore.co.uk/shop/hand_t...25470,%20.aspx

[gary]

Hi Wallace

Ok, I have not been searching catalogue with the right choice of words. Sorry to have asked such silly question, I'll make my order thats great.

Thanks Gary

[Dennis]

Hi Gary and welcome to the Forum. Wallace has directed you to what appears to be the only source of pitch specifically for jewellers. If you Google Pitch for chasing and repoussé you will note that more is available from USA, including the alternative resin based version. However freight would make it far too expensive to import.

When I did this on a course, I was presented with pitch in a shallow wooden box rather than the conventional bowl and it was gently softened and levelled for use with a large bushy flame. I guess that now a heat gun as used for stripping paint might be more appropriate as the pitch tends to burn if overheated.

I did not go on to do this at home as the smell of burning pitch would render your home uninhabitable, particularly so as the only really clean way to remove residues from the reverse of your piece is to burn it off. The alternative of a cloth and white spirit is exceedingly messy.

So now, what chasing I do is on a thick rubber pad, or the end grain of wood. An alternative recommended by James Miller is a block of lead. Hopefully he will join in and explain this.

Dennis.

[ps_bond]

I've got both bitumen pitch and resin-based pitch; the latter came from Fischer and is sold as "embossing cement". While the red pitch (a pine resin base, BTW) is much, much nicer to use from both a temperature and cleanup point of view, there are some areas where the roofing tar (!) is more convenient - it sticks to a piece rather better, albeit sometimes too well. I *think* that the red pitch is the same as sold by Allcraft, but I'm not 100% certain. The black is much softer at room temperature, so it's good for deeper repousse but you don't get as crisp definition with it.

I believe the Fischer cement is imported into the UK by another company, but the markup is prohibitive and you're better off ordering it yourself!

A heat gun is a much safer way of working with the stuff than a torch, BTW.

Cleanup for pitch needs (er - brain fade - is it white spirit or turps substitute?); cleanup for the red pitch needs meths.

[gary]

Thanks guys thats really informative. I didnt know about the smell, I'm working on a bench in my bedroom so I am very pleased you have warned me. I've got myself some good end grain chunks from my local woods so will look into getting a rubber mat from somewhere. Ill cut and paste the rest of your advice keep it for future reference.

glad I joined this forum thank you!

[ps_bond]

Apologies if I was unclear - Fischer sell 2 grades of the pine resin pitch, both black and red (soft and hard). The bitumen pitch is also black, of course...

Another possibility is matsu-yani, which is Japanese pitch - you won't find a supplier for it in Europe, but the recipe (courtesy of Ford Hallam on http://www.followingtheironbrush.org ) is

Pine Rosin Pitch mixture: Matsu-yani

1 Kg finely ground fire clay or Plaster of Paris
750 grams of Pine Rosin
50 ml of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of charcoal powder.

Can be a bit messy to make, don't breathe the fumes (nicer than bitumen but still not good for you) but you can tweak it to make it softer/harder. Charcoal's there for colour, BTW.