Finishing Pierced Pieces

[enigma]

I agree with Dennis too
Get the piercing as accurate as possible in the initial cut, this obviously takes practise.
Also bear i mind that the finer the blade the finer the cut.
I do use diamond burrs to clean up inside tight spaces if I need to though.
For marking the design on initially I usually draw it, scan it then print it ( reversed) and press on wiping the back with acetone, this gives you a pretty decent template to cut to.
You can apparently also spray with hairspray to stop it rubbing off but I haven't needed to try that yet.

[Goldsmith]

Hi Gaby, your photo is not that clear, if it is your first attempt at piercing then it is far too complicated for a beginner. I am a trade trained master goldsmith and piercing is one of my specialities. If you are interested just Google my full name of James Miller FIPG and you can see some of my past work. What I can see of your piercing shows that you are not piercing up to the marked out lines, so you are leaving a lot of metal that needs removal, which as others have said needs further piercing. Flat piercing is quite straight forward, first you need a steady bench peg, then choose the correct saw blade for the metal thickness. I am not sure how you pierce but for this type of work I hold my saw frame at right angle to my eye line and pierce across the bench peg, this means that you can see where the saw is going rather than where it has been. When you get good at piercing you only use needle files to remove any saw cuts and to sharpen up internal cut angles.

James

[Dennis]

For marking the design on initially I usually draw it, scan it then print it ( reversed) and press on wiping the back with acetone, this gives you a pretty decent template to cut to.
You can apparently also spray with hairspray to stop it rubbing off but I haven't needed to try that yet.

Hi Sarah, your method raises a few questions and I'm wondering whether I have got it right:

You reverse the (inkjet/laser?) image (how?) and mount it upside down using acetone as an adhesive, to render it translucent?

Regards, Dennis.

[ps_bond]

A laser print will do toner transfer quite happily with acetone (or nail varnish remover for that matter).

[enigma]

Hi Dennis

Yes just reverse the image in photoshop so that when its transferred onto the item its the right way round.
And yes, as Peter says this transfers the image onto the item.
I had a couple of hours tuition with an engraver 2 years ago who taught me this and have found it really useful for my work as even if you create the image by hand on paper you still want a finished version to transfer onto the metal for cutting/engraving etc.
Its really quick and simple too

[Goldsmith]

When I want to copy a design onto metal for piercing, I draw the design on tracing paper, polish the metal surface, then paint the metal surface with poster paint and let it dry, place a bit of carbon copying paper on the metal and then sellotape the tracing paper design on top of the carbon paper and metal surface. Then I use a hard 2h pencil to draw over the original design now attached to the metal surface. When complete I carefully remove the design and carbon paper, then finally I draw over the copied design on the metal with a steel scriber. When complet I wash off the paint and the design is clear on the polished metal surface. Now I engrave the outline of the design before drilling and piercing. This is for flat surfaces. If I am piercing a shaped surface I will first design and pierce a copper template which I shape to the metal surface and then use it to mark out the piercing.
Like I did on the gold overlays on this piece I made.



James

[Dennis]

Thank you. Would the trasferred toner be strong enough to act as a resist for etching? The ironing on is the tricky part. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

I would suspect not - it is rarely a complete transfer and I don't think the adhesion would be all that good. Probably worth trying though.

[enigma]

Mine are always complete these days as I spend quite a bit of time in photoshop preparing them but I don't know about etching as I generally go over with stop out varnish for that, I suspect it may not work for anything deep but as Peter says its probably worth trying.
I do use it on wax too BTW although generally now carve the wax under the microscope so I can see it more clearly.
The trick is in getting a clear enough print in the first place hence photoshop to bolden and darken the lines you want and then getting the amount of acetone just right when you wipe it over the back- I also let it dry on as I find this gives a stronger print.

[ps_bond]

The trick is in getting a clear enough print in the first place hence photoshop to bolden and darken the lines you want and then getting the amount of acetone just right when you wipe it over the back- I also let it dry on as I find this gives a stronger print.

I don't think Photoshop would help my application - it's 0.3mm lines usually; they're printed at 100% black (under the printer driver too). I expect to have pin point gaps in lines like that. I burnish the back as well as allowing it to dry.