Working with Metals in the Makers Lab

Leaning how to heat the metals and work with the tools in the Makers Lab. 

Firstly I rolled out the metal to be even thinner - more like a crisp packet, and so it was easier to work with.


I used gilding metal to work with, this needed to be heated until a cherry red before it can be shaped.

I curved the metal using a bench
press.

And used a hammer and a circular bowl shaped mould to work on the creases and curvy form.

Final Result

After annealing, moulding and re-annealing and moulding again, testing multiple ways of working within the workshop I found the most effective ways to get the desired look - this was through bending using the bench press, and to form the creases which resemble packaging, I used a hammer into a circular bowl mould, where the metal would crease into itself.

I used an acid to take most of the black off, and then used wire wool to polish until it was as shiny as the metal allowed. This worked brilliantly as a test and the curves and the shine was exactly what I had been looking for in all my previous experiments. 

However, I was really looking for something more silver (without the expense), and after being advised that using aluminium sheet metal may go beige when heated, I decided to try it anyway.

After annealing the aluminium sheet, it did not go beige, it kept its strong silver colour.











On the first attempt I got these marks within the metal caused by the tools used to shape it. This meant I needed to try using a 'sand bag' to shape the metal or put a piece of cloth in between the moulds when hammering.

Also, when I tried to polish the aluminium with wire wool, it completely scratched it causing it to dull the metal.









After this attempt, I tried again on another sheet of aluminium and rolled it out thinner again before using a cloth to lessen the impact of the metal. This eliminated the metal marks which would have caused unwanted imperfections.

To work around the polishing of the aluminium I used a metal polish which came in a tube as a paste by Autosol which was not as abrasive as the wire wool. This worked to polish the aluminium to the shininess that I needed. 

Final Aluminium & Copper pieces

Both of the pieces worked really well, however there are pros and cons to using either material. For example If I was to make a crisp packet sculpture using the aluminium I would not be able to join any sides together as aluminium does not solder. I could however, use copper or gilding metal, but this would go against my silver aesthetic style within my work. 

Development:

These pieces have really excited me about my developing practise and I can't wait to see where this goes. I really liked the way the pieces turned out on their own and I am considering doing lots of aluminium versions of these, sort of like mass production but each will inevitably be different in some way. 

If the funds are available, I would like to use real silver (depending if I can get the hardship fund) as real silver would work with the value aspect and the work wouldn't feel so imitated.

Research for purchasing materials:

• Good quality aluminium - no thicker than 0.7 mm, try Halfords or Edwards metals ltd or West Minster metals. 

• Autosol Metal polish