Meeting My Goal

Here's one of the copper bracelets I made today. Well, actually that particular one is not finished yet. There are four bracelets in all. Two are completely finished and the other two still need to have rivets put in them to overlap the ends and hold them in place.

When I arrived at Spanish Village this morning, I wasnt' sure I could meet my goal of making a bracelet and I had some doubts during the day as well. I have injured my back, so I didn't feel as enthusiastic as I would have liked. However, after I left the gym this morning, I went to a grocery store where I was able to finally find ammonia. I almost didn't spot it down on the very bottom shelf. But it was there. I also bought three large roasting pans, one to put the copper piece in while I neutralize it with ammonia, and another to put the piece in while I clean it with mineral spirits to get the asphaltum off. I guess the third pan was for . . . who knows. I'm sure I can use it for something. Actually, I thought I might be able to etch in it, but the directions on the bottle of ferric chloride say to use glass, plastic, or rubber. So I used the glass dish I had already.

But first, before I put it in the chloride, I needed to protect the back. When we buy zinc plates to use for etchings at school, the back is always covered with some oil based laquer paint. But the copper I have is scraps of roofing copper and so it's not protected. My first thought was to paint the back with the liquid asphaltum I had. But I had no brush; however, while I was looking for one, I found a roll of masking tape. It seems to me that I used that in the past to protect the back. So I decided to try it. And it worked just fine.

The copper plate is supposed to be turned drawing side down, unlike zinc, and supported on something so that it doesn't touch the bottom of the pan. I tried some plastic beads I have to hold the plate, but when I poured the entire bottle of ferric chloride into the dish, the plate was suspended above the level of the liquid. So I took some masking tape, wadded it into two little balls, and put it under the plate. I was concerned that whatever I used would cause part of the plate to not etch. But that didn't seem to be the case either. However, I still had a problem getting the liquid to cover the plate, so I took two glass pieces that I have and placed them in the chloride, thinking to displace some of the liquid. That worked, but I think I need to get another bottle so that there's plenty of coverage.

When I etched copper once before, we left it in the ferric chloride for two hours. However, it was at night, the weather was cool, and we left the dish outside. Since the weather is so warm right now, I checked the etch a number of times and finally removed the piece after one and a half hours. The etch is deep enough, but I'd like to try a really deep etch, too, at some point.

After I removed the plate from the chloride, neutralized it, cleaned it with mineral spirits and then soap and water, I took it to the Enamel Guild to use their shear to cut it. First I cut the plate in half lengthwise. But I realized that made a thicker bracelet than I wanted, so I cut each of those pieces in two.

I had thought I would have to anneal the copper to make it soft enough to bend. Unfortunately the person who was working in the Enamel Guild did not turn the kiln on because it's so hot. It was very hot in there. So I tried bending the copper around the bracelet mandrel that I have and that worked fine. The bracelets require some pounding to make them even, but they are fine.

The next thing was to drill the holes and put in the rivets. I tried using my cordless drill, but the battery ran out almost immediately. I asked a friend how long it would take to re-charge and he said overnight. But he suggested that I could use his drill press. It is really very useful. I enjoyed using it. So I drilled holes in two of the bracelets. The tube rivets drove me crazy, but finally I got all four of them set. I have some tendency to struggle with them, but I love them once they're in place. So the struggle is worth it for me, and I'm sure that the more of them I do, the easier it will be.

It took me about 12 hours in all from my trip to the grocery store to pounding in the last rivet. Of course, next time it won't take nearly so long. And I find that I'm very proud of my bracelets and remarkably empowered to go on with my metalsmithing, something I've been kind of putting off doing because it seemed too hard. It's not though. I love doing it.