Quinn
08-18-2005, 09:35 AM
Can someone explain this metal process to me? I am confused.
oldminer
08-25-2005, 04:02 PM
An arrangement resembling a net or network;
Used as in: "the reticulation of a leaf". We all know how we see the veins present in the structure of a leaf, right?
lemel_man
09-08-2005, 02:49 AM
Can someone explain this metal process to me? I am confused.
The process is essentially quite simple, but, like most techniques used in jewellery, needs a bit of skill and practise.
The basic idea behind it is that you melt the metal just underneath the surface of the area you want to reticulate, then, when it solidifies, it shrinks and causes the surface to ripple, or reticulate. The secret is to melt the metal underneath the surface rather than the surface itself. You do this by ensuring that the surface has a higher melting point than the stuff below.
Sterling silver, an alloy of silver and copper (mostly), has a lower melting point than pure silver. If you take a sheet of SS, heat it to red heat so that the surface becomes nicely oxidised and black, the black is actually copper oxide. If you now pickle it, the copper oxide is removed by the acid leaving a thin surface of pure silver. You can repeat this a few times (max 4) to get a thicker surface if you want.
You now have a sheet where the surface of pure silver has a higher melting point than the silver/copper alloy below. Take a torch and carefully heat the sheet to red, then continue until the surface starts to wrinkle where the flame is. At this point, concentrate the flame and start moving it to spread the wrinkling. Its very easy to overdo it and burn a hole right through, but if this happens, don't stop, you can probably fix it later. Its not an exact science and impossible to make identical patterns or wrinkles on different sheets. But that's reticulation.