niello part 2

[Jeff Mack]

Ok, tried my first experiment making niello. I'm not sure I got what I wanted. It ended up looking alot like pencil lead. Here is a bad pic of the neillo poured onto a steel slab: http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-...95/niello1.jpg

It had a faint rainbow effect on the surface taht didn't show up in the pic. The stuff was brittle enough to snap with my fingers, yet was tough to grind to small grains.

The recipe I used was 3-1-1-lots silver,copper,lead,sulfur in the same order.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Jeff

[J.Arthur Loose]

That looks like the stuff. Your descriptions- pencil lead, brittle, able to grind into small grains are all good signs. I'd grind some, mix it with paste flux, put it on something silver & heat it up!

[Roger Gregory]

I definitely want to see some of this in use. Great project.

Roger

[DiamondG Knives]

OK now Im really miffed! Im not familiar with this compound, but it sounds very neat! will the grains be ground then mixed with a paste flux, then melted in place? Creating a filled void with a silver type filling? Does anyone have photos that would show examples of this work?

Thanks

God Bless
Mike

[Shakudo]

there are many other things which can be used other than niello to darken the engraved areas.the process is kind of like mercury depletion guilding.no longer worth the health hazards involved in the processes.here is a link with several pictures of niello worked articles.

http://www.hillwoodmuseum.org/art_co...al/niello.html

[J.Arthur Loose]

Shakudo,

Do you mean that niello is too dangerous these days? Really, if you vent the fumes when making the niello and wear rubber gloves & sand with water (to avoid contact with the lead content,) you aren't doing anything riskier than smithing in general.

...and do you mean *mercury amalgam* gilding? That one can be dangerous, and should only be performed under laboratory conditions. It is possible to collect the mercury fumes with the right equipment... but there are easier ways to cover things in gold. *Depletion gilding* is actually very safe. Depletion gilding involves making an alloy with a low gold content and say, a high copper content and then using an acid that primarily attacks the copper. This can be done with jeweler's pickle... or even plain vinegar. (Say, how many people know that jeweler's pickle is called 'pickle,' because it was originally just, well, vinegar & salt?) ANYway...

Those are some nice pieces on that link you posted!

[Shakudo]

good point Jon,but how many people here actually know to sand niello wet and use rubber gloves.they do now,my point was there are other chemicals which can be used that are safer and will give simular results. i did mean mercury amalgam gilding which is still practiced in most 3rd world countries with little reguard as to who or what is downwind of the mercury.ignore the depletion comment,it was leftover from a cloisenee discussion.i guess years of exposure to heavy metals does cause some memory loss and who knows what else if i am still around in 20 years or so.

[J.Arthur Loose]

Ahh, the only other ways I can think of to make a visual equivalent to the black fusion inlaid alloy that is niello would involve epoxies, which are also pretty bad to come in contact with, either by touch or by fume.

And they would lack the Mystery that is Niello...

Phil Fike, who largely revived niello in American metalsmithing, mentioned in a workshop I attended that he had his blood tested for lead and it was basically normal. He had been making niello for most of his career at this point and tended to not even wear the rubber gloves while sanding/scraping. I think the worst part would be the lead fumes created during the initial melt, which are vented by necessity due to the burning sulphur and the resulting stink...

[Shakudo]

i am working on a couple of ideas with low temp polymers.which appear to be safe to use.now all i need is to finish orders,the second floor remodeling and a couple of misc. fun projects.will be in touch with info soon as availible,possibly with sample photos.