texturing bronze

[titaniumdoctor]

Anyone know a process to texture bronze? A wire wheel works well on titanium, but does not yeild the same effect on bronze. I've seen some very cool textured bronze bolsters out there, but not sure how it's done. Maybe by hand???
Thanks again

[Shakudo]

ball burr

[jwfilion]

Sand blast, light pressure?

[MCirelli]

3M makes finishing wheel that kinda look like starfish in differant grits and sizes. They put on a fine finish if you want to do by hand. If they are flat the new 3m micro papers are great. But I agree with J.W. sand blast would give the nicest look.
Mike C.

[jwfilion]

I should have explained my situation in greater detail. I decided to make an auto after seeing an old antique in a knife show that had wonderful cast bolsters, They were shaped like a rams' head, but I knew there was no way I could afford getting into casting bronze, as well as all the other stuff I was doing. So I decided to try roughing them out to shape with a dremel and carbide burrs I switched to a smaller tool, similar to the rotary tool that Gravermeister sells. This gave me better control. but the finish looked a little ghastly. As this was only an experiment, I decided to try "hiding" the imperfections by sand blasting. Worked like spit! After the bolsters aged somewhat, they looked a lot like the bolsters on the antique.

[Dave London]

Use liver of sulfur to obtain the aged bronze look, you can also obtain other colors or patinas with chemicals and acids. Check for art casting foundry or jeweler in your area you can make the orginial out of almost any material and the foundry / jeweler can provide a a casting either rough or finished. Or just the patina if you want to carve the bronze. Not a hobby for only one item IMHO nasty work.
Dave

[David Broadwell]

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Jeremy, I almost always cut my textures on bronze and other metals. I use a small rotary tool and carbide burrs. Different shapes on the burrs can give you different textures. For instance, ball burrs give me a wider concave texture cut, while inverted cones can give me a finer sharper texture.

On some metals such as heat treated blade steels I burnish the texture with a wire wheel in a rotary tool. Bronze is too soft and the wheel will smear the metal. You can soften the texture and take off the roughness with very find abrasive paper and/or steel wool.

If you have a little time you can simply let bronze age and take a natural patina. Liver of sulfur is good, but it must be warmed (or the part warmed) to work. It also stinks and the liguid solution has a very short shelf life. Rio Grande Jewelry Supply has other patinas that work well and last longer, and wives don't complain about the smell!

Hope this helps.

David

[titaniumdoctor]

Hey thanks to all. I figured it was done by hand, but I've seen some pretty intricate stuff done that led me to believe there was another process. Guess it's time to get out the pencil grinder and some burrs. Thanks again!!