Granulated Dome with Repoussé Bail
BY WHITNEY ABRAMS
Advanced metalsmithing project

Part II of II: Applying the granules, making the bail and finishing the piece

Start at Part I of this Project

A distinction of granulated jewelry is that connections are fused instead of soldered. Fusing involves raising the temperature of both the back sheet and the granules to the point at which they melt just enough so that they will adhere permanently to one another. This is a very delicate operation. If the correct temperature is not reached, the items to be fused will not hold properly, necessitating the reheating of the whole piece, in order to replace them. If the temperature gets too high too fast, meltdown can occur, which is irreversible. Therefore, lots of patience is needed and the piece needs to be brought to the appropriate temperature very slowly. Fusing occurs at a higher temperature than soldering -- it will undo any solders you have done previously on the piece. (from Granulated Silver Earrings Workshop, Oct. 98, Lapidary Journal)

Photo by Lee Dillon

For information on supplies, please see the Annual Buyers' Directory.
Always ask for the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for any materials you buy, which will give you reactivity, health hazard, and safe handling data.

STEP 1: Preparing the dome for granulation.
Repeat the steps for enriching the dome (Part I, Step 4) and it will be ready to apply the granules.

STEP 2: Applying the granules.
Clean your work surface, and spread out a paper towel to work on. Mix a fresh batch of glue (Part I, Step 5). Fill a small Pyrex dish with fresh water. Set the “enriched” dome on a clean, cool ceramic tile. Set some of your granules out in a small, shallow dish.

Apply granules with the sable brush. (The larger the granule, the more difficult it will be to pick up with the brush.) Dip the brush into the glue, then into the granules and transfer them to the dome. Spread the granules with the brush, adding fresh water, not glue, if need be. The key to keeping your pattern from distorting during drying is not to use too much glue! (It is recommended that you wear your magnifying visor for this process.)

Build your design from the base wire up. Apply the granules in a circular motion, row by row or element by element, around the dome. This allows the pattern to dry as you work, and allows you to see if the granules fit evenly into the pattern you are creating. The possibilities for placement are limitless.

Dip your brush into the glue and keep applying granules until you are satisfied with the aesthetic of your piece. Let your dome dry completely (30 minutes).

STEP 3: Fusing the granules.
Set the ceramic tile on top of the covered kiln to continue drying. If you attempt to heat your piece too rapidly, the glue will force the granules to pop off the dome!

After 5-10 minutes, use the spatula to move the dome to the lid of the kiln, removing the tile. When the glue turns brown, use a spatula to move the dome inside the kiln and place on a “hot-spot” of the element.

Cover the kiln and let the glue burn off. Uncover the kiln and let the dome become cherry red, then blackened.

Light your #1 torch tip and adjust for a light fluttery flame (you should not hear any “roar” from the torch). Some people find it easier to see the reaction of the metal with their bench lamp turned off. Heat the dome from the outside toward the inside. Rotate the flame in a circular motion around the dome. Keep the flame moving at all times and “brush” the heat over the piece with the last third of the flame. Gradually heat the dome to cherry red, burning the copper from the surface.

This heat is the point of fusion: look for the granules to be red-hot, then shiny and for the back sheet to shift slightly. Continue to brush the flame over the dome until this effect has taken place on all sides of the piece. Remove heat immediately when this is achieved!

Use the spatula to remove the dome from the kiln and cool. Check to see if all granules are fused in place by pushing on them with your fingernail or a wood stick. If some come off, reglue and repeat steps from the drying process. Recheck the dome, when all the granules are fused, pickle and rinse the dome.

STEP 4: Attaching to the back sheet.

Make sure the dome is level on the bottom and sanded to the bottom of the wire at the base. Scribe the shape of the dome onto a piece of 22K, 28-gauge sheet. Drill a hole with a small drill bit (#66) near the edge of the inner circle. Place the sheet and dome on the charcoal block and flux pieces with the paste flux. Using your soldering pick, transfer 18K hard solder onto the scribe line. Place the dome over the scribe line and solder to the backsheet.

Pickle, rinse and let dry. Saw around the dome to remove any excess sheet. File and sand to finish the sides and back of the dome. Do not sand, tumble or polish granules; they will become distorted.

STEP 5: Making the bail.
Cut 3, 1", pieces of 22K, 20-gauge wire. Anneal the pieces, and then roll them between 2 steel blocks, to straighten them. Anneal 2 of the pieces again and bend them on the ring mandrel, at the same curve. When they match on either side of the straight piece to form the outline of a leaf, pickle all three pieces, rinse in water and let dry.

Cut a piece of 22K, 28-gauge sheet to accommodate the leaf form and some salvage around the whole piece. Anneal and flatten the piece of sheet. Pickle, rinse and let dry. Enrich (Part I, Step 4) all pieces of metal. Bend 1 corner of the sheet up with small pliers; this will enable you to pick the sheet up easily while working with it.

Mix a fresh batch of the glue (Part I, Step 5). Using the sable brush, glue the 3 pieces of wire in place on the sheet. Allow the piece to dry for 15 minutes, then place on the clean, cool ceramic tile on top of the covered kiln. Use the same drying process as for the dome.

Fuse the wires to the sheet with the #1 torch tip and the same heating process as you did to fuse the granules and wire onto the dome (Part I, Step 9). After you see the wires fuse to the sheet, remove the piece and cool on the steel block.

Choose 3 punches to repoussé the bail: one that rides on top of the wires, one that fits inside the wires, and one that fits on the “petal” of the leaf but doesn’t touch the wires.

Use a thick piece of leather or a paper towel folded to a 3" square to support the piece. Place the bail on the leather so that the wires are facing down. Trace the top of the wires with your fingernail so you can see their placement through the sheet. Using the largest punch first, push along half the piece, within the wires, starting to move the metal downward. Repeat the process on the second half.

Graduate to the medium punch and repeat the steps. Anneal, pickle, rinse in water and let dry.

When you have gone through the process with all three punches, use the largest punch to make the lines on the form crisp. Using your shears, trim the excess metal away from the edges of the form. File and sand the edges. Anneal, pickle, rinse and let dry.

Using a variety of punches, gradually bend the bail (wires toward the punch) over the shaft of the punch. Choose a large punch to begin (15/16) and work smaller, annealing after every 2 bends.
Don’t rush this process; if you do, the bail will dent instead of bend.

When the ends of the bail meet, solder them together with 18K hard solder. Pickle, rinse, and let dry. From a piece of 22K scrap, make a ball on your charcoal block to attach the bail to the dome. This ball should be in proportion to the piece, 4-5mm. Anneal, rinse, and let dry.

STEP 6: Attaching the bail to the dome.
Solder the bail to the ball with 18K hard solder. Place dome, on-end, on the charcoal block, and support with tweezers or small pieces of charcoal. Line up the pattern so you are attaching the bail to a specific point in your pattern unless it’s a random pattern. Flux the point of contact.

Hold the bail and ball with the fire tweezers and flux the ball. Pick up your solder with the bottom of the ball and half-melt it onto the ball. Lower the ball onto the edge of the dome and apply heat to the dome until the solder and ball collapse onto the edge of the dome. Remove the heat. Allow the dome to cool. Pickle, rinse in water and baking soda, rinse in fresh water, and let dry. Be sure to extract any excess water from inside the dome. Make sure your point of contact for the bail is secure. Now you are ready to hang it from a chain!

Need to start from Step 1? Check out Part I of this Project

Whitney Abrams is a New York City based jeweler.