Sphere types - not quite uniform

I want to make a sphere type shape out of gold, but with a little=20
difference.

I could take a bit of wire, melt the ed and have a sphere. If I increased=
=20
the amount of matrial, I expect the sphere would start to flatten out =
under=20
it's own weight and gravity. So from the side it would look a bit =
flattened.

Now, how do I keep the same roundd effect, but looking from on top, it is=
=20
not circular?

I was thinking of taking a cuttlefish bone, carving an L-shape groove =
into=20
it, with the arms say 1/4 inch long. Then I melt the gold into it, and =
just=20
keep adding until the groove shape is mostly filled. I presume I could =
make=20
any simple shape and use the same approach.

When it's cooled, I just pickle & polish, and voila.

How far off am I?

Thanks
Michael

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 07:29:27 -0700 "Michael" wrote:

I want to make a sphere type shape out of gold, but with a little=20
difference.

I could take a bit of wire, melt the ed and have a sphere. If I =
increased=20
the amount of matrial, I expect the sphere would start to flatten out =
under=20
it's own weight and gravity. So from the side it would look a bit =
flattened.

Now, how do I keep the same roundd effect, but looking from on top, it =
is=20
not circular?

I was thinking of taking a cuttlefish bone, carving an L-shape groove =
into=20
it, with the arms say 1/4 inch long. Then I melt the gold into it, and =
just=20
keep adding until the groove shape is mostly filled. I presume I could =
make=20
any simple shape and use the same approach.

When it's cooled, I just pickle & polish, and voila.

How far off am I?

Thanks
Michael



You're pretty close. The shapes you get this way generally will not be =
so
smooth and uniform throughout, but will tend to have dips and wrinkles =
and other
small imperfections. So after pickling, you may need to do a little =
filing and
sanding first, before polishing, but in general, this works. It may work=
better
to use a Charcoal soldering block than cuttlefish bone. cuttlefish tends=
to
burn away somewhat unevenly, leaving it's characteristic "grain" markings=
on the
metal. Charcoal burns more slowly and evenly, I think. Don't forget a =
little
bit of melting flux, such as borax or boric acid, to help keep the metal =
clean
while you melt. Keeps it a bit smoother too.

If you want true small solid spheres, you can minimize that effect of the
bottoms of the grains flattening, by carving small hemispherical =
depressions in
the block, (with, say, a ball burr or the like), and melting the metal =
in that
depression.

Part of the uneven surface you get this way is from outgassing of the =
cuttlefish
or charcoal under heat. So for even better surfaces, use some insulating
material that does not burn at all. If you make your molds from poured, =
dried,
and maybe even heat cured casting investment plaster, it might work even =
better.
Might not be worth the trouble, though, for the small increase in =
uniformity.

Peter

Sounds like you're making shot for granulation. Perhaps a bit of
reading in that area will enlighten you. Oftentimes, techniques arcane
to one area of metalwork can be nudged into another. Gently, of course.

Hi Peter, Lane