[Dick Bonham]

The following is a new tutorial.

[Dick Bonham]

Janel had asked about the techniques I use to create some of my pieces. I thought a tutorial on the process would be a help to someone working in metal. The finished piece shown here is a box medal created for the 2002 Fédération Internationale de la Médaille show in Paris. The piece is four inches in diameter and the two pieces are threaded so the medal can be opened. The first step is to do several drawings of the design. I then do a pen and ink rendering the exact size of the final medal. I also draw the different pieces that will be cut out and brazed together. I do a measured drawing and have the basic form turned at a local machine shop. My skills with machine tools are non existent.

If anyone is interested in having their work shown in some wonderful venues we would love to have new members join AMSA the American Medallic Sculpture Association. This association is for people who create medals. Medals no longer have to be something that looks like a coin with a portrait on one side. Japanese tsuba would be considered a medal by today’s standards. Pieces can be carved, cast, struck, fabricated and molded. They are basically a small sculpture that can be held in ones hand. A bass relief netsuke would be considered a medal. We have shows in many major museums and galleries worldwide. Check out the AMSA website. www.amsamedals.org

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[Dick Bonham]

The hummingbird is photocopied and the cutout pieces are spray glued onto pieces of copper and bronze. All of the different sections can then be cut out.

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[Dick Bonham]

Here you can see all of the various pieces that will be assembled into the hummingbird

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[Dick Bonham]

All of the pieces are brazed together. I use a paste brazing compound sold by Rio Grand that works great. The nice thing is the fact that when a section is brazed it will not move even if set at an angle unlike silver solders which will slide all over the place if you are not careful.

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[Jim Kelso]

The nice thing is the fact that when a section is brazed it will not move even if set at an angle unlike silver solders which will slide all over the place if you are not careful.[QUOTE]

Why is that Dick?

[Dick Bonham]

Jim,
The brazing paste seems to hold the piece in place when the flow temperature is reached. I have been able to braze as many as a dozen pieces together before changing to silver solder. Some of the "GI Joe" prototypes might have as many as a hundred parts asembled in layers. A sight on a machine gun alone might have a dozen tiny parts. I can braze them one at a time at the same temperature without anything moving. If I tried to do that with just hard silver solder they would be sliding all over the place. It is Rio Grande Brass Paste Solder part number 503053. I have posted a picture of a "GI Joe" prototype so you can see how complex the pieces are. The other side is also multi-layered.
Dick

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[Jim Kelso]

Thanks, Dick. And I wonder what fuel you are using? Very interesting thread.

[Dick Bonham]

I then set the piece in pitch so it can be worked from the front and rear to establish the proper form. The entire hummingbird could be created in this manner from a single flat piece of metal using many different shapes of chasing tools and chisels. Jim Kelso did a tutorial on creating a frog in this manner on the Knifemakers' Forum. The next piece I do will be done in that manner.

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[Dick Bonham]

After the proper form is achieved I carve the metal using a Foredom micro motor tool and dental burrs. There are a large number of different tools that can be used to create any texture imaginable. Lines are cut using a Magna Graver.

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[Dick Bonham]

The next step is to cut out the leaves and fabricate the branches from brass rod. The stems are brazed on and ripples are chased in using a lead block. I then cut out pieces to resemble insect damage.

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[Dick Bonham]

The negative area is cut out of the top of the box using a jeweler’s saw and all of the pieces are assembled for proper fit.

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[Dick Bonham]

All pieces are brazed together and more leaf damage is added with paste braze.

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[Dick Bonham]

This life size hummingbird on its nest is partially seen through the pierced areas and fully revealed when the medal is opened. The bird and nest in the inside were constructed in the same manner as its mate on the outside of the medal.

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[Dick Bonham]

A patina was applied to the medal using Jax solutions which create great browns to black colors on brass, bronze and copper. The Jax green solution works very well for the leaves. They also have a solution that deposits copper on steel and silver on copper alloys.
Japanese alloys, gold and fine silver can be used to get a greater variety of colors.

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[Dick Bonham]

This is the finished medal. The eyes have been added in black onyx. I wax my finished pieces with Renaissance micro-crystalline wax which protects them but dosen't change the color of the metal.

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[Dick Bonham]

Jim,
I use a "plumbers torch" with acetylene for most of my pieces.
Dick

[Jim Kelso]

Thanks Dick. That's a very interesting and clear sequence. I'm going to try that brazing paste. I also use the Renaissence wax and find it doesn't alter the rokusho patina.

[Janel]

What a remarkable presentation Dick. Thank you! It has helped me learn and to appreciate the complex series of processes you go through to complete such pieces.

Janel