Reticulated silver

One

One

Banned
I'm using some of this on a knife project I'm working on...

Here’s a good overview of the reticulation process:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/ajm-reticulation.htm

They refer to the prep as “depletion gilding”, … but it is also called “depletion silvering”.

I used to do some reticulation with a super hot oxygen/acetylene torch and a pencil flame, which would give some wild looking textures in deep relief, but it’s hard to get a large piece nice and even, and without any holes burnt through it that way.

I started with a silver dollar and rolled it out. I figured I’d just keep rolling until it was big enough for the shape I needed (barely big enough), which came out to about 22-24 gage. Thin like that usually gives more relief and a better pattern. As I rolled it down, every time I annealed it I pickled it as well, which gets a good jump on the depletion silvering. After that, I repeated the depletion silvering a half dozen or so more times to get it nice and even. It’s better to overkill that part than under kill. I’m using my Map gas torch for the heat source,… same torch I use for silver brazing and fabricating. It has a nice bushy flame.

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Tai - that is a really cool process. Thanks for showing and linking to the description.
Question - isn't MAP gas getting harder to find (I thought MAP was not being refined much if any...).

Don't know where I read that, though. I love to see the stuff you do with nonferrous metals, too.

kc
 
Kevin, I haven’t heard that about MAP. I get it at Ace Hardware and Home Depot.

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Tai - I am pretty sure (wikipedia confirms this, so it must be right...) that real MAP gas hasn't been produced in North American and maybe nowhere since 2008. There was even a recall of some type. The stuff that is now sold as MAP is a different formula from the original. I should have known that corporations wouldn't risk losing money by being honest and saying, "hey, we don't know about letting everyone use MAP anymore, so instead we have another mixture we would like for you to try." Easier for them to just lie and say, "uh, yeah... MAP cylinders, they are on aisle 4." I bought an oxy acet rig instead of a MAP rig because of this. Now, I wish I had the MAP-like torch setup.

take care,
kc
 
He saw some similar pieces I made a long time ago... not exactly the same though.

To fit the reticulated pieces over the wood core, first I make a paper template to get the shape needed.

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I bend a wire around the wood core, about the same thickness as the reticulated piece and straighten it back out, to get the length. It’s better to have it come out a bit too long than too short, because you can always cut it open and saw/file a little out. I shoot for just right and hope not to have to do that though.

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… Cut it out, bend it around, silver braze the seam, slide it on the handle, use a wood hammer and the core itself as a mandrel to get the fit.

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No two pieces ever come out exactly the same. So, the way I arranged them was with the one with the highest relief at the back and the shallowest relief in the front which just seemed natural. I made them all a little bit extra tall so I can trim them down to get the spacing right for the half round silver bands. The silver bands will separate each piece, frame them in and (counter intuitively) help get the whole handle to look more unified and flow together. The banding will also help create a "rhythm" through the whole piece and help tie it together with the scabbard design wise.

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Wow, I missed this thread the other day, but I'm SO glad to have found it again.

Great descriptions Tai and wicked-awesome knife too....
 
Here’s a few quick shots (not the greatest) of the finished "knord". Sorry it took so long,… been preoccupied with non knife related business lately.

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Ray, no two pieces come out the same when done with a torch. The control is simply getting it to reticulate without burning holes through or melting it. The pattern is effected by the amount of heat and just a few degrees can make a big difference. The hotter it get's the wilder (more detail and higher relief) the pattern gets, but it gets riskier and riskier as the temp., goes up.

I've never tried it in a controlled furnace, but it might give better control over the patterns.
 
One said:
Ray, no two pieces come out the same when done with a torch. The control is simply getting it to reticulate without burning holes through or melting it. The pattern is effected by the amount of heat and just a few degrees can make a big difference. The hotter it get's the wilder (more detail and higher relief) the pattern gets, but it gets riskier and riskier as the temp., goes up.

I've never tried it in a controlled furnace, but it might give better control over the patterns.
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What heat does the silver start to melt? I've got an oven. I was thinking it was probably pretty risky getting it to reticulate.
 
Raymond Richard said:
What heat does the silver start to melt? I've got an oven. I was thinking it was probably pretty risky getting it to reticulate.
Click to expand...

Ray, fine silver melts at about 1,720°F according to the article. As copper is added for alloys like sterling and coin silver the melting point goes down. The more copper the lower the melting point. For sterling it's about 1,640°F and for coin silver it's even lower. Doing it in an oven would have the advantaged of heating the whole piece evenly and gauging the temps., but would present it's own problems. I think the main ones would be to determine the exact temp., for the type of pattern you were after and being able to see what's happening and get it out before it melts down. So, you would need a good window to see it, or do it with the door open. I would probably set the temp., on the high side, put it on some type of platform that could be taken out before it melts. To do it without seeing it and knowing the exact temps., for different effects would take a bit of experimentation.

The first pieces I made were with an oxygen acetylene torch with a pencil flame which gave a different effect than the Map gas torch. I’ve also noticed that the type of surface it sets on makes a difference in the patterns. I may try using a weed burner next time which would heat the whole piece more evenly and experiment with the type of surface it sets on, fire brick, Kao wool, kiln shelf, soldering block, pumice, charcoal block etc.

Aside from all that, the depletion gilding/silvering is really the most important part.
 
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