Foldforming by Charles Lewton-Brain

Author:Charles Lewton-Brain [Lewton-Brain, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Art, metal, metalsmithing
ISBN: 9781929565559
Publisher: Brynmorgen Press
Published: 2013-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

1. Hold the metal securely against a crisp metal edge; in this case, an anvil. Deliever a few solid blows directly against the corner.

2. With a little practice, you will be able to create crisp lines exactly where you want them.

3. Anneal then fold the metal with your fingers. The point of scoring is to avoid the need for forming tools that will mar the surface.

4. The finished folded form.

Wire Scoring

In some ways in this book we are going back in time in the development of scoring and bending as an approach to foldforming— that is, we are traveling from the easiest and most recent method of scoring to the older, and more time consuming methods. Wire-scoring was a late night discovery. I usually use 18 gauge (1.2mm) soft iron binding wire (tie wire) for this, but brass and nickel silver wire also work well. All fairly stiff wires, and different diameters can be used to make different depths of groove. 20 gauge (1mm) wire can make a sharp crisp groove, in, say 24 gauge (0.5mm) metal. I find round wire works well because it doesn’t need to be positioned perfectly which is the case with triangular wire. Straight lines and curves are equally simple and give great form giving options.

One method is to tape the wire onto the metal on an anvil surface and then planish it in through the tape. Another approach is to hold (or tape) the wire onto the sheet metal and use a rolling mill to press it in, which makes a very even groove. It is a good idea to test the pressure of the mill with a piece of the scrap sheet metal the same thickness to set the correct depth. If the gap between rollers is too small, the wire can cut the metal. Whichever method you use, when the groove is made, peel the tape and wire off, anneal the metal, and bend it. Because metal is displaced rather than removed, wire-scored pieces are often quite stable and may not need soldering to reinforce the score. An interesting side effect of rolling a round wire into soft metal sheet is that you can make half-round wire in a pinch.

Dee Fontans, my spouse, was teaching jewelrymaking to Inuit artists in the High Arctic at a small town called Gjoa Haven, hundreds of kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. There, in a good year, one ship with supplies would arrive and in a bad year, none. She was trying to teach methods that were as low tech as possible so the people would not be dependant on supplies later. She adapted this approach of wire scoring to the situation. The Inuit could all draw well, and she had them trace their drawings in different thicknesses of binding wire, then tape the wire drawing onto the surface of the metal and hammer it in. This resulted in exceptional “chased” line work—a great way to get patterns into the metal. There was one time when she was hoarding the very last roll of masking tape in town for her students.

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