Over the last few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with various textures and techniques to perfect my skills at anticlastic raising. This bracelet was done in sterling silver using traditional anticlastic raising techniques. I tried to pay particular attention to minimizing marring by the forming hammer, sanded using 400, 700, and 1000 grit sandpaper, then buffed to a mirror finish.
The next texture I tried was chasing. Chasing is a technique that is used to groove, furrow, channel , or indent utilizing the plasticity quality of metal. In this case, I used copper. Chasing is a relatively slow process, but with lots of practice can result in a continuous surface of metal essentially of the same thickness and texture. This is the exact opposite of the previous technique where you try to minimize marring.
This bracelet uses the same chasing technique, but instead of a chasing hammer, I fashioned a custom hammer by cutting groves into the face of a flat hammer (similar to a meat tenderizer), then fished off the bracelet by raising it.
The last application was to texturize the copper using a traditional ball-peen hammer.
For a great resource article on Anticlastic Raising by Michael Good, check out Jewelry Artist Magazine July 2007 AdornmentCraft
