Lesson 7: Finishing Techniques

Lesson 7: Finishing Techniques

Order of operations and steps of construction are very important in Hollow Construction. Think about your surfaces at the beginning when you are designing your piece. All of the finishing techniques you have learned can be applied to hollow forms, but some of them need to happen earlier in the process than they would otherwise.

Sanding:

• For flat surfaces, the sanding discs work very well. Remember to rotate the piece evenly.
• Check each grit before moving to the next one.
• For curved surfaces- wrap sandpaper around paint stirring sticks or your file to create a sanding “file”. This will also help keep the surfaces smooth and even. Make sure to cover as much of the surface as possible with each stroke.
• Sand in circles for a matte finish, in one direction for a shinier look.
• You can get a shiny look by moving up in sandpaper grit.

Polishing:

• Be careful polishing on the buffing machine. If you lose your grip and your piece goes flying it can dent.
• Smaller surfaces can be polished on the flexshaft.
• If you want to highlight the corners and edges, burnish them. This adds the touch of polish and highlights the form without being super shiny.

Textures:

Roll Printing:

• Roll print and texture on the sheet before cutting and forming. This way you can choose the best areas to use for your piece.
• When soldering, the solder will want to flow and fill in your texture.
• When possible, have the textured side face down when soldering so you are soldering on the back surface.
• Alternately, you can paint your texture with yellow ochre to help prevent solder from flowing there. Be careful that you don’t get any on your joints!
• You won’t be able to planish your forms, so spend extra time with the mallets.

Stamping and Hammer textures:

• For all over stamped textures, follow the roll printing steps.
• For selective stamping; planish, file and sand the forms. Then place back on the mandrel and stamp.
• For the top and bottom, mark where you will be soldering and then stamp.
• For hammer textures, planish, file and sand to 320. Then place the form back on the mandrel and hammer for texture. File and sand the tops after this.
• For the top and bottom, mark where you will be soldering and hammer texture just past that point.

Patinas:

• Patinas go on at the end, as usual. Make sure to seal patinas. Some patinas will make seams more noticeable- be careful of that!

Finishing tips:

• Do not use the tumbler! The steel shot can go into your air holes and then it’s stuck. If you have an open form or one with a lot of piercework, you can tumble.
• Make sure you have filed and sanded away all solder spill. If you are in doubt or having trouble telling, heat the piece gently. This will start to discolor the metal and the solder will show prominently.
• Be patient.
• Pull out your dust tray when filing and sanding- line it with a soft towel. The most common casualty in hollow construction pieces is dropping them, leading to dents.
• Think ahead. If the next step is going to make an area unreachable or really difficult to sand and finish well, do it now.