Contrasting Textures - Copper And Silver Earrings

One thing that has always caught my eye when I look at metalwork jewellery is contrast and layers. That difference in texture between patterned and smooth and also the depth added by layers and overlaying.

I recently tried etching sterling silver firstly using copper nitrate and a battery. It worked but the results were unpredictable. By that I mean some pieces etched well within an hour and the next batch were hardly touched after 4 hours. A bit frustrating and not reliable enough for someone who isn't the world's most patient soul! So I decided to try ferric nitrate which is a bit more "hardcore" than the previous method and one I'd been hoping to avoid.

The sterling silver etched well with the ferric nitrate. I used vinyl/plastic stickers you can find in craft stores and left it for about 2.5 hours. The stickers worked well and the etch was really clean and quite deep.

 These earrings were hard to photograph because of their shiny shiny nature but the etched design shows up well. I soldered the etched piece to a plain piece to highlight the contrast in pattern and smoothness.

A copper and silver combination. I'm starting to feel a bit more confident when I solder as I try different things and work out how to get over those little problems they don't tell you about in the jewellery books. Positioning a piece so it won't move when you solder on loops and earwires for example. Fellow jewellery makers also help a lot (thanks for the tips Tania!)

These were made using the silver I etched using the copper nitrate and battery method and a rubber stamp design. I added the wavy edged smooth silver at the bottom as a contrast. I really like that look so will no doubt do it again!

A pair of little sterling studs with etched and smooth silver.

Copper "shields" with etched silver. Getting to know how much solder to use to attach the silver pieces to the copper is a challenge - too much and it can spread over the copper and cause a lot of cleaning up work (ask me how I know that). 

Ah well, it's all part of the learning process as they say!

Etching Copper With Ferric Chloride

 I decided recently that etching is one of my favourite things to do with metal. I read about it online quite a while ago and immediately thought it looked cool but the thought of using an "acid" and having to find somewhere to store it (a perennial problem when you don't have a workroom) put me off. So instead I admired etched copper from afar. Until I got a bee in my bonnet about it again and bought Lexi Erikson's copper etching dvd.

Lexi Erikson is very good at explaining jewellery techniques and making them seem much more straightforward than they first appear. I already knew that ferric chloride was a salt and not an acid so wouldn't eat my flesh through to the bone if I accidently spilled some on my hand. The dvd made me feel much more comfortable about having a go so I ordered some ferric chloride from ebay and bought some stamps and StazOn ink from a local craft shop. My first attempt went ok but for some reason I left the copper to etch for an hour and a half without checking it at all. Don't ask me why I did that, I have no idea! The copper etched ok but a really deep etch that left it looking a bit chewed up and rough around the edges. Having learned my lesson I had another go and got much better results the second time.

These photos are from a recent etching session. Please note this isn't strictly a tutorial and I would recommend reading up on copper etching with ferric chloride in order to do it safely and learn what you can and can't tip down the drain!

Ferric Chloride in my glass etching dish, never to be used for cottage pie again!
I pour it back into the bottle when I've finished etching. It will eventually lose it's power and need to be replaced. When that happens I will need to ring the council and find out where to take the spent ferric chloride as it is classed as hazardous waste and cannot be tipped down the drain.

Some very cute Dovecraft mini letter stamps I found at The Range for 99p! They were available in other fonts too but I chose this one mainly for the heart (at the top next to the e). As you can see I don't do keeping things in order!

 Copper discs stamped with StazOn ink and the heart stamp. They're stuck to the packing tape ready for suspending in the ferric chloride. Before stamping the design I cleaned the copper with wire wool to remove any grease from my fingers.

Copper washers stamped and ready for etching.

The small copper discs suspended upside down in the solution. This allows the copper etched away to fall to the bottom of the dish. Giving the dish a wiggle or stirring the ferric chloride occasionally will help to loosen the particles of copper from the surface of the discs. I normally leave it for about 30 minutes before checking the etch. I use a piece of copper wire and gently scratch the design to feel how deep the etch is. At the moment it takes about 30-40 mins to get the depth of etch I like. As the ferric chloride becomes contaminated with copper particles the etching time will increase.

When the etch is deep enough I remove the tape from the glass dish and dunk the lot in a water and baking soda solution. Then I remove the copper pieces from the tape and clean under the tap with a toothbrush. You can clean the ink and mustard coloured residue off with wire wool then I like to pickle them to make sure everything is properly clean.
 I must admit I don't wear gloves to remove the tape from the glass dish as they stick to the tape and get annoying, but you may prefer to. I have got ferric chloride on my hands accidently and still have all my fingers but please remember chemicals need to be treated with respect.

A close-up of the etched discs, before and after cleaning.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with these larger pieces yet!

Below are some of the etched copper pieces turned into charms and earrings.

Copper studs

Etched copper washers with sodalite

Etched heart charms