Chasing for metal is a technological process,used for making relief images, inscriptions, various souvenirs. It is one of the types of fine arts and crafts. Each product is handmade exclusively.
Artistic processing of metal by stampingknown since ancient times. Masters of the Middle Ages perfectly mastered the art of "knocking out" images on a thin sheet of soft metal, and their ability to create drawings with a hammer and a special drummer, called "coinage", was handed down from generation to generation.
Currently, the relief artimages, as before, are made by hand, so each work is unique and unique. The material is used differently, but it must necessarily be plastic and can be stretched. The best metals for chasing are sheet metals: brass, aluminum and copper.
Embossing of metal is made on the so-called substrate, whichfit into the workpiece. The substrate must be malleable and not amortized under the impact of the hammer. Masters usually use a cross-section of a hardwood tree - this can be a birch chock, an oak bark or a linden log. For embossing on extremely thin metal sheets, felt, a thick rubber plate or a bag of dense tarpaulin stuffed with river sand is used. The latter method is used if the area of the source material is greater than a square half-meter. For smaller products, professional chasers prefer a lead plate, which allows you to achieve the finest strokes and lines in the image.
Chasing (photo presented in the article) is in two versions:volumetric, with a rather high relief, and flat, in which the relief indices are insignificant. Each species has its own advantages. The relief image is more effective from the point of view of the plot aesthetics, as the approach to the 3D format occurs, and this is considered a positive factor. But flat mintage for metal can be executed in an openwork version, which is an indisputable sign of artistic style.
Lacy ornament in metal requires a highskill and is done by the method of through piercing. The workpiece is cut in two stages. At first, sharply sharpened coins mark out contours and lines, along which the punching of the pattern will follow, then directly cut through the material.
After the stripping of the product anddeburring, firing is carried out in order to level the material. This technological operation requires special care, because thin openwork partitions can melt.
The subspecies of planar coinage is contourA method that resembles an engraving with a low relief. Contour chasing can be convex or concave, depending on the plot of the picture. Typically, such items are used to decorate interiors, but they are also interesting as independent decorative.
Bulky items are more complex from the point of viewview of technology and, in addition, carry a constant threat of deformation. Nevertheless, relief embossing on metal is considered the most aesthetic and artistic. During the excavations in the southern European regions, archeologists have repeatedly found the finest articles of gold and silver, made by the method of embossed embossing. And although the ancient masters owned casting technologies, they preferred more elegant ways of creating ornaments.
To begin with, you can try to make a coinage onkitchen utensils. It can be a tin of coffee or tea. How to make chasing at home? Start better with a concave variety, that is, the pattern will be directed inwards. To do this, it is necessary to firmly fix the material, in this case, a coffee can, and draw a picture with a pencil. Subject can be any.
Then you need to make a tool for coining.At home, an ordinary building nail 100-150 millimeters long, which should be sharpened with a sharp end, is suitable for work. When the tip of the nail takes a round shape, it can already be called a kofarnikom - this is the main tool of the chaser. It remains to find a hammer weighing two hundred grams, and you can start working. Light strokes need to cause the contours of the pattern, and then beat out the dots. Stamping for metal with their own hands at home is a creative process that can become the beginning of a long-term passion. In this case, you need to be prepared for the fact that you will need a set of tools and special material.
The initial stage in the process of creating the productis drawing the picture on the workpiece. Artistic processing of metal is associated with the presence of such raw materials as metal plates made of tinplate or sheet copper, brass and aluminum. For each of them, you need to draw a drawing, which will be made chasing. Subjects of images are selected in advance, and further on them special sketches are prepared. Then the drawings are transferred by direct copying to the surface of the metal workpiece. After that, the surface is covered with a thin layer of lacquer, which protects the contours from abrasion.
Technology of coinage for metal used formaking coins. This automatic process is under state control and is designed to meet the country's monetary requirements. Complex machines continuously stamp metal coins of different denominations. For each denomination there is a form for coinage, which is an interchangeable, universal construction. Technicians, as required, change these forms in a matter of minutes, and the process of making coins continues.
For the master-chaser to work, you need a setspecial tools and devices. Professionals with many years of experience have a whole instrument base, numbering tens and hundreds of different devices. Beginners chasing the cost of several tools.
For the manufacture of a simple product, a set of four- or octagonal forged coins is required:
For full-fledged work, also locksmith's devices, various retainers, clamps, vices and weights are required. You can not do without wooden hammers (kiyanok).
Artistic products made by the method of coining are in demand in many areas of public life. They decorate the halls and offices. Particularly valuable specimens are in museums and art galleries.
