Painting with Powdered Metals

Online

$385, plus $65 kit

2025 Dates Scheduled Soon

Discover the Art of Painting with Powdered Metals on Steel

Join us for this innovative two-day live online workshop where you’ll explore a brand new, groundbreaking metal fusing technique—Painting with Powdered Metals on Steel. Dive deep into this new approach and learn how to use powdered metals as  paint to create colorful hues and shades on steel surfaces. Experiment with a spectrum of colors, textures, and patterns, pushing the boundaries of traditional metalsmithing. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your metalwork and bring your creative visions to life. Enroll now and be among the first to master this exciting new technique!

What you'll learn:

  • Sourcing. All about powdered metals…where to buy them, the metals, alloys and formulas (pure powders, flakes, metal clay, etc. ) that are available in powder form and how to grind your own powders.
  • Effects. Understanding how the various powdered metals react when fused to steel.
  • Mixing. How to mix powdered metals “paint” to create your own individual palette of colors and textures.
  • Painting techniques. Painting powdered metals onto steel and fusing them to the surface. Heat and flow control. Troubleshooting.
  • Advanced fusion techniques. How to mix various powdered metals to create alloys both in the “paint” or during the fusion process.
  • Designing. Exploration of design possibilities. Let’s take it further.

DAY 1. Preparing powdered metals for painting

10 am-4:30 pm PST (includes one hour break)
  • Understanding the basics. Introduce/review the basics of working with steel
  • Fusing metals to steel. Introduce/review fusing gold and other metals to steel
  • Sourcing powdered metals. Powdered metals – where to buy and the different formulations
  • Creating powdered metals. Grinding powdered gold (why and how)
  • Understanding the differences. How the various powdered metals react when fused
  • Creating the "paint." Basic mixing, painting and fusing technique

Day 2. The Art of Painting with powdered metals

10 am-4:30 pm PST (includes one hour break)
  • Applying powdered metals "paint." Explore a range of different techniques for painting the metals:
    • Delineated
    • Overlapping
    • Layered
    • Alloyed (in the mix and on the surface)
  • Advanced fusion techniques. Torch control, order of operations and troubleshooting.
  • Creating textures. Rolled, hammered, chiseled, stamped
  • Applying patinas. Maximizing the contrast and appearance of powdered metals paint.
  • Sealing. Protecting the surface from rust and corrosion.

Skill Level:

Students should be comfortable using a torch and should possess basic metal working skills, such as sawing, filing and forming.

Kit:

$65 including shipping USPS flat rate envelope. For U.S. students, kits will be shipped approximately one week before the class start. For non-U.S. students the timing and shipping cost will be based on location and additional shipping costs will be billed separately. Note that kits shipped to California locations are subject to sales tax.
  • Mild steel sheets--3 5"x8" 20g
  • Powdered metals—10 grams each of copper, silver, white bronze, rose bronze, brilliant bronze and white brass flakes
  • Three small stainless steel spoons for mixing powdered metal “paints”
  • Sample of metal wax
  • Wool daubers

Student Provided Supplies:

  • Torch (dual gas or acetylene/air torch) with a fairly large torch tip (e.g., Smith Silversmith acetylene/air = #3; Smith Little Torch = #5)
  • Rust remover (vinegar, Evaporust, or Whink) (Grocery Store, Amazon)
  • Pumice-based soap (household cleanser is fine) (Grocery Store)
  • Skotchbrite mesh scrub pad (Grocery Store)
  • Paste flux  Note: any paste flux will work but brazing flux (see optional supplies below) is recommended.
  • Masking clay (Rio Grande) or yellow ochre (Amazon)
  • Pickle-any type will work but I have found sodium bisulfate (PhDown) to be effective (Amazon)
  • Separate pickle pot for ferrous metals
  • Hydrogen peroxide 3% solution (Drug Store)
  • Saw blades, 3/0 and 4/0 Note: Nano Blade (PepeTools) or Sierra saw blades (Contenti) recommended
  • Nitrile gloves (Drug Store)
  • 6 small plastic containers with lids for mixing powdered metal paints (Amazon)
  • Small brushes (cheap paint brushes) (Michaels)
  • Gun bluing (I like Oxpho Blue.) (Amazon, Brownells)
  • Steel wool (fine) (Drug Store, Grocery Store)
  • Spray bottle with water (Drug Store)
  • Your choice of clear Metal Wax from Sculpt Nouveau  OR Bowling Alley Wax from Amazon
Optional but helpful:
  • Brazing flux . Sta-silv (Amazon) or Handy Flux B-1 Rio Grande)
  • Gold wire. At least one inch of 14g round gold wire (any karat). You will use this to grind gold powder for fusing. While this is optional, you should be aware that nothing is more beautiful than fused gold powder.(Rio Grande)
  • Patinas. Blackened Steel Patina (Sculpt Nouveau), Japanese Brown (Sculpt Nouveau), solvent dyes ( thinner plus dyes in your choice of colors) (Sculpt Nouveau)

Basic Tools & Supplies

For supplies, materials and tools that you will need to provide for all classes, please refer to the basic list for tools and supplies needed for working with steel in the pdf below. As with the list of class-specific supplies (above), many of these are items that you may have on hand. Note that the sources shown are merely examples. Many different vendors can be sourced for these products.

Basic Tools and Supplies for Working with Steel »

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