traditional way

[Mike Robinson]

Hi all,

there’s one spot left in my 3 day Master’s Class Workshop at Peter’s Valley Craft Centre, NJ. June 13 – 15.

we’ll be preparing silver-clad copper plates for the most part by hand.

I’ll be showing tips and tricks on managing the bromine, mercury and gilding as well.

I just joined and really don’t like to spend too much time on the computer so I may not be to active here.

best,

Mike Robinson

[jdanforth]

Any chance you could share with us your cladding process?

[Mike Robinson]

MY CLADDING PROCESS,
My plates are commercially made .999 fine silver diffusion bonded (clad) to copper.

The silver thickness is 0.001 clad to 0.019 copper for a total thickness of 0.020. By 19th century standards these would have a "20" hallmark. Twice as much silver as the more common "40" plate.

they come with a mill finish which I bring to a mirror finish by hand. The silver is half hard. Initial polishing removes about 1/3 of the silver. There’s still plenty left for several tries.

I sell plates to a few modern daguerreians.

Current Pricing. – Quarter Plate $45.00, 4 X 5 $55.00, Half-Plate $65.00.
My stock is delivered to me in 4.25 widths which is the widest material that can be supplied by my manufacturer so I’m not able to offer 5 X 7 or full plate sizes.

Mike

[jdanforth]

Fascinating, Mike. Thanks for sharing.

How does the cladding process work? Are the materials just squished together under high pressure until they’re merged?

edit: Oooh DIAGRAMS!!

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