Floating Granulation:
A
New Approach
To An Ancient Technique
In the ancient technique of granulation, tiny pieces of metal, usually spheres or granules, are attached to an object as a form of surface decoration.
The spheres are attached to the object with organic glue. The area is
then covered with a flux containing a metallic salt, usually copper.
As the piece is heated, this metal becomes an oxide. The carbon from the
glue unites with the oxygen of the oxide and is passed off as carbon dioxide.
This leaves a small amount of metal where the spheres touch each other
and where they touch the object being decorated.
At the proper temperature, a diffusion reaction is created and all the
areas that are in contact are bonded.
Too much heat and the spheres and the object melt. Too little heat and all or some of the spheres will fall off.
In this example of floating granulation, the spheres are not a surface decoration, but make up a part of the form of the object. Since there is no metal behind the granulation, light can pass between each sphere and they seem to float in their area of confinement.
Butterfly © Howard Thompson. All rights reserved.
