Materials, Kintsugi, #3 silver and gold

Metals that are ground coarser than the fine grind of keshifun are available in kintsugi. The graded, coarser metals go from #1–#15. #1 is the least coarse, #15 is the coarsest. In kintsugi the most common grades are from #1–#5. These metals require a completely different process to finish than the fine keshifun. The techniques are more akin to makie and require ‘filling’ in or hardening the coarser grains of metal onto the surface and then polishing the surface so it is smooth and shiny. It is easier to imagine sand paper to understand what is necessary. If you imagine #2000 grit sandpaper as a #1 grade and about #240 grit sandpaper as about a #15 grade you can understand how the metal gets coarser as the #1–#15 gets bigger. It isn’t possible to polish the graded metals as is. You need to fill in between the grains of metal with lacquer to first make a smooth surface and then come back in and then sand down both the lacquer and the tops of the metal to make a very tough and durable metal finish. A properly finished surface of graded metal is very durable. The photos show #3 silver in varying states of application, from applied and ‘hardened’,(the spaces between the grains of metal are filled in with lacquer) to finish polished. The coloring that appears in the unpolished samples is from the lacquer that is used to ‘harden’ the metal to the surface.

kintsugi silver number three 10 times magnified polished to final state
kintsugi silver number three 10 times magnified polished to final state

kintsugi silver number three 10 times magnified unpolished but ready to be polished.
kintsugi silver number three 10 times magnified unpolished but ready to be polished.
kintsugi silver number three unpolished and unmagnified
kintsugi silver number three unpolished and unmagnified
This is raw gold #3 grind.
This is raw gold #3 grind.
kintsugi silver number 3 polished to a finished shine.
kintsugi silver number 3 polished to a finished shine.

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