Heating Test for Colour Distortion:
Upstairs in the makers lab, I heated a piece of mild steel for minutes, until it turned to yellow, then purple, then dark blue, and then light blue.
Video of heating process:
Photos of outcome:
Reflections:
- Heating up the steel was relatively easy, and created more of an even tone rather than intricate details, though this was still good as I could go back in on certain areas and re-heat them, causing them to develop a rippled detail effect.
- I had to cool it with water and quickly dry it, but this may still rust the metal as mild steel is very prone to rust.
Further Development:
- This could be done on a larger scale, if I rearranged Ann's workshop to make the area bigger, and if I leave it to cool naturally rather than cooling it with water.
- I need to research ways to set and polish the metal after working with it.
- I would also polish the metal beforehand somehow to get rid of the marks left on it from fingerprints and so on, as the metal is very oily in its raw form.
- I still want to try welding on the reverse side of a piece of mild steel to see how it differs in terms of pattern.
Further Research:
- This video above shows how if you heat the metal at 300 degrees for 60 minutes, it will turn out an iridescent blue/ purple colour, which is essentially what I have done here today.
No comments:
Post a Comment