The practice of embossing metal is one that has been practice for many years. Metal embossing is a technique for imprinting a design into metal sheets. To produce a raise appearance on the opposing side of the metal, pressure is applied with an embossing instrument or stylus. The positive imprint does indeed have a smooth texture that will glisten or can absorb pigment when the metal sheet is place on a rubber or foam pad. Tins, lanterns, windows, and doors can all be embellish with emboss metal sheets. Greeting cards and scrapbooks can be embellish with smaller items as well. There are not many tools needed to emboss metal at home, not even a metal embossing tape.
Hence, if you are someone who is interest in knowing a tri-and-true technique for metal embossing then continue reading the steps provide in this article below.
Supplies
- Tools for metal embossing: In case your aim is to advance from a novice job like this, look for ball, Teflon tools, as well as embossing wheels in your neighborhood market. But if you are doing this just as a hobby, an empty ballpoint pen will work perfectly well for tracing. In addition to this, if you happen to have clay sculpting tools, you can use them as well. Basically, you can be creative and use any tools lying around that you think might work, without having to worry about not having a metal embossing machine.
- Stumps of Paper.
- Foam sheet with embossing foil: For a simple project like this, a small piece works perfectly, but for larger projects, you might want a larger sheet. A stack of papers would also be an acceptable substitute.
Gather All the Materials
- Start out the metal embossing process by engraving an outline around the metal sheet, employing the embossing wheel from your supplies. You can use a ruler as a guide to emboss a straight edge.
- Once the stencil is in the desire location, secure it to the metal with tape, in order for it to not move. Consider this the ‘right’ side of your project.
- This procedure is carried out on a firm and smooth surface. The metal should be trace with the stencil’s outline.
- Do a complete turn-around. You would now be able to see the pattern of the hearts clearly.
- After this, the entire interior of the pattern should be rub with a paper stump.
Add Depth
- Observe the difference in definition. You will notice how the top right heart will now have a greater amount of depth.
- Repeat the process of rubbing the interior with a paper stump on all four hearts.
- You would notice that the thickness of the hearts cannot be any deeper than the depth of the template after turning it on to the right side. The following stage will allow us to modify that.
Remove the Stencil
- After removing the stencil, you can retrace the edges of the hearts with a ball tool to define them a bit more.
- But now, in order to provide depth, you are going to add a piece of foam in the process. The embossing will be further enhance by laying the foam sheet underneath the piece and rubbing with the paper stump once more.
- The hearts are able to sink further thanks to the inclusion of the foam. The metal will expand to enhance the relief as you press more firmly into the foam.
Draw the Dots
- Continue to use the foam in this step. This time, start by placing dots using a bigger ball tool to mark a divot in the metal.
- Work your way into the center while spinning the smaller ball instrument around the edges. That speeds up the process of inflating out the dots!
Vitality of Taping the Stencil
- It is important to not get carried away and think that taping the stencil to the metal is not necessary, because it really is.
- If you want to experiment, you can try embossing without first attaching the stencil to the metal, and you will immediately notice how the end result is less define. This is because if the stencil is not firmly affix to the metal, it gets extremely difficult to obtain any kind of detail on it.
Tips
- If you have decided to emboss words or anything else that has a specific direction, make sure that you are embossing the correct side of the metal sheet.
- If you want to add a touch of color to your embossing, you can use permanent markers or certain types of paints that are suitable for this project, such as window paint.
- In order to produce a deeper distinction between lines, you can emboss the metal sheet on both sides.
- Another type of decorative mark, like a dot, can be create with the stylus or an embossing tool. Instead of dragging the tool over the metal like you would while embossing a line, just push the tool firmly into the metal sheet and then lift.
- By applying heat, either by utilizing a fireplace or through a lighter, will give your work with copper a burnish appearance. The metal may get hot to the touch, so exercise caution.
- Remember that an embossing sheet made of metal might have sharp cut edges. Therefore, you must be careful when handling the metal sheet to avoid accidentally cutting your hands with it.
Conclusion
If you are someone who enjoys creating art works now and then and is particularly interested in the art of engraving or embossing stuff, then metal embossing is something you should really give a try to! A lot of people who want to do metal embossing do not think of trying it because it generally requires materials that may not be found at one’s home. However, in this article we show you how you can create beautiful metal embossing designs at the comfort of your home with minimal supplies!
