7 Metal Texturing Techniques Every Jewellery Maker Should Know

Here are seven of the most common methods for creating texture on metal in jewellery making. The techniques are suitable for all skill levels, so you will have great results specific to your ability.

🔨 1. Hammering

A staple and a great first step! You can create dimpled, rippled, or linear textures just by using different hammers. A ball-pein hammer or chasing hammer offers lovely rounded, dimpled impressions and the cross-pein hammer creates a lined effect, which is also a fantastic way to enlarge a ring that's too small. Similarly, texturing hammers with surface patterns offer a plethora of choices.

✔️ Tip: Always hammer on a steel block and make sure rings are hammered on a steel ring mandrel to get a clean impression.

✂️ 2. Roller Printing

Want a floral texture or lace-like finish? Try roller printing. With roller printing, you sandwich textured elements such as lace, leaves, or paper) with your metal and run it through a rolling mill. By running the metal and textured media through the mill the pressure will impress texture directly into the metal surface.

✔️ Tip: Using soft, annealed metal and varied materials will provide you a unique pattern each time. We love using linen fabric, lace, leaves, net bags from onions, hessian, paper towel, feathers and doilies.

🎯 3. Stamping & Punching

A fun easy way to create repeatable patterns. You can use letter/number punches or metal stamps to add personal touches to your jewellery pieces or add design elements with a hammer, a steel block and some force.

✔️ Tip: Remember to hit the stamp in a single clean movement: hitting the stamp multiple times can blur it. Larger stamps need to be hammered using the Tap and Tilt Method to ensure you get the full impression on your metal.

🔥 4. Reticulation

Want a little more wild and organic? Try reticulation! is simply heating your metal multiple times with a torch until the surface of metal starts to shift and crumple. It creates a wild and unpredictable, molten-like surface texture that is completely unique.

✔ ️Tip: This works well with the special silver alloy, (80% silver, 20% copper) not standard sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper).

✏️ 5. Engraving & Etching

If you prefer detail, the techniques of engraving and etching provide quite a bit of precision. To engrave you can use a graver, scribe or rotary tool to engrave by hand. To etch, you can use either acid or electricity that will etch away the parts of metal protected by a resist of some kind, typically nail polish or transfer paper.

✔️ Tip: These techniques are perfect for fine lines or illustrations, decorative patterns, and especially for the sketchy or illustrative style lovers!

🖌️ 6. Sandblasting & Brushing

If you want a softer touch more subtle texture. Sandblasting provides a frosted or matt look, by using pressurised grit. Brushing provides more defined directional lines, using brass or steel brushes.

✔️ Tip: These techniques are perfect for finishing touches, or when you still want a matte look but still allows the light to reflect.

🎨 7. Texture Plates & Mats

Want a uniform repeatable pattern? Maybe texture plates will appeal to you. You can hammer or roll your metal over texture-style plates or texture mats to impress patterns into the surface of your metal.There are many textures including fabric, floral, or geometric and they offer convenience when you're working a project in production.

✔️ Tip: Always remember to anneal your metal before or after using a texture plate to ensure you get a clear impression of the texture

🛠️ Final Tip:

Always anneal your metal prior to texturing; it softens the metal, which makes it easy to manipulate. Always clean and polish to by the end to enhance the effect of the texture. 

Want to give it a try

👉 Check out Pod Jewellery's Texturing Tools Collection to find something to get started. We have just about every tool you will want to try.

So go on! Start texturing your jewellery! Your work will thank you!