Hand-Forged Film Negative Pendant
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Hand-Forged Film Negative Pendant
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Hello fellow maker!
In this Instructable I would like to show you how I made this 35mm film negative pendant.
Not only does it give purpose to old films gathering dust in the attic, you can also use a film negative scanner on your phone to view the photo!
These will also make gifts for friends and family.
Let's get started...
You Will Need:
To make this Instructable you will need the following:
- A single film negative
- 1.5-2mm Bronze rod
You only need about 15cm max.
This can be found at your local hardware store in the welding/brazing section. I recommend using bronze when learning and then moving on to precious metals later.
- 2 Part Epoxy clear casting resin
- Silver solder
- a Butane/propane blow torch
- Some masking/painters tape
- a Hammer
- an Anvil**
Amazon - Anvil (at $15 I highly recommend getting something like this)
Any piece of heavy metal with a smooth surface can be used, before I made myself this small jewellers anvil I used an old hammer head mounted in a vice and it worked great.
- Sanding paper 220 to 1500 grit
- Metal polishing compound
- Leather safety gloves
- Modelling clay (play-doh)
- Resin release film
Most plastic films will works for this even a Zip-lock bag can be used if you can't find anything else. I recommend smearing a very thin layer of petroleum jelly on the plastic to ensure it releases.
- Pliers
Optional:
- A Dremel
- Brass bristle bit
- Felt polishing pads
Forging the Pendant Frame:
Safety first!
Always wear leather gloves when forging metals, the pieces can cause serious burns even after standing for a while. Always handle your metal as if it is hot.
Now we will need to start shaping our bronze rod.
To make the same size pendant for 35mm film like mine you're going to need a rod about 150mm long.
Now we need to anneal the bronze rod, with the butane/propane torch you need to heat up your bronze rod until it gets to a cherry red color.
When the rod has reached temperature you can place the rod on the anvil and start hammering it down on one side, try to keep your hammer head as flat as possible whilst moving across the rod.
Tip: Pick a hammer that has a defect free head as all the scratches and dents from the head will be transferred to your piece.
While hammering you will feel the bronze getting harder, once you feel this happening you will need to reheat the rod as above.
Flipping the rod over from time to time will help keep it straight.
Keep repeating the above until you've reduced the thickness of the rod from 1.5-2mm to just under 1mm.
Now you can reheat the rod and then place it on its side and gently hammer down the side to end up with a uniform bar that's approximately 3.5mm wide and about 0.8mm thick.
Bending the Frame:
We now need to bend the bar into shape..
I first measured the film that I will be using and then marked it on the bronze bar where I will need to bend it.
Heat up the bar to a cherry red then quench it in water and start bending it into the shape you want with some pliers (I would recommend getting some toothless pliers as they do not cause as much damage) be careful not to apply too much pressure as it will leave marks that will be hard to remove later on.
I decided to make the "chain loop" rectangular as I thought it gave the pendant frame a old school "Polaroid" look.
You can now go ahead and remove the excess rod making sure your cuts are as straight as possible to make the seams less visible, I use my trusty vintage Knipex cutter.
When I was done, I just placed the frame on a flat surface and gently hammered it flat.
Brazing the Joints:
Now that the frame is bent into shape we need to braze the two joints.
ALTERNATIVE: If you don't have the means to braze the joints you can skip this step by making sure the joint is sealed with modelling clay before pouring the epoxy resin, otherwise it will drain out of the joint.
You're going to need a heat proof surface to braze on (or a "helping hand" stand). I use ceramic kiln tile to braze on.
Now apply silver solder flux to the joints (if using bare silver solder rods) and start heating up the joints using your butane torch.
Once the joint is a bright red go ahead and smear the silver solder rod against the joint (or if you have small pieces of silver solder place them in the joints with the flux before heating), once your metal has reached the correct temperature the silver solder will flow into the joint.
Leave the frame to cool completely.
Pickle and Clean:
Time to get rid of that fire scale and flux, to do this we need to let the piece sit in a pickle until it is clean.
Homemade Pickle:
- Bring ½ cup vinegar and ½ cup water to a boil. You can use more vinegar than water. Some people even use just vinegar, no water.
- Pour in a glass container. Hint: Make sure that the container you use for your pickle does not get used for anything else after this.
- Add 1 tsp salt. Add your metal jewelry piece, making sure that it is covered with solution. You may need to turn the piece over while it is soaking if the back of the piece sits directly on the bottom of the container. Note: Do not use pickling solution on jewelry pieces with gemstones.
- While the piece is soaking, mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 cup of warm water in another glass or ceramic container.
- When you see that the fire scale is gone, remove the piece from the pickling solution using a wooden pick or copper tongs. Hint: If you have heavy fire scale, you may need to reheat the solution-without the jewelry piece in it-and soak the piece again. You may even need to make new pickle solution and re-pickle.
- Place the piece in the baking soda/water solution. This solution helps neutralize the acid in the vinegar that ate away the fire scale.
- Rinse and dry the piece.
After the pickling process is done you can use a Dremel with a brass bristle brush to polish the entire piece, make especially sure that the inside of your frame is clean and shiny.
Flatten the Frame:
Before we can pour the resin we need to flatten our frame.
To do this I used some 400 grit sandpaper on a plane of glass, wet it and sand both sides in a circular motion until flat.
First Layer of Resin:
Now we can get started with the resin.
First we need to tension a piece of the release film on a plane of glass using some painters tape, this will prevent it from wrinkling while the epoxy resin is curing.
Place the pendant frame in the middle of the frame and then seal around the frame using modelling clay, this will hold it in place and prevents resin from seeping out.
You now need to mix a small amount of resin, we won't be filling up the entire frame only about 0.3mm of it. This will create a layer for you to put the on.
Use a hair dryer or a small flame to pop any bubbles that form on your resin.
I waited for the resin to fully cure before moving onto the next step but you can continue as soon as the resin has gelled.
Complete Resin Casting:
We will now do the final resin pour.
First mix up some resin again according to the manufacturers instructions and set aside so that the bubbles rise out.
Now take your film negative and cover it in some resin using a small clean paint brush this will break the surface tension and reduces the chances of trapped air bubbles.
Now place your negative on top of the layer of cured resin and pour over the resin until the frame is completely full and it forms a small dome.
Unfortunately I forgot to bend my film straight before inserting it into the frame, this caused it to keep lifting out of the frame. To stop this from happening I pushed it down with a needle taped into place that I then removed when the resin started gelling.
Set it aside to cure.
After about 16 hours my resin was cured but still not completely hard so now was the perfect time to cut away any overflow with a hobby knife.
Sanding and Polishing:
Once your resin is completely cured we can move onto sanding and polishing.
I start by placing a piece of 220 grit sanding paper on a plane of glass, wet it with water/dishwashing liquid and start sanding away the excess resin from the top and bottom.
Now using 400 to 1500 grit sanding paper sand away any imperfections on the pendant and repeat on the glass plane for the front and back.
Next with a rag or felt pads buff the pendant with compounding polish until it's nice and shiny.
Finishing Touches:
Now all that's left to do is to add your favorite lace or chain and it's ready!
Enjoy!
To scan negative film you can use the KODAK Mobile Phone Scanner: