The woderful Craft of Metal Embossing

The craft of metal embossing has been with us for thousands of years. This craft was used in particular by the ancient Celts to decorate such items as the Ardagh Chalice. The craft of Celtic decoration flourished in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, as the Celtic peoples there lost no time in perfecting interlaced knotwork. This style of decoration appeared in metalwork, carved stones, textiles, and, ultimately, in illuminated manuscripts such as the Books of Kells, Lindisfarne, and Durrow, in which some see the highest expression of Celtic art.

I discovered this hobby in 1988 while working in the German city of Stuttgart and was hooked immediately. I discovered that Celtic knotwork in low relief is well-matched to the craft of metal embossing. It wasn't long before I was selling what I made. I now teach this craft to adult and youth groups locally in Limerick city, Ireland. Anyone can do this. This can be a profitable craft for anyone who is interested in developing the simple skills needed.

With a metal embossing Craft business you have the opportunity to quickly turn a profit once you learn how to sell your embossed items. Unlike some other crafting businesses metal embossing is relatively uncomplicated and simple to do. It is essentially a copying art. Most of the effort and artistic inspiration goes into creating the Tracing. This finished tracing becomes your pattern and is then faithfully copied or transferred onto the metal sheet metal of your choice. That is basically it.

The Craft of Metal Embossing follows a simple four step process.
Step 1. First having decided on a design you want emboss on to metal you must create a tracing of the design.
Step 2. Place your metal on a rubber pad or sheets of news papers and place your tracing on top. Now transfer your design with light pressure to impress onto to the metal. When completed remove the tracing. Step 3. I now begin to work on both sides of the metal. Adding texture and flattening areas as needed. I will push out from the back using a paper stump and tidy up from the front using a refiner tool. When I finally am satisfied with the detail and the height of the raised areas I move on to next step.
Step 4. I will decide on what finish or polish to apply if any. The finished work is now mounted or framed or glued onto your selected item.

DONE! Easy as that.

Your chosen designs can then be incorporated into many different attractive areas of embellishment including picture frames, journal covers, photo scrapbooks, and wall hangings. Metal embossing items can also be used to enhance furniture such as cupboard doors in particular and other home décor projects. In fact any flat surface on anything can be enhanced and improved with an embossed metal panel. You are only limited by your imagination.

My Essential Metal Embossing Tool Kit

The Basic Kit I use includes teflon tipped stylus, medium ball and cup, brass brush, micro wheel and small dot wheel. These simple tools were used to create the items you can see featured on the videos on my website. As well as these tools I use varying sizes of paper stumps to press out the metal from the back to give me the desired relief I am looking for. I would the clean up the design from the front with a Stylus to emphasize the relief. That's it your done.

One other vital piece of equipment is of course a good pair of Craft scissors.

Your Embossing Metals
The sheet metals I will be embossing are copper, pewter and aluminum. These metals are available from most craft and hobby outlets. It comes in various thicknesses or gauges, the 36 Gauge (.005" Thick) also known as 5mil is the standard sheet metal used on my website for the various projects you will be doing. For example 5mil copper is approximately 7 - 8 times thicker than typical household aluminum foil. The finish of all these metals is typically shiny if left untreated. The appearance can be changed with various patinas or paints. Often described as 36 gauge, 5 mil copper is traditional tooling copper foil. It does not tear by hand, but can be easily cut with scissors. It is extremely malleable and will dent with a light touch. It will not hold shape if under pressure unless the back of the piece is filled with spackle or polyfilla. However some of my larger pieces are framed behind glass and therefore don't need any filler.

The 5 mil copper sheets and rolls are often used for embossing, repoussee, repujado, die-cuts and other craft projects as well as for various home improvement projects. These metals can be cut with ordinary household or craft scissors and worked with the very basic hand tools to produce the finished items you can see throughout my website. Patinas and Paint. Of all the metals I emboss copper is my particular favorite because of its color and luster. The patina for copper is called liver of sulphur and gives an antique look to embossed copper. Pewter has its own patina also available in Craft and Hobby shops. The pewter patina will also age and give an antique look to pewter. Aluminum cannot be aged with a chemical patina like copper and pewter. I have had some success using acrylic paint and alcohol inks to give an aged look to aluminum my advice would be to experiment and get the look that you like. The most important thing to remember when attempting the Craft of Metal Embossing like any other Craft or Hobby is have fun.
Tony Maher