Is there a thing such as polished/glittery stippling?

[HammerTitanGuy]

I was wondering what tools I i could use to get a polished texture (a glittery/jewel but textured/frosted like finish) on silver. Below is an example done on gold. I used pneumatic hammers but it domes the sheet and I cannot use thicker gauges due to other constraints. How can I get this finish? What tools to use and how to proceed without doming the metal? I use 19 gauge sheet.

 

[tdelewis]

I don't think it would work on the project you show, but you can use a fine liner to create a Florentine finish. The lines are cut in one direction and then cut 90 degrees across the first set of lines. If done correctly it makes a very attractive background.

 

[AllenClapp]

If I understand correctly, you appear to be hammering hard enough to expand the metal and, in the process, it domes itself. You can limit or prevent the doming if you hold the work in Thermo-Loc or Poly Plastic to support it when you hammer it. Don't use full power on silver. You only need to dimple it with a rounded-point stipple tool. You should not use the power that you would use to sculpt it. It may help to work on different areas across the piece and then fill in between them, instead of starting in one place and working outward. You may want to slow the strokes per minute to get wider dispersion on the dimples. Thanks for bringing this up. That type of finish would look good on many projects. You have piqued my interest--especially where you do not want to blacken the background.

 

[DaveatWeirs]

In the image it looks like they're using a domed stippling head, as in very very small but rounded and polished instead of pointed. If you go that route I'd recommend repurposing a carbide tipped burr and polish it as shiney as you can with a diamond wheel, the polished surface will transfer to the metal. Because it's silver you'll have to go extremely lightly to get a similar effect to the watch dial.

one fun thing you could try is custom stamps for want of a better word. I used an old drill bit and bright cut some crisscrossed lines onto the surface so it looked like a very small and polished meat tenderizing hammer. It gave an interesting shiny surface though if they overlapped too much the overall effect wasn't that different from stippling

 

[allan621]

How about doing the opposite. Instead of a punch that creates a depressed dot, how about a beading tool to create a raised dot. I use this to redo milgrain on very thin rings using my Lindsay tool on low power. It should give you more of a uniform look to the dots.

 

[Chujybear]

Won’t match your sample photo but I am catching on “glittery” . If you form a punch into a shallow, sharp pyramid at the tip, you will create a bunch of tiny facets within the stipple, which will create a truly glittery effect.
back your work with something hard- shellac would be a good choice. It won’t deform at all under a punch.

 

[mtlctr]

The pyramid sounds cool.

 

[Peter spode]

You might try a diamond stippling tool.