Chapter 1828: Supplementing, Bronze Making, and Coloring
Once the observation is completed, recording and measurement begins.
First, take photos to record the details, keep them for files, and draw the disease map and outline of the artifact;
To write it down is to record the dimensions, details on the surface of the patcher, damaged surfaces, etc.
Correctly measure and record the basic information of cultural relics, such as size, material, weight, texture, etc.
Afterwards, during the period of restoring cultural relics, we must record in detail the characteristics, characteristics and difficult problems encountered in the work every day, and make work logs and summaries.
When the actual restoration begins, the first step is to clean up. At this time, the principle of "little intervention, no intervention" must be adhered to.
First wipe with clean water and alcohol with a cotton swab;
Or use an ultrasonic dental scaler to remove the soil on the surface of the bronze burial utensils and the stubble as soon as possible.
Among them, harmful substances such as light green copper chloride, bright pink green and hot white cuprous chloride, and "bronze disease" containing powdery rust must be removed.
After cleaning it up, we started splicing.
After the overall observation and judgment of splicing, the fragments are pre-spliced, that is, starting from the large to the small, and trying them piece by piece until the appropriate position is found.
After the splicing is done, it’s natural to weld.
Welding requires good skills.
If you want to repair a broken bronze to perfection, welding is a very important part.
This requires a set of handy tools. The more commonly used tools, electric soldering iron, and soldering tin are one of the necessary tools for soldering.
The advantage of the electric soldering iron is that it heats up quickly and has a high temperature. It is suitable for larger appliances with large volumes and thick walls;
The disadvantage is that the operation is difficult and time-consuming.
The advantage of the electric soldering iron is that it is easy to use and plug-and-play;
The disadvantage is that the temperature is relatively low, and the heat is quickly conducted to thick and large objects, and the welding strength is not enough.
The entire welding process is relatively simple.
Generally, electric soldering irons are used during repairs. The solder used for welding bronzes is not pure tin but a tin-lead alloy.
Among them, tin accounts for 62% and lead accounts for 38%. The melting point of solder should be about 183 degrees, which is called soldering.
The solder alloy of this proportion is also easy to melt, solidifies quickly, and has a certain strength. It is the best solder for bronze welding.
Flux is an essential material in the welding process.
In the air, the surface of the bronze is covered with an oxide film. The oxide film will prevent the solder from infiltrating the bronze, and the welding will not proceed normally.
When welding the remaining pieces, apply flux to the welding joint.
In this way, the oxides in the welding area are reduced to remove the oxide film.
If the oxide layer is not removed with flux, virtual soldering will occur, and reliable ohmic connections cannot be guaranteed;
In addition, flux can also clean the weld bead, promote solder flow, assist heat conduction, reduce the surface tension of the material being welded, remove oil stains, increase the welding area, and prevent re-oxidation.
Commonly used fluxes in repair include rosin and zinc chloride solution (zinc water).
In addition, other tools are often used in repairs.
Such as tiles for placing tin, various types of pliers, various steel files and double-ended files, grinders, wooden pads of different lengths for support, coarse cloth or gloves to prevent hand scalding, etc.
The traditional repair method for broken bronzes is mostly soldering.
Let’s try a method of heating the broken pieces and using tin as a bonding agent to repair them completely.
Using solder as the solder and heating with an electric soldering iron, the copperware is butt welded, and the broken sections of the copperware are joined together (matching the broken ends).
The port weld must file a new metal surface to form a new weld (file weld).
Welding for ballast breaking is divided into four methods: electric welding (jump welding), continuous welding, surfacing welding, and additional strong parts.
Repair the missing parts with copper sheets and make copper tires to replace them.
This technique is commonly known as the copper beating method. The traditional hammering technique and the embryo forging technique are all part of the craft.
Taking advantage of the symmetry of the copperware, use a piece of hard paper to draw a rough outline at the corresponding part of the defect, cut out the paper pattern, paste it on a copper plate with the same thickness as its wall, and cut out the shape.
After it's red-hot, it can be beaten several times.
Or using polymer materials to replace the replacement parts is a commonly used method in today's repair work.
First turn over the silicone rubber mold or plaster mold, then use resin to make the shape and replace the missing parts.
The fiberglass reinforced plastics are made in layers, and the inner and outer layers are lined with copper wire mesh or nylon mesh, which can be reinforced and hardened to prevent deformation.
Basically, I want to use copper repair agent for repair. It does not flow during use, cures quickly, has no pits after curing, is easy to engrave on the surface, and has a copper metallic color. The effect is very good.
After the copper supplement is dry, grind it into a large shape first.
Then use sandpaper of various thicknesses to carefully sand until smooth.
Referring to the surrounding patterns, first draw the missing pattern with a pencil, and then use a sander to outline the pattern.
Here, you still need to add color, that is, apply rust.
Traditional methods of coloring generally use mineral pigments.
Bronze replenishment, tin-lead, epoxy glue, copper supplements and other textures can be used to color the surface of cultural relics.
This method can be used, mainly using shellac mixed with relatively viscous paint flakes and adding various mineral pigments, and layering it to create a rust color.
You can also make the leather shell of the utensil first, and finally use the dotting method to make the mottled rust layer.
Commonly used mineral pigments include more than 20 kinds of pigments, such as khaki, stone yellow, pine smoke, ultramarine blue, titanium dioxide, red clay, sand green, etc.
Then there is the old-making process, which is also different.
Before distressing, use fine sandpaper to smooth the surface of the replacement piece.
Then use absorbent cotton to dip into the ferric chloride aqueous solution. The substance will be a lumpy yellow medicine.
First soak it in water and put it into a bottle. It is corrosive, so be careful not to splash it on your clothes.
After being applied to the surface of tin repair, it will turn black immediately after application.
Then use absorbent cotton dipped in clean water to wipe away excess liquid on the surface of the device.
After drying, apply a layer of shellac juice on the brush to enhance the adhesion of the color on the surface.
Mineral pigments can be ground a little finer and then used as a palette on ceramic tiles.
For the first pass of color, put a little sand green on one corner of the tile.
Add a little titanium dioxide and ultramarine, and drop in shellac juice to mix it into light green.
Use a brush to apply it twice on the surface of the object, and the color should be evenly applied.
Be sure to apply it once and wait for it to dry before applying a second time.
Then adjust it to off-white, using pine smoke and adding a little white powder.
Dip the toothbrush into the color juice and hold the toothbrush dipped in the color juice in one hand.
Use the adjusting knife in the other hand to move the toothbrush and flick the color onto the coloring area.
Use the same method to make brown-red, earth-colored, and blue-green juices for coloring.
According to the background of the surrounding colors, mix out similar color juice and scatter dots, and finish playing with one color.
Wait for it to dry before doing another color.
The colors should overlap each other and coordinate naturally.
Now that there is coloring, it definitely needs to be distressed. The traditional distressing method is the rust method.
There are many different ways to apply rust.
Generally, fine loess is mixed with water to make a thin mud, and then a toothbrush is used to apply the mud.