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IntroductiontoRepoussé

beginner

metal

  Vinnie Sutherland hammered punches on the back of this 5 x 8¼-in. (12.7 x 21 cm) tin panel to make the patterns.

PUSHING TIN

Try your hand at basic repoussé techniques with this easy tin project.

by Vinnie Sutherland

It’s easy to get hooked on chasing and repoussé — techniques that date to ancient times. “Repoussé” 

is from the French word meaning “pushed back.” To make a repoussé design, a metalworker uses hammers, mallets, punches, and other tools on the back side of sheet metal to create a raised motif on the front of the piece. The counterpart to repoussé is “chasing,” or working on the front of the metal to create textures and depth. The two techniques are often used in concert to create sculptural surfaces from a flat piece of metal, such as copper, tin, or brass.

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Gather your tools. The tools you’ll use in this project are fairly easy to come by. You’ll need a heavy rubber mat, a wood-worker’s rubber mallet, French shears, some wooden dowels, and a variety of punches [1]. 

I make many of my punches from nails, using a bench grinder to blunt the tips into various shapes. You could also use a flex shaft and diamond burs to grind and 

shape the nails. This method will take more time than using a bench grinder, 

and you’ll need to keep the burs cool and lubricated by frequently 

dipping them in water.

TIP: I use spray

paint to color-code

the heads of my

nail punches to

help me keep

track of the

various marks

that I make.

When I make

intricate designs,

I keep a log of

the punches I use

to make specific

patterns.

Cut a shape out of tin sheet. Select a design and use a permanent marker to draw its outline on a sheet of 28-gauge (0.32 mm) tin. (I use 30-gauge [0.26 mm] tin roofing sheet that I buy from a commercial supplier. See “Where To Get Sheet Metal,” left.) Use curved or straight French shears to cut out the shape [2]. All cuts should be made with the sheet metal deep in the throat of the blades. (Using the tips of the blades will leave sharp burs at the edge of the metal.)

Draw a pattern on the back of the sheet. Use a permanent marker to draw a design on the back of the sheet [3]. Remember, you’ll be using your punches on the back of the sheet to create a raised pattern on the front of your piece. You can use steel wool or denatured alcohol to erase any unwanted marks.

Outline the sheet. Tinsmiths commonly pound the edge of their cut metal shape to outline the design and to minimize sharp edges. Place your sheet with its back side up on a rubber mat that’s supported by a sturdy table or bench. Choose a punch to outline your metal shape and use a rubber mallet to hammer the punch, following the edge of your design [4]. When you’ve 

wheretoget

sheetmetalHobby stores are good sources for 28-gauge (0.32 mm) tin and small sheets of copper.

Check your hardware store for flashing tin — it’s a bit thinner than 28-gauge (0.32 mm), but it’ll work for repoussé if you use a light hand with your punches.

Roofing companies also have scrap tin and copper that they may sell or give to you.

There’s always the option of recycling your tin cans. Carefully cut them along the seam and roll them flat. Olive oil cans, which don’t usually have ridges, work well for tinwork.

1 2

3 4

Five years ago, I loaded my truck and drove from Michigan to New Mexico — I was on a mission to learn basic repoussé techniques at a weeklong tinsmithing work-shop held in Taos. I wasn’t new to working with metal, but I wanted to expand my skill set to include tinwork. I’d always admired tinwork created in the Mexican folk art tradition. That workshop left a lasting impression. I now do tinwork full time and travel to art fairs throughout the Midwest and South to sell my work.

In this project, you’ll cut tin sheet metal and use a variety  of punches to make a low-relief design. You’ll experiment with different patterns and get a feel  for how to use punches to make impressions without making holes in the metal. If you work with copper, consider giving it a patina by heating the metal with a torch. 

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finished outlining the piece, turn it over to check your work [5].

Add details. Working on the back of the sheet (the side with your drawing), use punches to detail your design [6]. See “What a Relief,” below, for tips on using punches. Expect the tin to warp while you work on it. As this happens, turn the sheet over so that the front is facing up [7], and 

use your rubber mallet to gently pound the sheet flat [8]. 

Add extra dimension with a wooden dowel. To further push out a larger area of metal, use the rounded and sanded end of a wooden dowel. Tap the dowel with the rubber mallet [9].

Work from the front of the piece. To accentuate the areas pushed out by the dowel, turn the piece front-side up and use your punches to define these raised 

areas [10]. I dimpled a line of dots around the puffed-out heart in 

my design [11].

Add a patina. Use 0000 steel wool to clean and 

smooth the front of the piece. Put on latex or 

nitrile gloves. Mix one part Novacan black patina to two parts water. Use a natural sponge to apply the patina to the front of the panel. While the patina is still wet, 

use a paper towel to wipe the solution 

from the panel. Use the steel wool to remove some of the patina from the metal’s surface. Leave some patina on the raised areas — the deep color accentuates the textures made by the punches. I like to use an electric engraving tool to add even more texture and a few highlights to the patinated surface [12].

Add a hanger. To make the piece into a wall hanging, I used 60/40 lead solder (the kind you’d use for plumbing or stained glass) to attach a loop of tin strip to the back of the panel [13].

Layer components for contrast. Com-bining copper elements with tin is a nice way to introduce more color into a piece [14]. For this project, I cut a flame shape from 28-gauge (0.32 mm) copper sheet  to partly conceal the small heart. After shaping the flame with a small wooden dowel punch, I heated the copper with a torch until the metal turned a deep red. The blue heart is a piece of copper that I patinated with a ready-made solution.

TIP: Check local hobby

stores for prepared patinas

that you can use to color

your metal.

whatareliefLike nails, you can use the ends of screw-drivers as punches for repoussé. You can even try using punches made for leather.

To create a stippled effect on the surface of the metal, use a fine-tip punch and make the impressions very close to each other. I used this technique to make a shaded flame beneath the large heart in the featured project.

If you make a mark that you want to remove, turn the metal over, place it on a hard surface (like a brass block) and use a small hammer to tap out the unwanted dimple.

7 8

9 10 11 12

Pro

cess ph

oto

s by V

inn

ie Su

therlan

d.

5 6

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The eye layered on top of the blue heart is a piece of tin with a blue paua shell in its center. I used glue to adhere these components to the repousséd hand, but you could just as easily assemble the pieces using rivets, tabs, or wire. 

Vinnie Sutherland lives and works in the woods of western Michigan. She is a full-time artist and owner of Taproot Tinworks. Her work is represented in several galleries throughout the United States. You can reach her via e-mail at halfwild@riverview.net.

materialsTin sheet: 28-gauge (0.32 mm), 10 x 6 in. (25.4 x 15.2 cm)Copper sheet: 28-gauge (0.32 mm), dead-soft, 2 x 3 in. (51 x 76 mm)Lead solder: 60/40Paua shell (optional)

tools & suppliesRubber mat: heavyRubber mallet: MA-18 oz. (510.3 g) (woodworker’s tool)French shears: straight or curvedWooden dowelsPunches: nails, screwdrivers, decorative punchesBench grinder; or flex shaft with diamond bursSpray paint (optional)Permanent markerSteel wool: 0000Denatured alcohol (optional)Brass blockHammer: small (optional)Sandpaper: 150 gritLatex or nitrile glovesNovacan black patina for solderNatural spongeElectric engraving tool (optional)Torch (optional)Glue: plumbing 

See Safety Basics by clicking on “How To” at www.artjewelrymag.com.

suppliersTin sheet (Arnie’s Arts ‘N’ Crafts, 989.366.8794, www.arnies.com)Rubber mat, Protecto board (Tandy Leather, 800.632.9620, www.tandyleatherfactory.com)French shears, diamond burs (Rio Grande, 800.545.6566, www.riogrande.com)Rubber mallet, MA-18 oz. (510.3 g)  (Wood is Good, 888.330.5444)Bench grinder (Harbor Freight Tools, 800.423.2567, www.harborfreight.com)

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  You can turn this piece into a wall hanging by adding a loop of tin to the back.

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