china white

[be1965]

My Dad was a jewelry pro after WW II. He used China white to copy a single pattern.on to a complete set of silver ware. How do I do that?

[chujybear]

China white is essentially guache.
Wet your finger w a tiny bit of it and tap it on whatever surface you want to decorate. Then it will take pencil.
You can trace what you want to do. Flip it and follow the lines on the back. It will transfer on to the china white.

[SEngraver]

My Dad was a jewelry pro after WW II. He used China white to copy a single pattern.on to a complete set of silver ware. How do I do that?

Hi Be1965,
Welcome to the Engraving Forum.
All I can add to chujybears info is let the Chinese white dry completely and use a soft pencil when you trace the design.

SE:yo[1]:

[JJ Roberts]

Chinese white is ok for prescious metals but not for steel, if left on to long you'll find a coating of rust it happen to me with a gun.:cheers2[1]: J.J.

[Big-Un]

The best thing to wet the Chinese white with is plain old spit.

Bill

[redgreen]

Absolutely, if you want your China White to work properly you must collect a reasonable supply of aged Midwestern (preferably uncontaminated) saliva. This may seem a little unpleasant to use but you must harden yourself for the real rigors of engraving. You can see Mike Dubber using China White in some of his videos, he uses his own un-aged saliva, but he is a Midwesterner who is not young and is an experienced professional, so use caution if you intend to follow his example.

Bob

[be1965]

Thanks everyone. Dad must have used China White on the silverware, re-penciled his pattern each time to transfer it to each piece. I was too young to remember the process.

[Roger B2]

I was watching some of the old FEGA videos the other day and I think it was Terry Wallace from his 1991 fine line seminar who was talking about the use of China White. He described a method of applying the white with the use of an eraser and brush that made the application more durable rather than just spit. Will have to try and find it to let you know unless someone comes forward with the method first.

Roger

[KMPaulson]

In my shop, we use the term "Setter's friend" for spit. It's handy for arranging diamonds, face down, prior to setting them. It's always right there when you need it.
http://www.engravingforum.com/showthread.php?p=81074#post81074
Hope I did the link right. It's the jar on the left. The one labelled "Ken's spitty ol' China White"

[KMPaulson]

Actually, for transfering multiple designs, transfer wax is probably what he used. One piece is engraved, then transfer wax is rubbed into the design and wiped off the rest of the surface. Then a moistened piece of drawing paper is placed over the engraving. Over this is placed another piece of dry paper and the surface is burnished to press the paper into the wax. Peel off the dry piece and, carefully, peel off the bottom piece. The reversed design will be seen on the paper. This can be pressed onto the next piece to be engraved. The design is quite faint, but useable. It'll work for several transfers, depending on how carefully you position everything and how hard you press on each subsequent transfer.
If you're only doing one transfer, say a pair of cufflinks, Rodico or Sticky-Tac or some such can be substituted for the paper. It's stretchy, though, so it can distort if you're not careful.
Mike Dubber has and excellent technique using Scotch Tape but, being an old guy myself, I'm betting your dad used the wax/paper technique. I got it from F.H.Rees' book, published in about 1906.