Alloying sterling silver?
 

Hi!
I've just tried [unsuccessfully] to alloy some sterling silver for the first
time. Seems like it should be easy right?
Melted 31.1g of fine silver with 2.5g of 99.95 pure copper (I analyzed it at
work). Both metals were cleaned in acid then washed off in water first.
I'm using a propane / O2 torch and stirred the heck out of the molten metal
with a quartz rod..... Poured it into some water to make some grains and
lo-and-behold....
I got a mess!
The copper and silver separate into a un-homogenous clump. I tried several
times to get it to blend but it's being very stubborn.
Any help on the topic would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Dave B.

Try using flux.

--

Don Thompson

"The only stupid questions are those that should have been asked, but
weren't, or those that have been asked and answered over and over, but the
answers not listened to." Peter Rowe


"Vanessa Boscia" wrote in message
...
Hi!
I've just tried [unsuccessfully] to alloy some sterling silver for the
first
time. Seems like it should be easy right?
Melted 31.1g of fine silver with 2.5g of 99.95 pure copper (I analyzed it
at
work). Both metals were cleaned in acid then washed off in water first.
I'm using a propane / O2 torch and stirred the heck out of the molten
metal
with a quartz rod..... Poured it into some water to make some grains and
lo-and-behold....
I got a mess!
The copper and silver separate into a un-homogenous clump. I tried several
times to get it to blend but it's being very stubborn.
Any help on the topic would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Dave B.

On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 03:29:57 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Vanessa Boscia"
wrote:

I'm using a propane / O2 torch and stirred the heck out of the molten metal
with a quartz rod..... Poured it into some water to make some grains and
lo-and-behold....
I got a mess!
The copper and silver separate into a un-homogenous clump.

As Don says in another post, use some flux. In this case, either just boric
acid, or a mix of borax and boric acid powders added to the melting metal will
help a lot.

However, I suspect that your metal is better mixed than you thing. Often what
happens is a coppery appearance on the grains caused by copper oxide forming on
the grain surface, then reducing as it his the water, or being sufficiently
dissolved again so just a slight film of copper coloring can be left on the
surface. You may find that if you pickle your grain, then put it in a tumbler
to just tumble against itself (no tumbling media needed), that it will look a
lot more as it should when you're done. Remember to pour from enough of a
height, and into a deep enough container of water (usually takes at least a
foot deep, and more than that is better) to get fully discrete grains instead
of a flused lump on the bottom of the container.

In melting at first, start with the copper with just about it's own volume of
silver, and melt these together. Then add the rest of the silver and melt them
together. Copper melts enough higher than silver that it might otherwise be
hard o get it to fully melt, and in that case, you might then still have
seperate copper areas. But if you've fully melted both the copper and silver,
they won't seperate out again when you pour. It can look that way, but this is
just surface discoloration, not an indication of the actual alloy composition
of the grains.

Peter

Peter,
You hit that on the nose. I pickled the silver for a few hours and sure
enough it looks fine.
Thanks for the tips on making grains also. Appreciate it.

Dave B.

"Peter W. Rowe" pwrowe@ixDOTnetcomDOTcom wrote in message
...
On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 03:29:57 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Vanessa Boscia"
wrote:

I'm using a propane / O2 torch and stirred the heck out of the molten
metal
with a quartz rod..... Poured it into some water to make some grains and
lo-and-behold....
I got a mess!
The copper and silver separate into a un-homogenous clump.

As Don says in another post, use some flux. In this case, either just
boric
acid, or a mix of borax and boric acid powders added to the melting metal
will
help a lot.

However, I suspect that your metal is better mixed than you thing. Often
what
happens is a coppery appearance on the grains caused by copper oxide
forming on
the grain surface, then reducing as it his the water, or being
sufficiently
dissolved again so just a slight film of copper coloring can be left on
the
surface. You may find that if you pickle your grain, then put it in a
tumbler
to just tumble against itself (no tumbling media needed), that it will
look a
lot more as it should when you're done. Remember to pour from enough of a
height, and into a deep enough container of water (usually takes at least
a
foot deep, and more than that is better) to get fully discrete grains
instead
of a flused lump on the bottom of the container.

In melting at first, start with the copper with just about it's own volume
of
silver, and melt these together. Then add the rest of the silver and melt
them
together. Copper melts enough higher than silver that it might otherwise
be
hard o get it to fully melt, and in that case, you might then still have
seperate copper areas. But if you've fully melted both the copper and
silver,
they won't seperate out again when you pour. It can look that way, but
this is
just surface discoloration, not an indication of the actual alloy
composition
of the grains.

Peter

On , in rec.crafts.jewelry "Vanessa Boscia"
wrote:

Peter,
You hit that on the nose. I pickled the silver for a few hours and sure
enough it looks fine.
Thanks for the tips on making grains also. Appreciate it.

Dave B.

You're welcome, Dave. Glad it worked.

Peter

Vanessa Boscia wrote:

Hi!
I've just tried [unsuccessfully] to alloy some sterling silver for the first
time. Seems like it should be easy right?
Melted 31.1g of fine silver with 2.5g of 99.95 pure copper (I analyzed it at
work). Both metals were cleaned in acid then washed off in water first.
I'm using a propane / O2 torch and stirred the heck out of the molten metal
with a quartz rod..... Poured it into some water to make some grains and
lo-and-behold....
I got a mess!
The copper and silver separate into a un-homogenous clump. I tried several
times to get it to blend but it's being very stubborn.
Any help on the topic would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Dave B.

It is almost impossible to make a good silver alloy in the goldsmith's shop.
Even remelting silver scrap and expecting a good clean bar is beyond the
possibilities of the "normal" goldsmith's shop.

Take a look at this page I created to explain this.

http://www.abrasha.com/misc/silver_alloy.htm

I think it explains my above statement very clearly.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com