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#1
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sealing an oxidized silver ring
I am oxidizing a silver ring so that it looks black. The problem is
the oxidization wears off after time especially since it is a ring. I am using liver of sulphur to oxidize the silver. Does anyone know of a different process or some sort of seal that would keep the oxidization on the ring longer. I have heard of using clean nail polish but it makes the pieces shiny which i would like to avoid. Thank you, hb |
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#2
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sealing an oxidized silver ring
horatioB wrote:
I am oxidizing a silver ring so that it looks black. The problem is the oxidization wears off after time especially since it is a ring. I am using liver of sulphur to oxidize the silver. Does anyone know of a different process or some sort of seal that would keep the oxidization on the ring longer. I have heard of using clean nail polish but it makes the pieces shiny which i would like to avoid. Thank you, hb Niello, enamel, and plating would be worth investigating. |
#3
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sealing an oxidized silver ring
On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:38:03 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry horatioB
wrote: I am oxidizing a silver ring so that it looks black. The problem is the oxidization wears off after time especially since it is a ring. I am using liver of sulphur to oxidize the silver. Does anyone know of a different process or some sort of seal that would keep the oxidization on the ring longer. I have heard of using clean nail polish but it makes the pieces shiny which i would like to avoid. Thank you, hb The nail polish sorta works, but it's not all that nice a solution. Kind of denies the nature of the material... Oxidized surfaces on silver have traditionally been used because silver does this on it's own, naturally, so doing it intentionally not only gives the artist some control over the look, but makes the piece look older, sometimes a desired impression (thus the term "antiquing" is sometimes used for this too.) Normally, the black is applied to recessed or more protected areas, and lightly buffed off of high spots, resulting in a finish that closely mimics what time will do, and the way time will maintain the finish in use. If you want an overall black, even on high spots, you're then battling the nature of wear and tear, but there are some things you can do that will slow this down. Plain blackened surfaces, straight from the liver of sulphur, are a dull black, in which the sulphide (we call it oxidizing, but it's actually a sulphide that's formed) is a somewhat loose and porous surface film. This surface wears off somewhat more quickly than it could if compacted. If, after blackening, you use a soft brass or nickle silver scratch brush, wet with soap or similar lubricant, the wire brush burnishes the sulphide down into the surface some, compacting it. the result is no longer a totally dull black surface, but it becomes a sort of blue/black or gunmetal color, with a low sheen to it. Very pretty, at least in my opinion, and it's somewhat more durable than the original black surface. Getting the best finish can take two or more applications like this. patina, scratch brush, patina again, scratch brush again, till the color gets the depth you want. Key is that the brush, used gently and lubricated, isn't abrasive the way it would be if used dry. You can get hand brushes called "platers" brushes that are an especially fine guage of brass wire in the brush, so it's a very soft and gentle brush. Works great for this. The other thing you can do is in how you texture or define the original surface. High spots wear off before low spots, and if your surface is deeply textured or carved, most of it can be essentially, low spots, so the black will wear off the overall surface more slowly. Hammer textures or carved, engraved, roll printed, or other textures will all function this way. Even subtle textures like a sand blast or bead blast surface will have their blackened color wear down more slowly than a smooth polished surface would do. And the texture of some of these, like the sand blast, also will give you a much deeper color, since the texture greatly increases the overall surface area. Hope that helps. Peter |
#4
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sealing an oxidized silver ring
You could also replace the silver band with one made from niobium- it can be
heated to produce a black oxide on the surface, which is quite durable. Rick Hamilton "Peter W.. Rowe," wrote in message ... On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:38:03 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry horatioB wrote: I am oxidizing a silver ring so that it looks black. The problem is the oxidization wears off after time especially since it is a ring. I am using liver of sulphur to oxidize the silver. Does anyone know of a different process or some sort of seal that would keep the oxidization on the ring longer. I have heard of using clean nail polish but it makes the pieces shiny which i would like to avoid. Thank you, hb The nail polish sorta works, but it's not all that nice a solution. Kind of denies the nature of the material... Oxidized surfaces on silver have traditionally been used because silver does this on it's own, naturally, so doing it intentionally not only gives the artist some control over the look, but makes the piece look older, sometimes a desired impression (thus the term "antiquing" is sometimes used for this too.) Normally, the black is applied to recessed or more protected areas, and lightly buffed off of high spots, resulting in a finish that closely mimics what time will do, and the way time will maintain the finish in use. If you want an overall black, even on high spots, you're then battling the nature of wear and tear, but there are some things you can do that will slow this down. Plain blackened surfaces, straight from the liver of sulphur, are a dull black, in which the sulphide (we call it oxidizing, but it's actually a sulphide that's formed) is a somewhat loose and porous surface film. This surface wears off somewhat more quickly than it could if compacted. If, after blackening, you use a soft brass or nickle silver scratch brush, wet with soap or similar lubricant, the wire brush burnishes the sulphide down into the surface some, compacting it. the result is no longer a totally dull black surface, but it becomes a sort of blue/black or gunmetal color, with a low sheen to it. Very pretty, at least in my opinion, and it's somewhat more durable than the original black surface. Getting the best finish can take two or more applications like this. patina, scratch brush, patina again, scratch brush again, till the color gets the depth you want. Key is that the brush, used gently and lubricated, isn't abrasive the way it would be if used dry. You can get hand brushes called "platers" brushes that are an especially fine guage of brass wire in the brush, so it's a very soft and gentle brush. Works great for this. The other thing you can do is in how you texture or define the original surface. High spots wear off before low spots, and if your surface is deeply textured or carved, most of it can be essentially, low spots, so the black will wear off the overall surface more slowly. Hammer textures or carved, engraved, roll printed, or other textures will all function this way. Even subtle textures like a sand blast or bead blast surface will have their blackened color wear down more slowly than a smooth polished surface would do. And the texture of some of these, like the sand blast, also will give you a much deeper color, since the texture greatly increases the overall surface area. Hope that helps. Peter |
#5
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sealing an oxidized silver ring
On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:50:39 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Rick"
wrote: You could also replace the silver band with one made from niobium- it can be heated to produce a black oxide on the surface, which is quite durable. Rick Hamilton Or titanium, which also can heat treat to a nice durable oxide, though the niobium black is a deeper/darker color. The titanium is somewhat harder and more durable, which is nice, and a whole heck of a lot cheaper, which is very nice. Both metals, though, make poor suggestions for many people, since they cannot be soldered via the usual methods used with silver, so fabricating a ring from them can require major changes in the design to allow cold connections like rivets or screws, machining parts from solid stock instead of forming from sheet, or other means of not needing to solder parts together or seams closed. So a direct substitution of these reactive metals for the silver is often not practical. But it's still a good thing to remember that these metals can be colored like that. Titanium in particular is interesting for heat coloring, since more modest heating gives a lovely and fairly intense dark purplish blue, rather unusual by itself, and impossible as a mere patina color on other metals. Both metals can be given a wide range of colors by electrolytic anodizing. Again, the colors on niobium are more intense, but the titanium, especially if starting with a matte or sandblast or etches surface, is pretty darn intense too. Peter |
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