Hardening Silver ??

Being a real beginner I don't have a clue. Sometimes I have a question and
can't find the answer on the internet or in books. This is one of those
times. I've made a thin leaf from fine silver for a pendant. The problem
is that it is soft, easily bent. Is there some way to harden silver at near
the finished stage?

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 21:35:09 -0800, in |õ "youda" wrote:

Being a real beginner I don't have a clue. Sometimes I have a question and
can't find the answer on the internet or in books. This is one of those
times. I've made a thin leaf from fine silver for a pendant. The problem
is that it is soft, easily bent. Is there some way to harden silver at near
the finished stage?

Sterling silver can be heat treated to get about a "half hard" state, but this is
still not fully the same as fully work hardened.

Fine silver, unfortunately offers no such heat treating option. The only thing
heating will do is ensure that it is fully annealed, and at it's softest. The only
thing that will harden fine silver is work hardening. It doesn't harden quickly, so
you'll not likely be able to get a lot of additional hardness from it, but you might
try gently planishing it (gently hammering, with a highly polished steel hammer)
that leaves a slightly sparkly ripply surface that can be quite pretty, and will have
improved the situation a bit. If you don't want to disturb the surface, than rather
strongly hammering it with a soft mallet, plastic or well worn in rawhide, for
example, if the silver is supported on a steel surface in back will still cause a
*little* work hardening, with little visible deformation. But it will be only a
small improvement. if you're able to actually flex the piece back and forth, bending
it and straightening it several times, then flattening it again with the mallet, you
might get a little more improvement, but pay attention to the metal, as you can
stress it too far at the thinnest areas, breaking it there before most of the rest
hardens much. So if you do this, bend it back and forth against a uniform curve, so
the metal is being curved back and forth, but not strongly kinked.

If this is not an option, here's another idea that will actually work well, if you're
able to do it. If you can add to your pendant by attaching a rim to the back, making
the edge thicker, you will have greatly increased the structural strength of the
shett metal, making it much stiffer. To do this, you'd take a wire or thin strip of
sheet metal and bend it to conform to the outline of your piece, able to sit just
inside or flush with the edge, so that from the front it won't show. Attach it to
the front plate with silver solder. The solder itself is much stiffer than fine
silver, and this, combined with the added edge structure, could solve your problem,
if it's an option with your design.

For the next one, consider using sterling silver, which is substantially stiffer even
when annealed, and which can be bought, or made, much harder yet, than fine silver.
or, if you must or wish to use fine silver, make it substantially thicker.

Hope that helps.

Peter Rowe

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question. Before I
tossed it into the "blob bowl" (where I put disasters for later melt-down),
I decided to finish it for whatever I might learn along the way.

I brushed it with a wire brush for a matte finish, then polished it in areas
where I wanted a high gloss, like the edges of the leaf. Then I decided
that I had lost too much detail on some of the veins with polishing, so I
soldered thin sterling wire on it for veins.

By the time I did all that, it was strong enough not to be bent as easily,
using a combination of your suggestions. Next project: thicker sheet or
sterling! Thank you, again.


"Peter W.. Rowe," wrote in message
...
Sterling silver can be heat treated to get about a "half hard" state, but
this is
still not fully the same as fully work hardened.
snip