Silver Finishing

Daverham - Monday, March 8, 2010 - 1:02pm

Hi everybody. I'm fairly new to this forum, and enjoying it greatly. I'm one of those off-and-on jewelry-making hobbyists... getting more "on" recently and stepping things up. I'm pretty much self-taught (no classes), and probably lacking in a lot of the basics. I see a lot of beautiful finishes on silver out there, and wondering about a few of them. I will certainly be experimenting, but would love to get your opinions/input:

- Hydrochloric acid dip. Does this do anything interesting? Other "household" chemicals that do anything fun?

- Pickle... I have not used pickle much (Sparex#2). I did over a year ago, once or twice. Does it go bad over time? It doesn't seem to be doing much anymore. It was stored in a jar for a year. Does anybody have a photo of what pickled silver should look like?

- That "brushed silver look" - I read that a lubricated brass brush will achieve that nice, white,matte brushed look. I have gotten pretty close with scotch-brite flexshaft bits, but they fall apart so fast. I have not tried the brass brush yet. Wet with water and pumice? Just water? How about rouge? Any other suggestions?

- My silver always looks so black-and-silver, almost like polished tool steel (I use liver of sulpher and a polishing wheel). I'd love to also get that platinum/white-silver look, but not sure how to get it, thus the questions about pickle, brushing and acid.

- Anybody have a good recommendation for finishing/smoothing your wax patterns? I heard to rub it with a nylon. Anything else?

Thanks!

See some of my stuff on My Flickr Gallery.

» Daverham's blog | login or register to post comments

If you want that really

Rich Waugh - Monday, March 8, 2010 - 1:20pm

If you want that really white look on your sterling, you need to "bright dip" it. Heat to a low red or lower, then quench in hot pickle (Sparex #2 or 10% sulfuric acid). This will dissolve the copper from the surface, leaving pure silver. You'll need to do this two or more times to get rid of all the copper.

For polishing wax, a lot depends on the type of wax. Hard carving wax can be polished with a nylon or denim, but the softer build-up waxes do better if you polish them with soft cotton or even cotton dampened with a bit of mineral oil. Experiment a bit.

Hydrochloric acid is not great for silver - I wouldn't use it. Stick with sulfuric or Sparex. Yes, Sparex does get weak over time.

For a brushed appearance, pumice and water works pretty well. I'd avoid the brass brush as it can leave brass residue on the surface of the silver if you get too aggressive. If you like the Scotchbrite finish, look into Scotchbrite contouring wheels for use on your buffing lathe.

Rich

» login or register to post comments

Great. Thanks for the

Daverham - Monday, March 8, 2010 - 2:09pm

Great. Thanks for the answers, as always. If you don't suggest a brass brush, what then to apply pumice? Steel brush, or fingertips? I've never used pumice... only read about it. Need to get some.... I don't suppose that's something you can get at a hardware store or pharmacy?

» login or register to post comments

You can usually get powdered

Rich Waugh - Monday, March 8, 2010 - 7:11pm

You can usually get powdered pumice at a hardware or paint store - it is used for rubbing out finishes. I like felt pad for using it. It comes in different grades from F to FFFF, by the way. FFFF is the finest, as I recall.

Rich

» login or register to post comments

A lot of hardware stores

bigfootnampa - Monday, March 8, 2010 - 9:08pm

A lot of hardware stores have pumice also woodworking stores. I often use a toothbrush dipped in water and then powdered pumice to make a paste. I scrub the metal with that and it seems to work well for me. Pumice can be bought in several grades of fineness depending on what you want for finish level. It is useful to have at least a couple of them on hand as the coarser grades work faster and the finer grades get a smoother look. Google if you have trouble finding it as it ships easily and there are MANY online sources.

» login or register to post comments

I have read this bit about a

marilyn - Monday, March 8, 2010 - 4:17pm

I have read this bit about a brass brush leaving brass residue on silver many times but in my experience, it does not. I use it with soapy water and not pumice for a soft shine. Of course, the piece needs to be well sanded with really find sandpaper or polishing papers for this to work. I don't want to see shiny scratch marks. ;-) marilyn

» login or register to post comments

It's the heating and

marilyn - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 10:36am

It's the heating and pickling that produce the white look by removing the copper and leaving a very thin coat of pure silver. If you use an abrasive, you will cut through this. PHdown is used in swimming pools and so is easily available. It is a more pure form of Sparex and is cheaper. Pickle works faster if it is warm. Most jewelers use crockpots for the pickle to keep it at at constant temperature. The brass brush with soapy water polishes without removing metal. If you use pumice, you will remove metal so do that and then repeatedly, anneal and pickle. marilyn

» login or register to post comments

Thanks. I didn't realize the

Daverham - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 10:50am

Thanks. I didn't realize the bit about quenching the piece in the pickle. That made a huge difference. Last night my wife took a stab at carving some wax and we cast that (it came out great, she's very excited!). I got it hot, pickle, hot, pickle, hot, pickle ... three quenches and then a quick, wet, soapy brush off with a brass brush (all I had sitting around). The finish was very white and very beautiful. I have some projects in mind for that finish.

Thanks for the great info.

Here is the piece after that treatment, then a quick, diluted liver-of-sulphur and a little scotchbrite (not at its whitest anymore):

» login or register to post comments

That looks great. Silver

marilyn - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 11:02am

That looks great. Silver will continue to tarnish and you will need to be careful how you clean it. I suggest something like Rio's Sunshine cloths because they will not remove the patina in the grooves.

marilyn

» login or register to post comments