[Jewelry making - Article 00595] - Re: [Orchid] Sulfuric acid pickle problem

[TheCynic6]

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>     Why did you tumble the work? 

    When I took the two 10k rings out of the pickle they were covered
    with an almost rust like coating. That is why I tumbled them. 

    This is the first time I've ever seen anything like it. I would
    assume it was something in the mounting on the 14k solitaire that
    reacted in the acid, but i don't know why it would deposite on the
    10k rings and the solder joint on the 14k chains catch. Appearantly
    it was the higher copper, silver, or other alloy content that it was
    reacting with. 

    The coating is not the problem. It is easily removed by buffing,
    nitric acid wash, or heating. Im left wondering what the mounting
    contained that would cause this problem and how to spot this
    potential problem in the future. 

    I belive it could be either silver or nickle alloy in the mounting.
    I have had both silver and gold jewelry pickleing in the same
    solution at the same time and did not have such a reaction take
    place. Thus I would eliminate silver content as the problem.  That
    leaves nickle as the culpret. Once again I am left with more
    questions than answers. Does nickle form a brown sulfate salt? What
    could the 10k rings and solder be alloyed with to precipitate the
    nickel? Iron, magnesium, chromium, titanium, scandium,aluminum, and
    manganese are the only metals more reactive then nickle. It seems
    highly unlikely that any of these would be present as a gold alloy.
    Does anyone see something I have overlooked? 

Matt


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