[Jewelry making - Article 01118] - [Orchid] The Joy of Citrus pickle

[Trevor F]

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Hello group,

    I know that nobody has really brought this topic up but given the
    discussions of cats in the studio and all I thought it might be worth
    the bump. 

    Citrus pickle: cheap; reasonably safe; very effective; easy to use;
    easy to find; even better than Sparex for some things; less harsh
    than Sparex on your hands, clothes, tools, bench, etc. 

    I've been using citrus acid pickle for a couple months now and I'm
    really impressed. Given that it's basically a food product you'd
    think it wouldn't really do the job but it does. Sure, it's slower
    than Sparex but we're talking a three or four minute soak instead of
    two minutes, or whatever. I've adapted by having two projects on the
    go at once so while one soaks in the pickle I'm designing or
    polishing or whatever on the second. 

    I got my citrus acid powder at an East Indian supermarket for about
    $10 a pound. I'm told you can get it cheaper at brew houses and other
    convenient places (see Orchid post
    http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/200305/msg01326.htm). 

    I'm using a mix ratio of 40 ml of citrus acid powder to 400 ml
    distilled water warmed to just below boiling on a hot plate in a $6
    Pyrex oven dish that came with a Pyrex lid. I've marked the dish to
    indicate the proper water level since an amount of water does steam
    off. I top off the dish with distilled water to the fill line at the
    beginning of each work day. 

    "Better than Sparex"? I can hear the skepticism crackling in the air
    as I type this but I'd swear that the citrus works better for things
    like depletion guilding on Sterling than Sparex does. My Sparex always
    seemed to start taking really long after the second or third
    pickling. Maybe Sparex is going deeper or something. My observation is
    that on the second or third round in the citrus your Sterling is
    almost powder white and burnishes up to a super gloss very quickly
    after a gentle scrubbing with a mild abrasive (eg. baking soda). 

    Of course citrus has the well known advantages of being ferrous metal
    safe (binding wire and tongs can be used in and around it without
    unpleasant side-effects) and not eating holes in things. 

    Another advantage --gut feeling not scientific observation- is that
    the citrus pickle seems to last a LONG time, as if it had a much
    longer life cycle while in use or something.  Also seems to have a
    longer shelf life while in solution, not that that really matters to
    most of you. 

    One downside that I can think of is that you must heat the citrus
    solution in order to get reasonable pickling times. Cold citrus
    pickle works at glacial speeds. Actually I suspect that it's neutrinos
    that get rid of the firescale when it's sitting in the cold citrus
    pickle but I don't have that kind of instrumentation in my studio. :) 

    Those of you who've seen my ramblings for a while now know that I
    was, not so long ago, extolling the virtues of hydrochloric acid
    (HCl) as a pickle. I still use in on occasion for really stubborn
    firescaling --just a dip between rounds in the citrus, rinse between
    pickles-- but given the nasty vapours, rust-fogged tools, and low
    penetrating power due to insoluble salts on the surface of the
    workpiece I went looking for alternatives and thus discovered the
    citrus acid. One moves on as necessity and providence dictate. 

    I suppose I should mention that I use Sterling and base metals only,
    no gold these days. 

    Usual disclaimer: I am not now nor have I ever been a seller or known
    to a seller or manufacturer or known thereto of citrus acid powder. I
    do however like citrus fruit and strongly encourage their judicious
    consumption. Apples are nice too. Bananas are okay once in a while.
    Passion fruit were thusly named by a cruel and very cynical person. 

Cheers,
Trevor F

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