[Jewelry making - Article 00992] - Re: [Orchid] Quick and dirty silver patina?

[Trevor F]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

>     ... I was messing around with potential patinating agents, and just
>     happened to try ordinary chlorine bleach ... Have I stumbled onto a
>     neat shortcut for oxidizing silver, or developed a WMD? 

Hello Michael,

    I'm certainly no chemist either but I've tried this and I like it! 
    I'd read about using bleach but the references always said that the
    result was "light grey" and that didn't sound particularly appealing
    to me so I did not pursue it. 

    After your post I did some basic tests and experiments and thought
    the others in the group might be interested. The bleach patina: 

    - is dark grey with some brown mottling on clean, de-scaled sterling. 

    - is deep dark grey on clean, depletion guilded sterling, much denser
    and more even that bare sterling. 

    - turns very dark grey or black under light oil or waxing. 

    - stands up to moderate abrasion reasonably well, becoming a glossy
    black where the patina has resisted being removed. 

    - polishes to a warm semi-gloss deep black with red rouge. 

    - is quite resistant to citrus fruit juices, tomato juices and
    vinegar. Acetone will lighten the patina somewhat, enhancing the
    browns in it. 

    - is quite resistant to everyday heats and heating. When heated to
    200C or more the patina does bubble and degrade but rather slower
    than one might expect. 

    - is remarkably resistant to the pickling process (I use citric acid
    pickle). 

    - is much improved if the bleach is warmed.  An 8 hour soak at room
    temperature yields a patina that is inferior to that achieved after 1
    minute in bleach that has been warmed to 80C (chemical gloves, vapor
    mask and good ventilation recommended).  The latter patina is much
    more even and has a deeper, richer look. 

    So, there it is.  I'm sold ... unless of course we hear that we're
    putting ourselves at risk somehow with this. 

Cheers,
Trevor F.

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________