[Jewelry making - Article 00389] - Re: [Orchid] Stamping Argentium

[Kay Ivanovic]

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    I've used Argentium ( which used to be known in England where it was
    invented, as germanium, and BSS,bright sterling silver, until the
    baby was finally christened Argentium), for a small number of
    silversmithing pieces. It is brilliant and no it doesn't tarnish
    nor, for the most part, does it get firestain. I had some castings
    made by a Finnish supplier which disappointingly did have fire in
    them but that was a few years ago. For a long time it seems the
    alloy formulation was being tweaked but by now it must be perfected,
    especially since I see it is now being marketed abroad. I strongly
    advise reading the published sheet on its working properties which
    is on the website (I forget the exact address but its there
    somewhere) namely not to push it about when red hot as it can
    crumble, and to keep separate soldering blocks and polishing
    materials for use with it, as contact with other metals interferes
    with its tarnish resistance. There are some low temp solders for use
    with it but they don't meet hallmarking standards in England so we
    use medium and easy solders mostly, and hard solder very judiciously
    as it is close to Argentium melting point. 

    Peter Johns, the inventor of it, explains all the technicalities in
    the paper and is a very helpful guy. He has also recently offered
    here on orchid his email address for inquiries and I'm sure is keen
    to help and justifiably, promote  wider use of his invention. It
    would be great to have a wider pool of knowledge  based on more
    user's varied experiences. 

    I don't know why there is such resistance to using it here. I
    tailed-off my use of it because of the odd technical problem with
    the alloy mix, not being able to find polishers who would invest in
    separate mops and polish, and because clients said they preferred
    ordinary sterling when given the choice. Why anyone wants the
    drudgery of polishing silver is beyond me. I'm sure it would
    revolutionise the industry for makers and buyers if it were marketed
    properly. People are suspicious that somehow it isn't "real" silver.
     Unfortunately in England where I am, there is no separate hallmark
    for it yet so it is marked the same as standard sterling. 

    Oh, by the way, be sure to keep it well separated from your stock of
    standard sterling as it is very, very hard to tell the difference. I
    have a feeling that the last teapot I made might have a curiously
    untarnishing spout  down the road a ways.... 

    If you want to email me, I'll try to help with more details if I
    can. Mention orchid in the subject box or it may end up in my junk
    mail. 

kayivanovic AT hotmail.com

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