[Jewelry making - Article 00752] - [Orchid] Black Blobs in my Sterling

[Brian Adam]

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    Can anyone identify my blobs? 

    I have a small line of cast rings called Claw Baby and I do three
    finishes: depletion silvering matt white, matt sulphured black, and
    polished stg. 

    I heat by putting the rings on a st/steel mesh and hold the
    mesg+rings over a stationary bushy propane burner. 

    Today I was working on 5 at a time, depletion silvering by heating
    to just under annealling temp and quenching hot in pickle. After
    three such cycles I was heating and two sings looked slightly pink,
    like they were a little past the annealing temp I was aiming for, so
    I stopped heating. 

    Then I saw these blobs grow out of the metal. Crazy! Black
    secretions from inside the metal. 

    Image page here, with thumbnail: <http://www.adam.co.nz/blobs> 

    I guess the casting company uses a casting sterling alloy with some
    additive that is reracting to being heated. 

Any ideas?
Brian
B r i a n   A d a m   
e y e g l a s s e s   j e w e l l e r y
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
www.adam.co.nz

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