[Jewelry making - Article 00105] - [Orchid] Repair on an old pin

[Tracy Burlison]

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Hi all,

    I had an older sterling silver pin that I repaired. Yeah me! One of
    the solder joins had broken off where the leaf attached to the stem.
    It was an "easy" repair. My instructor's pickle was down for the
    count, so she had me soak this piece and a couple of other pieces
    overnight in white vinegar. 

    The next morning, the pin had copper-plated itself. The only thing I
    can think of is that there was some kind of metal contamination in
    the old solder, perhaps? (I cleaned the area that I repaired
    thoroughly, but it still had the original solder around the pin
    back.) The funny thing is that was the only piece out of three that
    had a copper deposit. 

    My question is this, how can I go about removing the copper? The
    front of the leaf has some nice etched detailing, which I'd hate to
    lose if I had to sand the dickens out of it. It's not a valuable
    piece, just sentimental. And if I can't return it to a silver glean,
    then I'll wear it as a copper wonder. :-) 

Thanks for your help,
Tracy
Tracy's Treasures

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