[Jewelry making - Article 00322] - Re: [Orchid] A different Argentium problem

[Trevor F]

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>     ... I was told it would also cause cracking. What is your
>     experience with binding wire? Have you used it successfully with
>     all grades of Argentium solder, or just the Argentium Easy?? 

Hello Debra,

    I use binding wire all the time with Argentium Sterling (AS).  I
    couldn't imagine doing my work without it.  And yes, will all grades
    of solder that I normally use with AS which is all of them excluding
    Hard grade standard silver solder. So I'd say you were told wrong.
    While I'm sure one could set things up in such a way that it would
    _appear_ as if the binding wire cased cracking I would venture to say
    that it was the binder of the wire that was, in fact, responsible. 

    If I were to set up a situation where binding wire would "crush" a
    standard sterling soldering set-up would we then conclude that
    binding wire crushed sterling silver? Or might it be more likely that
    _I_ crushed the sterling by setting up the job improperly? 

    All of the materials we use have their limitations and their points
    of failure. We owe it to ourselves and to each other as responsible
    workers in the trade to accept that pushing them beyond those limits
    is a worker's mistake, not an inherent flaw in the material. 

    No offense to you personally but sooner or later these reports of odd
    goings-on with Argentium Sterling need to be fielded with a little
    more personal accountability. The "quirks" of AS are few and far
    between and have, in general, been fairly well documented here and
    elsewhere. I suggest that one might approach such situations by asking
    how one would go about doing what they need to do with AS rather than
    --and please forgive my inarticulateness-- peddling these fishy old
    wives tales. This is not directed at you but is intended as an
    observation on this sort of thing in general. 

Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
www.touchmetal.com

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