[Jewelry making - Article 00079] - Re: [Orchid] Tricks on dealing with fire-scale

[don iorns]

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

    Re Firestain. 

    Jeanne Werge-Hartley's excellent reference "Enamelling on Precious
    Metals" provides a recipe for "FM Solution", a similar solution, in
    my understanding, to that of Prips flux. 

    I trust that I am not infringing her copyright and would recommend
    any enamelling "orchidist" who does'nt already possess the volume to
    sprint off to your nearest good bookstore and seize a copy. 

    The FM solution has worked for me exactly as specified in her
    reference, most particularly in its ability to "rinse clean" in water
    leaving no borax glass residues and completely eliminating any
    appearance of firescale on sterling pieces with cross sections up to
    5mm thick and 270mm wide. These have usually been fired at the 830-
    850 celcius range. 

    Her book states " It is essential to be accurate in measuring these
    ingredients", an instruction I followed to the letter. 

    FM Solution.

    Boric acid 53.2g
    Sodium acid phosphate 35.0g
    Sodium hydroxide 3.4g
    Borax (powder) 35.0g
    Distilled water 0.75 ltr
    Teepol - 14.2 ml (teepol is an English liquid dishwashing detergent,
    I substituted with an equivalent new Zealand product without any
    apparent problem) 

    " Mix all the chemicals together with the teepol and distilled water
    in a litre container and shake gently until dissolved. The distilled
    water can be added lukewarm to assist the mix". 

    "The metal must not be highly polished; the surface should be
    slightly matted with fine garriflex or fine emery paper. Paint or
    spray the surface with the solution and allow to dry for maximum
    effect. The solution should always be clean so, to ensure this, it is
    best to work with small amounts and replace it frequently". 

    While my use of it has been primarily aimed at preventing firestain
    during the kiln firing of the enamels I have found it to be equally
    effective in firestain prevention during torch soldering operations. 

    In my experience it does function as a flux and will encourage solder
    flow, sometimes into unwanted locations, to prevent this I simply
    wait until its dry and circumscribe the solder area/seam with a soft
    lead pencil to inhibit.
____________________________________________________________________
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
____________________________________________________________________