[Jewelry making - Article 00016] - Re: [Orchid] Sterling Silver and Nickel

[James Binnion]

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>     We all have different experiences. I had a caster for years who
>     mixed his own "sterling" grain. He used Nickle. I didn't know it
>     until some pieces came back because of allergies and I asked him
>     what his alloys were. He said he used nickle because he liked the
>     way it held the finish. He said that's the way he was taught. 

    Those castings must have been an interesting item. You cannot get
    more than a fraction of 1 percent nickel dissolved in silver when it
    is molten. If he added some copper he would have been able to
    possibly get a some more in the mix but not much. Basically any
    significant amount of nickel added to the sterling would not melt
    into the sterling and would remain as a separate mass in the
    casting. Also was he adding pure nickel or nickel silver (copper zinc
    nickel alloy) ? If it was nickel silver then he probably would have
    not noticed the fact that the nickel was not dissolved in the silver.
    That would be again slightly more soluable but the nickel would
    still segregate out on cooling into areas of pure nickel or nickel
    copper alloy so no wonder your customers had reactions. The nickel
    content would most likely vary depending o where it was on the tree
    as the silver would settle lower by gravity in the crucible and the
    more nickel rich area would be on the top 

Jim

James Binnion
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
James Binnion Metal Arts
http://www.mokume-gane.com
360-756-6550

 
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