[Jewelry making - Article 01533] - Re: [Orchid] Lacquering copper

[Helen Hill]

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Hi Judy,

>     I have had the best success with keeping the polished finish on
>     copper when it is soldered to another metal like silver or brass,
>     then buffed and given a coat of lacquer or wax. The backing metal
>     takes the abuse and protects the copper's surface... for a while. 

    To solder the copper to silver and have better protection against
    oxidation sounds to me like the phenomenon of sacrificial metal,
    whereby one metal is in contact with a more reactive metal to prevent
    or slow down the corrosion of the less reactive metal. The more
    reactive metal is "sacrificed" to protect the less reactive metal. An
    example is steel ship hulls having blocks of zinc attached to slow
    down the corrosion of the steel from the salt water. 

    However, copper is more reactive than silver so it seems that the
    copper would oxidise more readily if attached to silver. Or have I
    completely got the wrong end of the stick and you are putting a
    backing of silver or brass onto the copper so that the copper is not
    in contact with the skin, therefore preventing any electrochemistry
    with the skin? 

Helen Hill
Preston, UK
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