[Jewelry making - Article 00958] - Re: [Orchid] When silver should be refined?

[R . E . Rourke]

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    indefinitely..just be certain you have removed any impurities taht
    are obvious ( pass a magnet over the scrap and filings before adding
    to the crucible to remove ferrous trace from saw blades, particulate
    matter from -say-sanding a bench block, etc. ) and remove old dross
    from the crucible devoted to silver (be it fine or alloyed- I keep
    all plumb metals and alloys separated) periodically by heating the
    boron layer and pouring off all possible, then re-coating with clean
    flux). If you want a bit of extra insurance mix a container of
    refining flux and store for remelts: to 3 parts of powdered
    charcoal-(activated charcoal, as is found in garden centers, or from
    aquatic suppliers)- add one part of sal ammoniac - available from any
    stained glass supply house as a tinning agent for soldering coppers
    or irons - finely ground ( use a razor blade to chop it into powder
    or passing it through a super- fine sieve a few times works well )
    then keep tightly sealed against moisture as sal ammoniac is an
    humectant to a large degree; that is, it draws humidity out of room
    air..to combat humidity ou may add a silica gel pack and an O2
    absorbent pack to the container. A pinch is all that is necessary to
    yield a bright tough ingot that will recrstallise well... lack of
    recrystalization being the only indication that your scrap is
    diminished. The addition of an ounce of fine silver casting grain to
    old scrap is indicated if you are remelting three oz. 's of silver
    and in rolling it out the ingot/sheet/wire seems brittle or
    incomplete areas begin to form along the lengthwise edge of your
    sheet before work hardening or conversely annealing as you form the
    ingot into x mill product. if you have more questions feel free to
    write me off list 

RER
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