[Jewelry making - Article 00930] - Re: [Orchid] Argentium onlayed onto copper or bronze?

[Ellen Starr]

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    Well, it's been a long time since this first post, but I have some
    updates and questions about working with Argentium and Copper. 

    So, first off - Fusing with Argentium is easy and wonderful. I used
    Cuperonil - no solder. I did flux heavily to prevent the copper from
    oxidizing. The piece I made was a hollowware vase and I was able to
    use the fact that Argentium slumps to my advantage. While heating
    the larger pieces of copper, the argentium relaxed onto the copper,
    making it really easy to fuse it. Here's a picture of the piece
    before I had to reheat it....which brings me to my questions. 

    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/vase-small.jpg 

    So here's what happened next. I noticed that the argentium was
    starting to tarnish, so I realized that I must not have heat treated
    it long enough. So I read what everyone else wrote about how long and
    at what temp. I reheated the vase at about 500 degrees for around an
    hour. The result was the copper was now black, which I expected. I
    then applied a soft bushy torch flame to it to recolor the copper and
    remove the oxidation. I got the most amazing colors I have ever
    managed. The catch is that something happened to the argentium while
    I was heat treating the copper. It's almost like the argentium copper
    plated some how. It has oxidation on it and something that looks like
    copper staining in places. Here's a picture of it: 

    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/copper-vase.jpg 

    So why would the argentium, which has been heat treated get
    oxidation? If I use a polishing cloth to remove the "graying (maybe
    soot) and copper staining" am I going to remove the Germanium layer?
    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I absolutely love the
    look of the argentium on the copper and the ease of working with it,
    so I hope I can get this figured out. 

Thanks
Ellen Starr
Starr Design
In chilly Minnesota - did you see the fabulous lunar eclipse last night?
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