[Jewelry making - Article 00474] - Re: [Orchid] Forgot ring in pickle

[Ala]

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    In my experience with leaving things in sulphuric acid pickle
    overnight, say about 4 hours hot and 12 hours cold:- Stirling silver
    is etched and the solder is weakened a lot; 9ct gold survives but the
    9ct solder is weakened; and 18ct metal and solder are not affected. 

    If the solder looks porous then it is weakened. A scraper or scalpel
    should cut it easily producing crumbly shavings. I think the copper
    and zinc are dissolved leaving behind the porous remains of silver or
    gold if it is 9ct. These porous remains will behave as a harder
    solder to re-melt, but are weak due to being porous. They can be
    revived without breaking up the item by cleaning off the worst of the
    porous surface, fluxing and adding a small amount of fresh solder.
    The fresh solder will melt before the previous solder (of the same
    grade) and the joint should hold together while the fresh solder
    flows. 

    You could replicate the incident by soldering some scraps of the
    same metal using the same solder and leave it in your pickle for
    longer than before, then test the joint by trying to break it. You
    will also be able to test how the original solder re-melts if/when it
    is porous, and how it behaves when adding some fresh solder. 

Cheers, Alastair
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