Gold (9ct) melting onto sterling silver

[vlada]

Hi everyone,

May be a stupid question, but... Is there any way to etch or somehow remove a thin (I guess) layer of 9ct gold that have melted with solder onto the sterling silver surface. It would be no drama if it would be simple surface, but it is a textured ring, so I can’t use tools like sanding paper or scotch brite.

Any ideas please?

[vlada]

Also, if there is no way to remove it safely, I am thinking maybe to do a silver plating? I believe it will cover the color of 9ct gold as it is not so bright yellow, what do you think, will it work?

[Dennis]

Hard to give advice, as we are unable to see the problem. A picture would help.
I guess what you are saying is that you have soldered a gold detail onto silver using gold solder and some of it has spilled onto the textured silver background.
It will be covered by silver plating and the gold part could be carefully polished to reveal it. However the texture might be less sharp from plating.
The remedy in the future is simple: use silver solder preferably by sweat soldering, so that it does not spread. Dennis.

[vlada]

Thank you for answer Dennis.

Yes I use silver solder but somehow it melts together with gold detail and cover silver texture. I understand that it is too much heat possibly.

[CJ57]

Probably too much solder, as Dennis said sweat soldering with the smallest amount of solder required. Of course we are guessing not being able to see the ring

[vlada]

Yes probably too much :(
here is the pictures.

1199311994

On 1st ring even texture of ring looks different, like filled with gold (and solder obviously).
On 2nd ring you can see the gold on both sides of that gold strip.

So sad it was two gorgeous rings without any flaws, then I needed to redo it/resize and now I have what I have :'(

[CJ57]

Plating will probably soften the texture but as it’s quite deep it might still work well enough to cover the gold in the recesses. I’d worry about wear on a ring though.
Is it being redone for a customer? Otherwise I’d save it by adding another strip of gold over the area that bothers you and hopefully either cover it or detract from it. I don’t get the detail on the iPad but I know once you know something is wrong it’ll bother you forever!

[Dennis]

Ah, I see, it's actually two rings is it? I've never seen this before, but if you used silver solder, I guess the gold was so thin, that it actually melted and ran the edges. In the second picture I can see that the gold is wrinkled.

They promised to be beautiful, but they will never be smart and band box new, if you attempt remedial action by plating. You could accept the two colours and judicially add small patches of yellow gold solder at random, on the better of the two.
The wrinkled one might be beyond rescue.

It seems that you used too thin gold sheet for you addition, or else found that the ring had grown too big for your small torch to heat the silver sufficiently for the solder to flow. You could have used easy or extra easy solder, spread thinly on the back of the gold and reheated it in place (to sweat solder it on). But you might also need a bigger torch, or two torches one in each hand, to double the heat.

If it is any consolation, remakes are easier and quicker the second time round. That's my experience anyhow.
Dennis.

[pearlescence]

It looks like the solder/metal has run by some sort of selective capillary action. Maybe if you cut a groove/channel into which you can recess the gold strip - which looks pretty chunky - it would stop that since it looks like the gold is sitting on top of patterned silver. Flat metal sitting on flat metal will solder securely while the little bumps aren't a good base for the gold to sit on.
Love the simple design by the way.
Could you rescue the rings by simply cutting out the damaged parts and making smaller rings. Some people have incredibly tiny fingers! (Mine are the opposite. I wear large man rings)

[china]

Some times with a project such as this it can pay to use a resist ( yellow ochre/jewellers rouge ) on the parts you don't want the solder or other metal adhere to