fractures?

Ok so new to the art of jewellery making, I have 1.6mm sheet that I have cut to length and width all good. mandrel and raw hide hammered it into round, used saw to create clean ends, soldered, pickled, made sure round on ring mandrel, started to clean and noticed fractures on inside of ring. Surely I had not hit it enough to work harden? or is this a risk when working with thicker material?
Cracks/fractures were curves in shape and were radiating from edge towards centre. Material was fully annealed silver from Cookson.

Cant think of a reason, unless you heated it to bright red while it was still soft (not that likely), or went on hammering after it became hard (more likely).

This piece is for the scrap pot and could be used for casting.

Soldering will anneal it, but if you are doing serious hammering, anneal again half way. Always wait until the redness subsides a bit before quenching. Dennis.

I would have annealed that thickness as Dennis said throughout shaping. I would think the stress happened in the first shaping because it needed annealing and not after the final shaping after soldering

Thanks , didn’t know that you could do this damage by overheating, and my soldering skills are a long way from nearly there so quite possibly I did make the piece too hot !
Is there signs to look out for that warm you the piece is getting. Work hardened, Sound ? Or is it just it fights you more?

I think we both think but Dennis will probably clarify himself that you over worked it believing that because it came annealed that would be enough. 1.6 is quite thick for a hide mallet so I would imagine it took a lot of shaping and you’ve over worked the metal

What we have given you is a series a leads, but in truth we are just guessing.

When shaping, anneal when the metal begins to feel springy.

Joints to be soldered need to fit as perfectly as possible and be clean and fluxed

As general rule, heat and solder in a low light area and don't let the metal glow more than dull red.

Use a relatively soft flame by closing the air hole on your torch a little, or if you don't have that facility, keep the flame moving.

If the solder is not flowing in 5-10seconds your torch is probably too small, and not capable of enough heat.

Don't quench for a few seconds, until the red colour fades. Dennis.

Never assume something is annealed when you purchase regardless of what the claim is always anneal yourself.