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Thread: Amber and moldavite stones

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Posts
    1

    Default Amber and moldavite stones

    Hi there,

    New to the forum, happy to be here, this looks like a great wealth of information! I am working on a piece that is silver wire and a naturally shaped amber stone (i.e. not cut and polished in any way), and I am at a point where it seems like I can finish a few solder points, and set the stone. However, I will still need to clean and polish it. This stone has been tricky in that it will chip and flake if too much pressure is applied, so I am worried that if I set it and put the whole piece in pickle that it will ruin the amber.

    I have all these same issues with a rough moldavite piece, and the same question applies - will setting and then cleaning with pickle ruin the stones?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    3,392

    Default

    Hi welcome to the forum.
    The amber shouldn’t be chipping, it’s a resin and I have a lot of raw amber and have never known it to be that fragile. It is a bit softer though. I’ve never known it flake so I’d ask are you sure it’s amber?
    You definitely can’t pickle it, pickle is only used to clean the residue left after soldering.
    Do all your solder work and pickle. Do any clean up work necessary. You can then polish the piece and then set, then lightly polish the setting or set then polish. Amber does take some polishing with rouge as long as you don’t press too hard or it will start to melt and get skid marks or gouges.
    I don’t know anything about Moldavite but I see it’s a silica which would suggest that it may be more fragile and flake
    Last edited by CJ57; 05-10-2020 at 02:27 PM.

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