My lasters meagre efforts

[wheely]

So...my latest piece of work:

Took me ages this, and I'm quite proud of it - even with the firestain!

This is a charity logo, and it's a charity very dear to my heart. It's a charity I could rave on and on about, but I'll spare you that much. I owe them so much - they've helped me in so many ways I can't even begin to do them justice. I've also learned alot doing this logo, which I turned into a brooch. I've plearned about etching which was new to me, and, although soldering itself is not new to me, soldering things on top of silver for added dimension was! I think it worked rather well having 4 different heights in there.
Thats the show off bit. Now the question. As you can see there is quite a lot of firestain around the letters, and still some around the figure above. Is there any way of avoiding this? Should I be using a certain kind of flux? I used Auflux. I've been comissioned to make more, and it may well lead to big things, so I want nice shiny silver, no stain!
I shall now go and finish my twisted necklace and await replies.
Ta in advance

[Di Sandland]

Magic Boric - affectionately known as Magic Boris, even though it doesn't look anything like the Mayor of London

[Shaun750]

Magic Boric - affectionately known as Magic Boris, even though it doesn't look anything like the Mayor of London

Sounds good,but it's 17 quid!!.
When i used to repair rope chains(that were full of soap,skin and perfume) I used to mix borax powder and meths dip it in and the set light to it,so it gives you a coating on flux all over.

Nicely done wheely,
If your new to soldering,then I'd guess you've got the heat on there for longer than you will once you've practiced a bit.It's always gonna be difficult to get a good polish with a two layered design like that,even if there was no firestain,the polishing will never be flat around your design.
Two solutions .Give the background an textured effect,before and after,if this isn't acceptable then the only real solution is solder two pins on the back of the raised design,drill two matching holes in the background and riviot the design on.
Hope this helps,if you need a quick sketch,if i haven't explained it clearly,just let me know.

[wheely]

Cheers Di

Sounds a bit complicated Shaun, I'm not thaat good yet. Gimme another 10 years or so lol

[Joe]

The common firestain preventer is a mixture of boric-acid and alcohol (either methanol or ethanol), sometimes with a bit of borax thrown in.

Trouble is by the time you've tracked down all the elements and paid postage, £17 isn't looking so expensive...

There's a very thorough article on firestain at [Ganoksin] Jewelry Making - Some thoughts on Fire scale.

My stuff tends to be multi-layer sheet and I find the big rouge mop does most of the work but the little silicon polishing wheels from Kernocraft (Kernowcraft - Natural Gems & Crystals, Tools, Findings & a huge range of Beads) - the pink ones code C98 - can handle the bits tight against the different layers.