Copper with Sterling Silver

[Patstone]

Thank you once again, I have just looked on the internet to see it electrical wire has other things added to it, and it looks as if most of it is pure, but I wondered if it had been coated with something to preserve it. Because the silver rings were done with 1mm wire and were quite big, I soldered them all before I added the copper jumprings which werent soldered as they were only for decoration, so apart from the silver being a bit dark where it was heated the copper wasnt heated at all, I didnt put it in pickle to start with, it went straight in the tumbler with two bracelets of mine which are quite old. I put it in the pickle to see if it would come out clean again. I have now cleaned it with silver polish, but because its a chainmail type bracelet I cant get to all of it. I will try the brass brush as you explained and I think I will still try out the experiment to see if it is that particular wire that caused the problem. The only other thing I did, that could have caused the problem was I left my hot tongs in my quenching water overnight, forgot to take them out, but it would have only been the silver that went in as the copper wasnt hot, and I put the bracelet together after soldering.

[mizgeorge]

Pat, it is possible that your quenching water may be contaminated with pickle. If things have change colour that much, it may be better to just bring them back to annealing temperature (copper and silver together is fine) and repickle in a nice hot solution, then rinse thoroughly before tumbling again.

[Patstone]

Yes that was my next plan to refill everything and start again, but even if it was contaminated with pickle I cant see that would make stuff dark brown, it was obviously a chemical reaction with something, unless the tongs did it (I left them in the quenching water overnight, I forgot to take them out), and contaminated the quenching water, but they are steel. Well unless I can repeat the process with scrap pieces I will never know.

[mizgeorge]

If the quenching water was contaminated with even a small amount of pickle, steel tongs could cause a reaction Pat.

[Patstone]

Hi George, I think you may be right there, I threw everything wet away, washed the shot in clean water and started again, and tumbled again yesterday evening, tumbled for about 5 hours, and although it was only a cursory glance last night before I went to bed it looks as if it is normal colour, but the copper is still not bright and shiny like I expected.

[mizgeorge]

Pat, tumbling alone is not enough to bring the copper back to new penny brightness. I find the ultrasonic the best way to achieve this, but a lemon juice/salt dip does the job really well - don't leave for too long or it will go a bit pink though. Then tumble for shine.

[caroleallen]

How I wish you were around when I was in the Brownies George. All those hours (well it seemed like it!) shining up my penny with the Brasso for Thinking Day. Do Brownies still do Thinking Day?

[Patstone]

Hi, I was tempted to use Cola but thought it may do something to the silver. By the way thanks to you Sam is really hooked on chainmaille bracelets now, she has done three. I have done one, and it took me hours, mainly down to the sight problem, I find it difficult to see how far away the jumpring is that I want to attach it too, I am sure that in time it will become easier, but lack of patience is another problem for me. Hahahaha

[Dennis]

At this point I thought it would be interesting to compare test pieces, prepared in different ways and then tumbled for two hours with stainless steel shot in a solution of TSP.

To four numbered strips of roll textured copper 20 x 35 mm, I soldered a smooth disk and a textured disk of sterling silver, 8.0 mm in diameter, using easy solder pallions. The strips were then pickled in warm safety pickle for five minutes.

The first picture shows the strips after soldering , pickling and brushing with a nailbrush under running water to remove a powdery brown deposit.

The second picture shows:
Strip no 1. No further treatment.
Strip no 2. Dipped in Goddard’s silver dip.
Strip no 3. Treated with a strong solution of salt in bottled lemon juice as suggested by George above..
Strip no 4. Brushed with a brass bush and liquid hand soap.
All four were then rinsed and dried.

The third picture shows the strips in the same order after tumbling.

Conclusion: All the silver disks were clean and bright. The copper of strips 1&2 was several shades darker than that of 3&4. It appears that for brightly finished copper when tumbling, either of the pre-treatments given in 3&4 above would be of benefit.

TSP is a common detergent available as a powder online. It is no longer allowed as a constituent of commercial cleaning agents, because it is also a plant fertiliser and in large quantities encourages the growth of red algae in reservoirs. However used like this it is economical and unlikely to harm the environment. There is lather but no scum, and the same solution can be used many times. Dennis.

[mizgeorge]

Some very interesting results Dennis. I'm particularly surprised by what a difference there is after tumbling.

I'm guessing the TSP also effectively softens the water in hard water areas, which must help a lot with getting a decent lather. I'll dig mine out and give it a try.

Thank you