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Thread: Why I melt it.

  1. #1
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    Thumbs down Why I melt it.

    I made it a while ago, put it aside, then today finally added it in my "melting box". And here are the reasons why I'm not happy with it:

    1. I decided to turn my learning silver parts into finished pieces. Wrong. Clueless design leads to clueless piece unless you are lucky to come out with something interesting.

    2. Scratches! Lost of them.

    3. Solder shows up on the wrong side, not good job.

    4. Shaping. Lousy, should do better, more natural looking leaf.

    5. The wire on the middle should be thicker and well shaped, bail should be thicker as well, more volume needed. The way how I shaped it su... is so amateur.

    6. The whole composition is questionable.

    7. All together this piece screams: I'm novice!

    What do you think?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails DSCN1485.jpg   DSCN1476.jpg   DSCN1490.jpg   DSCN1494.jpg  
    Lana.

  2. #2
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    Blimey, its not *that* bad! I know people who would happily wear that! If you do scrap it, make sure there are no solder bits in the scrap pot.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by medusa View Post
    If you do scrap it, make sure there are no solder bits in the scrap pot.
    that's the other problem I don't know how to deal with yet. Perhaps, I collect silver for melting without solder, and prepare silver with solder to send for refinery. Separating solder from silver does not look like an easy task.
    Thanks.
    Lana.

  4. #4
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    I think if you disolve soldered bits in nitric acid you can recover the silver that way.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by medusa View Post
    I think if you disolve soldered bits in nitric acid you can recover the silver that way.
    You can Medusa, silver solids are retained in the fluid, however, I'm not sure where or how much makes it a viable option :-)

  6. #6
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    Silver dissolves in nitric acid to form silver nitrate; silver nitrate reacts with sodium chloride to form (insoluble in water) silver chloride, which precipitates out. Silver chloride when heated breaks down to chlorine + silver.

    Alternatively, once you have silver chloride you can mix it with cream of tartar (IIRC!) and rub it onto copper to leave a very thin plating of silver on it.

  7. #7
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    I quite like the pendant, I would wear it. To me it doesnt look amateur it looks rustic, it may look better on a chain rather than leather.

  8. #8
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    No nitric acid. I mean that I don't want too much troubles refining myself if I can send it to refiner in exchange for new silver. Medical bills will cost much more than recovered with acid silver I just separate silver with solder in "to go" container.

    Patstone, I polished it too much for rustic style. I tried patina, but removed it because the print is not deep enough for oxidized look, and leaf looked just messy. I tried it with chain and did not like it either.

    As for solder not completely melted, I read ganoksin forum yesterday that it happens with argentium solder. Plus I was too careful trying not to destroy the shape. So, I don't blame myself only for lousy soldering
    Lana.

  9. #9
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    I quite like the leaf itself. I'm not sure the pearl adds much though and that's the bit I'd take off.

    As for refining scrap, I send everything, including solder to Cooksons for refining. My only problem with that is that Cookies are rubbish about sending out scrap pots. I've got loads of scrap at the moment just waiting for a scrap pot and I've asked for one many times. If you're reading this Cookies, could I have 2 please!!

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by caroleallen View Post
    I quite like the leaf itself. I'm not sure the pearl adds much though and that's the bit I'd take off.
    As for refining scrap, I send everything, including solder to Cooksons for refining.
    Actually, it looks much better without pearl. Maybe I give the last chance cutting the wire off.
    I melt some small solder free pieces of silver into granules. Have a quite collection already, and need to figure out granulation with argentium- what flux/glue solution to use. I have borax, boric acid, and self pickling liquid flux. Since it's easy to granulate argentium than traditional sterling (as I read ), I think organic glue and flux should be doing just fine to keep granules in place.
    Lana.

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