Fine silver cuff help!

[Naseem]

Hello all
I have no previous silversmithing experience (silver clay only) and I want to make a fine silver cuff bracelet. I am a bit dubious that it will be durable enough and I know sterling is preferable, but I really want to use fine silver and acid etch it with gold detailing if at all possible. Can anyone tell me if I am making a big mistake if I use 3.2mm thick fine silver ? I am hoping to sell my jewellery so I want it to be fairly robust.
Thanks.

[Dennis]

Yes well fine silver is soft and dents easily, particularly if it is banged about on forearms. When jewellers make things from silver, they usually think sterling or one of the tarnish resistant brands.

Depending on your design, 1.0 - 1.2 mm would be thick enough for a cuff made from strip. Any thicker and it becomes unpleasantly cumbersome.

However if you are using wire then 3.0-3.5 mm would work.Dennis.

[Naseem]

Thanks so much for you response Dennis. I was reluctant to go through the depletion gilding process required for the addition of gold accents on sterling as it seemed much trickier for a newbie. However, maybe I will buy some 1.2mm sterling and give it a go after all.

[CJ57]

You're calling it a cuff which would make me think it's quite broad? As Dennis said 3.2mm silver would be almost impossible to wear, I've done a couple recently in 1.2 which was workable
When you say gold detailing do you mean Keum Boo so you need fine silver or are you adding gold wire or sheet to the silver?

If it s for Keum Boo then the depletion gilding isn't any harder than the Keum Boo but it does tend to leave you with some firestain even though I was told it wouldn't! This doesn't matter if you then mean to oxidise it to bring up the design

[Dennis]

Thanks so much for you response Dennis. I was reluctant to go through the depletion gilding process required for the addition of gold accents on sterling as it seemed much trickier for a newbie. However, maybe I will buy some 1.2mm sterling and give it a go after all.

Yes, but the depletion gilding for a large piece of metal cannot be done with a refillable mini torch. You will need much more heat.

Then heat the metal to only just dull red and drop into pickle. Repeat four or five times until you have good shiny coating.

For a hot plate you can use an electric iron held in a vice.

For a torch you might consider a plumbers hand held blow torch, such as the Campingaz with self ignition, adding an unauthorised strip to reduce the air intake for a less fierce flame. This will come in useful for other projects until you settle for something more permanent. Dennis.

[Naseem]

Thanks Caroline. I call it a cuff but maybe the proper term is different. I want a fairly narrow (20mm or so) band which is open like a cuff and incorporates a 3mm silver border and patterned central strip which would be etched. I am still debating between Keum boo and the "accent gold for silver" product. Some of my patterns may be too intricate to burnish as in keum boo so I though accent gold might be better as I could tumble the pieces. I wanted to end up with a nice whitish silver and the gold.

[Naseem]

I have access to one of those self igniting torches so that shouldn't be a problem. I also work in a chemistry lab so I was considering making my own nitric acid solution for etching the pattern ( using PNP).

[CJ57]

That sounds interesting Naseem. I've found Keum Boo a challenge to do precision work and my original plans change as they go, it obviously needs a lot of practice! If you are doing gold accents will you be inlaying, that would need a torch.
Having done a bit of inlay recently to get the contrast of silver and gold I found it better to use red gold rather than yellow. If the gold is applied rather than inlaid yellow is ok

[ps_bond]

I have access to one of those self igniting torches so that shouldn't be a problem. I also work in a chemistry lab so I was considering making my own nitric acid solution for etching the pattern ( using PNP).

If you're depletion gilding, you could always use a tripod + gauze over a bunsen burner; knock the mixture back to a bushy flame and take it up to annealing temperature (the flame will show yellow, a bit like a sodium salt albeit not as bright). Or two if it's too big for one tripod.

[Naseem]

If you're depletion gilding, you could always use a tripod + gauze over a bunsen burner; knock the mixture back to a bushy flame and take it up to annealing temperature (the flame will show yellow, a bit like a sodium salt albeit not as bright). Or two if it's too big for one tripod.

Thanks Peter!