[TheForge] silver wire questions

[Dave Brown]

At 02:58 12/17/02 -0600, you wrote:
>hello;
>
>in going through a box of misc. items in the shop i found two spools of
>labeled jeweler wire silver b&s 30 1000 ft each. date on the label is
>4-29-80. 22 year old silver wire looks like new to me.
>
>i am assuming the b&s 30 is the brown & sharpe wire gauge.
>there is also a .925 ss marking on the labels, i have no clue what that
>would stand for.

Terry,

The ss stands for "sterling silver".

>how do i hardend it since even braiding it did not seem to do much
>toward hardending it? i mean this wire is soft.

To harden sterling silver, heat it to 600=B0F (316=B0C) for 30 to 50 minutes=
 in=20
a kiln or furnace. Air-cool the sterling silver before pickling it. The=20
hardness will then be equal to the hardness achieved by cold-working it to=
=20
a 50% reduction (or 3/4-hard).

Pickle the sterling in Sparex (best) or go to a local store that sells=20
swimming pool supplies and get some PH Minus (sodium bisulfate).  This will=
=20
remove any fire scale if you do any silver soldering to it and will remove=
=20
any traces of tarnish.

>what should the care of the silver be to avoid tarnishing?

A lot of silver is rhodium plated to prevent tarnish.  I'm not sure what=20
else you could use other than a clear lacquer to keep the oxygen away from=
=20
the silver.

>how would i determine the purity of the silver?
>is it alloyed with anything?
>if it is alloyed with what?

The wire is .92.5% silver, the balance of the alloy is most likely all=20
copper.  Sometimes there are trace additions of other metals, but it is=20
most likely only silver and copper.


Dave Brown
Heritage Smithing
Green Bay, WI
ABANA, UMBA, GoM, MODA, ARG