[TheForge] Silver question

[Todd Rich]

On Wed, 28 Nov 2007, Jeff & Leslie wrote:

> Guys,
>
> Awhile back I found a bunch of sterling silverware in a trashpile.  It had 
> been thru a fire and much of it was melted and welded together in a mass, but 
> some of the pieces were just mishapen and discolored.  I cleaned up and 
> reshaped a few serving spoons and I really like em.  They are a little soft 
> however and may bend if used for somthing like getting cold dogfood from a 
> can (dog thinks he's a prince, doesn't like stainless).  So, i'm guessing it 
> was annealed by the fire and would like to know what to do to make them 
> stiffer if that's possible and feasible.

There are a couple of ways.  If you can hammer them some it will harden 
them.  If that is unfeasable, there is a process called precipitation 
hardening or age hardening.  This link gives a description:
http://www.handyharmancanada.com/hbpm/silver/silver.htm

I know you can also harden copper by vibrations, but I'm not sure if that 
will work for silver as well.

Hope that helps.

>
> Thanks,  Jeff in Tallahassee where we're having the nicest weather of the 
> year
>

 	Todd (who does the occasional bit of silversmithing and 
enamelling)