Reclaiming soldered silver

Is the solder in a fabricated silver joint likely to cause problems when
melting down silver? I've had a few cases recently where a small bead of
molten stuff has danced on the surface of the hot silver just before it
melts. I have also had a few cases of a small crater or contaminated bubble
on the surface of the cooled silver which does not seem to be removed by my
pickle.

Regards -Kendall

On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 02:35:03 +0000, Kendall Davies wrote:

Is the solder in a fabricated silver joint likely to cause problems when
melting down silver? I've had a few cases recently where a small bead of
molten stuff has danced on the surface of the hot silver just before it
melts. I have also had a few cases of a small crater or contaminated bubble
on the surface of the cooled silver which does not seem to be removed by my
pickle.

Any solder is going to contaminate the casted alloy with zinc and
possibly other metals and ingredients. You have no way
of knowing how much, because you have no way of knowing exactly how much
solder gets in, and you probably don't know the precise ingredients
of the solder alloy that has been used.

An annealing will often make soldered areas show up.
Chemicals may also work, like liver of sulpher for silver alloys.
Heatless mizzi wheels are great for rough grinding
work. It's usually just a matter of minutes with the
flex shaft.

You could also just turn the metal in
to the refiner and buy new metal
with the money they give you.

Thanks mb,

I guessed as much but it's nice to have it verified. Thanks also for the
other advice.

Kendall


"mbstevens" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 02:35:03 +0000, Kendall Davies wrote:

Is the solder in a fabricated silver joint likely to cause problems when
melting down silver? I've had a few cases recently where a small bead of
molten stuff has danced on the surface of the hot silver just before it
melts. I have also had a few cases of a small crater or contaminated
bubble
on the surface of the cooled silver which does not seem to be removed by
my
pickle.

Any solder is going to contaminate the casted alloy with zinc and
possibly other metals and ingredients. You have no way
of knowing how much, because you have no way of knowing exactly how much
solder gets in, and you probably don't know the precise ingredients
of the solder alloy that has been used.

An annealing will often make soldered areas show up.
Chemicals may also work, like liver of sulpher for silver alloys.
Heatless mizzi wheels are great for rough grinding
work. It's usually just a matter of minutes with the
flex shaft.

You could also just turn the metal in
to the refiner and buy new metal
with the money they give you.