The First Catastrophe

You can also rent videos from SNAG.
http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/
It used to be that you did not have to be a member to rent them not so sure
if it is still the same or not.

SES,

After cruising around SNAG (GREAT site, thanks for the pointer) for
quite a while, I could not seem to find anything about video rental.
I would have thought it to be in the "education" page, but no luck.
Would you happen to know the direct URL? If not, I will just email
them. Thanks!

Raane

"Abrasha" wrote in message
...
Raane wrote:


Have any of you had scary
mishaps?

Many years ago, when I was doing my apprenticeship with Guenther Krauss in
Pforzheim, Germany after completing my schooling I screwed up royally.
snip

Today, I have shallow wide mouth containers for denatured alcohol (for
quenching) and for boric acid/denatured alcohol, on my bench. I still
ignite
the alcohol from time to time, because I am in a hurry and/or I do not see
the
flame. I then just put the lid on the container and the flame burns
itself out
in a second or so.

Hey Abrasha,

I was intrigued to see your reference to QUENCHING in denatured alcohol.
I'm curious as to why and for which metal(s) you do this, as it's a practice
I've not yet heard of. Also, are you using "pure" denatured? Or mixed with
something?

I almost always quench in water or air cool and only on rare occasions
quench in pickle (usually for a specific purpose and with good ventilation).

Thanks!
KG

Their website has been in limbo for a LONG time.
Email or call and request the list of videos. They used to print it out and
mail it to the members but now it's just printed in the back of their
member's directory.
They also have slide sets of member artists.

SES

--
http://www.metalcyberspace.com
Listen to the Universe and Dance to the Rhythm of it-*SES*

KG wrote:

Hey Abrasha,

I was intrigued to see your reference to QUENCHING in denatured alcohol.
I'm curious as to why and for which metal(s) you do this, as it's a practice
I've not yet heard of. Also, are you using "pure" denatured? Or mixed with
something?


Red and rose golds always have to be quenched in denatured alcohol. They are
too brittle to be quenched in water. Repeated quenching of red gold in water
will make is so brittle is becomes very difficult to work with. White golds
should always be air cooled.

I was introduced to quenching in pure denatured alcohol by Professor Klaus
Ullrich in Pforzheim. He had developed a red gold alloy, that had a very large
copper content and very little silver. After the pieces were finished we would
always "fire guild" these by annealing the pieces and quenching in concentrated
hydrochloric acid. In a poorly ventilated space, I might add. My lungs were
still young in those days.

Anyway, we always quenched in denatured alcohol to keep the alloy workable and
somewhat malleable. An added advantage, and this is the reason I continue to
quench my yellow gold alloys in denatured alcohol today, is that the surface of
the piece will not develop a fire scale, but will turn red. The piece never
needs to be pickled after annealing, not even after soldering were it not to
remove the flux residues. You can just continue to work without pickling.

One thing to remember, is that gold quenches quite differently in alcohol than
in water. You stick a hot piece in water, and it is cold immediately.

When you stick it in alcohol, it cools gently and slowly. A layer of alcohol
gas forms around the piece as it is cooling, and this bubble will stay there,
until enough heat has been dissipated from the piece for the gas bubble to
burst. It is important to remember to NOT drop the piece in the alcohol, but
hold it in your tweezers and move it around inside the alcohol container, until
the quenching is complete. If you drop it in, there is a very good chance,
that
you will crack the bottom of the container, if it is glass or ceramic.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

"Abrasha" wrote in message
...
KG wrote:

Hey Abrasha,

I was intrigued to see your reference to QUENCHING in denatured alcohol.
I'm curious as to why and for which metal(s) you do this, as it's a
practice
I've not yet heard of. Also, are you using "pure" denatured? Or mixed
with
something?


Red and rose golds always have to be quenched in denatured alcohol. They
are
too brittle to be quenched in water. Repeated quenching of red gold in
water
will make is so brittle is becomes very difficult to work with. White
golds
should always be air cooled.

SNIP

Abrasha,

MANY thanks! I've not worked at all with rose or red golds, so it's great
to know this for the future. Also appreciate the tip about the different
cooling technique, as I would have definitely dropped it into the container
and assumed it would cool as quickly as water. Given the evaporative
cooling properties of alcohols, I might even have assumed it would cool more
quickly -- although having read your explanation, I realize the fallacy of
my premise :-).

Always good to learn something new!

KG