Colouring Silver

I am looking for ways of colouring fine indented lines in silver, NOT
involving enamelling. I have tried permanent ink which produces lovely
tranluscent colours but is not very hard wearing. I have heard that
colours other than black are possible to acheive with 'oxidisation'.
Any thoughts?


--=20
Druze

Druze wrote:
I am looking for ways of colouring fine indented lines in silver, NOT
involving enamelling. I have tried permanent ink which produces lovely
tranluscent colours but is not very hard wearing. I have heard that
colours other than black are possible to acheive with 'oxidisation'.
Any thoughts?




Just get some liver of sulpher from any major (or perhaps even minor)=20
jeweler supply shop, add a little to some hot water, put in your silver=20
piece.... The longer you leave it, the darker it gets.

Oh, and just a warning, it does smell like ASS--literally!
(_|_) ~~~~ :-o "ooooooooh noooooooooo!!!"

When you take it out and lightly rub some #0000 steel wool it, you will =
let=20
the exposed surfaces shine bright silvery again, while the crevices stay=20
black/grey/brown (whatever they turn out, again, that's depending on the=20
amount of time you left the piece in there)

Then you can polish it, if you like, or whatever.

And if you mess up, don't panic... Toss it in the pickle pot, or some =
Tarnex=20
and start over.


-- m3rma1d
--
www.creativespill.com
To reply in email, remove my panties.=20

Since you want to color only the indented lines, you could try some =
"Silver=20
Black" applied with the tip of a toothpick directly onto the part you =
want=20
to color. Silver Black works quite a bit faster than Liver of Sulpher =
(and=20
smells better too), so you'll need to rinse your piece in water to stop =
the=20
effect when it's reached the darkness you like. And, in case of drips or=
=20
mistakes, you may need to buff the silver to remove excess Silver Black =
from=20
the areas where you don't want it.

I purchased Silver Black from Rio Grande.

Sharon


"m3rma1d" wrote in message=20
news Druze wrote:
I am looking for ways of colouring fine indented lines in silver, NOT
involving enamelling. I have tried permanent ink which produces lovely
tranluscent colours but is not very hard wearing. I have heard that
colours other than black are possible to acheive with 'oxidisation'.
Any thoughts?

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 19:17:20 -0700, SBarbour" =
wrote:

Since you want to color only the indented lines, you could try some =
"Silver=20
Black" applied with the tip of a toothpick directly onto the part you =
want=20
to color. Silver Black works quite a bit faster than Liver of Sulpher =
(and=20
smells better too), so you'll need to rinse your piece in water to stop=
the=20
effect when it's reached the darkness you like. And, in case of drips =
or=20
mistakes, you may need to buff the silver to remove excess Silver Black=
from=20
the areas where you don't want it.

I purchased Silver Black from Rio Grande.

Sharon

Silver Black does indeed work faster than liver of sulphur, and seems to =
have a
longer shelf life too. The color it produces is pretty much jet black, =
not the
range of grey/black to blue/black you can get with liver of sulphur. =
(you can,
with care, get somewhat peacock ranges of colors with liver of sulphur =
too, but
these colors tend to be more fragile, since they're very thin layers, and=
wear
quickly, and then tend to degrade to a grey black over time, too, though =
not
alwauys, depending some on the preparation of the metal, etc. =20

A couple other notes about Silver Black is worth mentioning, aside from =
the
difference in color. The color it produces is not a simple silver and =
copper
sulphide, as produced by liver of sulphur. So it's harder to remove
chemically. Pickle won't do it, and neither will things like Tarnex. =
One other
poster mentioned pickle as a means to remove the black from liver of =
sulphur.
Generally, in my experience, it's not so good at that. Pickle is good at
removing oxides, not sulphides, and the black from liver of sulphur is a
sulphide. Annealing the silver (heating it) and THEN pickling, however, =
would
do it, if you can do that to the piece. Otherwise, stay with the Tarnex =
type
chemicals, (or use the home brew method of washing soda solution in an =
aluminum
dish, or any dish with some aluminum foil in the bottom, with the silver =
on
contact with the aluminum. Give it a bit of time, and the sulphide comes=
off.
With Silver Black, if you want the black back off, you pretty much have =
to take
it off mechanically, by buffing or sanding, or something like that.

And an important note about Silver Black is that it contains some rather =
toxic
acid componants. While it may not smell as bad as liver of sulphur, it's=
fumes
are probably more potentially harmful to breath. Use it with good =
ventillation,
and take care not to get it on skin (wash it off if you do). Keep it =
away from
anywhere children can get access. It's pretty poisonous (while liver of =
sulphur
is also not something you'd want to drink, it's not at all in the same =
class.)

Another option for putting color in etched (etc) lines without actual =
enamelling
might be the fake enamels that use one or more types of resins. Products=
like
Ceramit/Cernit are polyester resins that can be cured either slowly at =
room
temperature, or more quickly at 150 degrees in even a home toaster oven. =
Colors
can be quite bright, either opaque or transparent, and are quite durable.=
There
are also epoxy resin products that also work well in the same way. Many=
of the
commercially made less expensive jewelry items that appear to be enameled=
often
actually use these low or room temperature resin enamel substitutes, and =
they
are quite easy to use. Even some types of plain hardware store paints =
can
adhere well to an etched line in silver, especially if it's not been =
polished,
but is still a matte surface in the line.

HTH,

Peter



"m3rma1d" wrote in message=20
news Druze wrote:
I am looking for ways of colouring fine indented lines in silver, NOT
involving enamelling. I have tried permanent ink which produces lovely
tranluscent colours but is not very hard wearing. I have heard that
colours other than black are possible to acheive with 'oxidisation'.
Any thoughts?

I've used gun bluing (from a gun store) which is a selenium salt, I
believe, and if you want color you might try acrylic paint, from an art
supply. It's pretty sturdy.

Lane