A lot of my collection is created in sterling silver and then gets a
gold wash (gold vermeil).
I am seriously considering converting some of my designs to brass to
lower the pp, but am wondering how people feel about putting brass
earrings into their ears? Are people cool with it? or a lot of
allergies to brass, or just something people think is gross?
My other option is to solder sterling silver posts into the brass but
don’t know the first thing about joining these 2 metals. Can this be
done? Can this be done without one of the metals melting down? Would
you use a silver solder? or?
Thanks again for all of your help, I truly appreciate it.
Brass, along with bronze and other copper based alloys has been used
in jewellery predominantly in Africa for many centuries.
It seemed to work because the holes in the ear lobes were 1/4in or
larger, so lots of air and washing can get to to the hole to remove
salts from perspiration.
However in the western world the ear holes are generally only 1/32nd
in size so the risk of irritation from the reaction between
perspiration and the base metal is much greater. Youll soon have lots
of customers asking for their money back.
Also, the difference in cost of a brass ear wire to a silver one is
minimal.
Apart from the problem you will have that the brass jewellery will
look terrible in a very short time, unless you have it properly gold
or silver plated.
How many sets of ear jewellery do you sell in say a week? If its
dozens, then it would be worth investing in a flash butt welder. this
will enable you to use any ear wire you want,joining it to any
jewellery you make.
Otherwise use your normal technique for soldering, this will work on
brass, copper, stainless steel, tho the latter will need a reactive
flux. Same solder as normal.
Why havnt you experimented? its so easy to run a few simple trials.
Deasr Laurie, I suggest that you wear brass yourself for about a week
and see how it reacts to you. I can not wear brass, it swells my ears
and they itch, so I take them out. But some people can, but i notice
that brass looks dirty after worn a while, and people don’t like
that. Best of luck, I stick with hypoallergenic ear wires only, but
that wouldn’t work for you. I would stick with silver if I were you.
blessings pat
No. Many folks will not tolerate brass posts. You can solder silver
to brass. Just use silver solder. It’s easy as pie. You can also
silver solder stainless posts to brass if they are any cheaper than
silver. Just be sure to use paste flux.
I would never use anything but preious metals or perhaps titanium to
go through piercings. Stainless steel may work but people do have
nickel sensitivities so tso it is not always suitable. As for the
cost, I can make a ear hook out of 50mm of.7 mm wire. In the cost of
a pair of earings this pretty insubstantial. As a general principle
the only metal I use contact with skin is silver because I don’t work
in gold or platinum.
laurie I don’t even know if they make brass ear posts but I think
you are setting yourself up for lost sales if you use them. If you
can afford a sparkie it can’t be beat for putting on ear posts. In my
early jewelry making days I made thousands of brass, copper and
silver earrings with posts. In most instances I used (and still use)
titanium posts they are about as good as it gets when it comes to
allergic reactions, they are very inexpensive and with a sparkie
there is no soldering you can do a pair of earrings in less than a
minute with no cleanup except a wipe with a damp cloth. Dave Owen