Hi folks,
I was wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this or may have
some insight as to what has happened.
I recently got in an order from my caster in sterling silver. Most
of the pieces in one particular style came in a shade darker, or
more “grey” than usual. Also, the silver looked slightly more dull,
and not as shiny as all previous/other castings. I tried the
following, thinking perhaps it was just tarnished or not polished to
a high shine: tumbling in steel shot with burnishing compound,
several polishing wheels, buffs, various polishing compound,
etc…etc…and nothing, absolutely nothing helped. Sterling silver
still remained ever so slightly darker and duller. It’s not even
something you notice until you hold it up to a piece that is bright
and shiny.
Sending the pieces back to the caster to be recast, but after
speaking with them on the phone they don’t seem to have a clue as to
what was going on, and their logs did not show anything out of the
ordinary… Just trying to understand what might have caused this
inability to polish silver toa high, bright shine. The funny thing
is, the castings came out incredible as far as surface imperfections,
porousity, pits…there was not one in any of those pieces! It’s the
best looking lot in that respect. I am just baffled!
Thanks in advance!
Liz