Chalcedony in pickle

Hi,

We built a ring with diamonds and Chalcedony, and I need to put the
ring in the pickle because we had to laser around the diamonds and
some turned black. Will a Chalcedony stone be ok to go into the acid?

Thanks,
HB

We built a ring with diamonds and Chalcedony, and I need to put
the ring in the pickle because we had to laser around the diamonds
and some turned black. Will a Chalcedony stone be ok to go into the
acid? 

Yes, chalcedony can go in the pickle. But I think you’ll find the
pickle doesn’t help with the black around the laser welds. Pickle is
good for removing oxides, and generally, that black residue is not
oxidation. Usually, it’s actual metal, which was vaporized by the
laser and has condensed back on surrounding surfaces.

If the black is behind diamonds, and cannot be reached by
ultrasonics or steam, it can be removed by fluxing or coating with
the usual boric acid firecoat, and gently heating until that flux
melts, which lifts off that black stuff, leaving the diamonds clean.
But this is a problem with your chalcedony, which cannot take that
heating. So best to rely just on the ultrasonic or steam cleaning.
The residue can be tenacious, so it may take some time in the cleaner
to come off, but eventually, it will. Leave it to clean in the
ultrasonic for a good while, and see if that takes off the black
residue.

Peter Rowe