First day with argentium

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi all

Firstly a very big thank you to all those who have emailed me about
using Argentium. Great and very professional.

I was very nervous about using it as I had heard stories about how
hard it was to use from hobby people. Well Hello as a silversmith of
25 years all those stories are just that stories from ill trained
people.

Annealing not problem gentle flame, let it rest before quenching.

You can work it further than sterling before it needs to be
re-annealed.

Soldering, I have only used Argentium easy, a dream low melt point
and flows well.

My flux Comweld brazing flux #2 works like a charm.

Cleaned up with 1200 grit and wow was it quick.

Polished only once with Hyfin, no tripoli needed. The shine is
wonderful, much better than sterling.

Yes no firescale.

So it works faster and better than sterling. I have yet to set
stones but cannot see any problems.

About 25% more than sterling but the labour saving make the extra
cost insignificant.

I only made silver rings today but the labour saving means I can
make a better product and sell for the same price as the sterling.

For once the advertising about a product is TRUE.

A big thank you to A and E metals for making my special order in
Argentium and also to Cynthia Eid for her emails and for getting the
ball rolling in Australia.

Also the advertising material available is fantastic, thank you
Clare.

So Argentium will change your business, sterling will just not
compete.

So all my sterling will be in a run out sale now.

Only problem is I have to clean the oven, yuk big time, to cook the
Argentium tomorrow morning.

all the best
Richard

2

Dear Richard,

Thank you for giving us the follow-up on your first day using
Argentium Sterling! So glad to hear that all is going well! It is
good that you took the time to read and learn what to expect----I am
sure that contributed to your good experience.

Best wishes,
Cindy

3

Looking at the A&E website Argentium is no where near 25% more
expensive than silver example- 1mm round wire (or 18ga for those
still stuck in the dark ages of measurements)

STG = $0.94 / gmARG = $1.02 / gm
Hardly 25% closer to 6-7%

Ben

4

Hi Ben

the Argentium I used was a special order and so was more expensive
than stock sizes.

Should have mentioned that. Stock sizes are about 7% more than
sterling. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

So cool of A and E to make me a special order only 50 grams. That is
true service. Before tax it was $1.28 a gram tax 10% on top. Just
checked the invoice.

And delivered in less than a week. Amazing. No one else can make
special orders like A & E and delivery so fast. Also they now email
you with tracking info.

Got some stock sizes coming this week.

all the best
Richard

5

Hi Richard, Congratulations on your first day with Argentium. I
think you will find that saves a lot of work and it will allow you
to spend more time on the fun parts of jewelry design and
fabrication. As for those that think it is hard to work with I’m not
sure what planet they live onbut for me I think it is much nicer and
easier to work with than traditional sterling. The only drawback
I’ve found is that it can be brittle at red heat, although I’ve
never had a problem soldering with a pick unless I use it to push
parts together while hot. Even then as long as I’m very gentle and
don’t push too far it’s almost always ok. I use hard solder almost
exclusively, since it is less conductive than sterling it is easy to
keep previous joins from running just by controlling the torch
carefully. Anyway I’m sure you’ll find that Argentium is a dream to
work with and it will give you many new design possibilities that
would be impossible with sterling. Welcome to the world of
Argentium.