rec.crafts.jewelry
H i g h l i g h t s
Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Techniques
December 16, 1997 Issue #8
Highlights Editor:
~ Dr. E Aspler <@Service>
rec.crafts.jewelry newsgroup modarator:
~ Peter Rowe PWRowe@ix.netcom.comFrom: Peter Rowe PWRowe@ix.netcom.com
Attached are a number of recent messages sent to the usenet
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Peter Rowe
moderator
rec.craft.jewelry
…IN THIS EDITION…
“Jewelry cleaner”
~ jdrew10674@aol.com (JDrew10674)
~ Michael Weller mweller@erols.com
~ “N B WIDMER” nbwidmer@c-com.net
~ leeco11@aol.com (LeeCo11)
~ debster65@aol.com (Debster65)
~ “N B WIDMER” nbwidmer@c-com.net
“Solution to Tarnishing Gold”
~ leeco11@aol.com (LeeCo11)
~ Brett Gober bgober@mail.socket.net
“Casting with stones”
~ amjad96@aol.com (Amjad96)
// – H-E-L-P --//
Orchid rec.crafts.jewelry Highlights Digest
Jewelry cleaner
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
From: jdrew10674@aol.com (JDrew10674)
Can anyone recommend a safe, easy, home brewed jewelry cleaner.
Are those sonic machines safe? I hate spending $4 for “jewelry
cleaner” if it’s only dish soap.
From: Michael Weller mweller@erols.com
Are you cleaning gold or silver? For gold, soak the jewelry in a
solution of liquid dish soap for a while. 10 min…scrub with an
old tooth brush…rinse under running water…what you are cleaning
from gold is dead skin, oil from the fingers, soap scum from
washing your hands…for silver you have toi have a chemical
reaction to bring back the shine. mike
From: “N B WIDMER” nbwidmer@c-com.net
Try Mr. Clean and warm water - about 3 water to 1 Mr Clean.
Doesn’t smell as bad as ammonia and won’t blacken brass/copper
pieces. Don’t put opals in sonic! I’ve put most everything else
in a sonic (using this solution) for up to five min. This won’t
remove tarnish - just cleans off dirt and fingerprints.
From: leeco11@aol.com (LeeCo11)
If you want to make your own cleaner: Use dishwasher liquid soap
Mix in some amonia Add water. Soak jewelry and then go over it
with a soft toothbrust to loosen any heavy deposits. Ultrasonics
are safe. They have small ones for home use that aren’t as
powerful as commercial ones but they do work (just slower) and are
quite inexpensive. Or you could but a small commercial model. You
can also buy a commercial ultrasonic cleaner concentrate that you
buy by the gal from a jewelry supply. You just mix with water.
Lee
From: debster65@aol.com (Debster65)
Try tooth paste — the real white pasty kind. Works great on
silver and gold. Just brush on with an old tooth brush or rub with
a cloth or paper towel. Then rinse. Some of my fiends have used
it on gemstones.
Also, works on silver candle sticks, plates, flatware, etc.
From: “N B WIDMER” nbwidmer@c-com.net
As Peter just said PLEASE DON’T use toothpaste!! You won’t
notice the fine little scratches from the abrasive at first, but
they ARE there - especially if you apply with a paper towel or
toothbrush. Clean only with 100% cotton cloth without nubs, no
synthetics or paper. I recommend purchasing good thick 100%
cotton flannel by the yard and cutting it up. Pieces can be
re-used after washing for quite some time (until nubs start to
form). If you soak long enough in hot Mr. Clean or some other
solution you shouldn’t have to use a toothbrush. Silver is so
soft that even a soft toothbrush will impart fine scratches to a
fine mirror finish leaving it less reflective. Look in Tim
McCreight’s book, he has a diagram on top left of page 46 that
shows how light is reflected.
Solution to Tarnishing Gold
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
From: leeco11@aol.com (LeeCo11)
Hi, I posted a while ago with a problem about green gold
tarnishing. Many of you responded with ideas on what would cause
this and I want to thank all of you for your time and advice.
Found the solution. We finally got our castrer to check with his
metalurgist or whoever he gets his metal and alloys from. It
seems he was soaking the castings in Muriatic Acid to clean them
after cateing. The Acid chemically reacted with the high silver
content of the green gold to to make a photo reactive substance.
The more light that hit hte piece the more it would tarnish. Thats
why pieces were tarnishing in the showcase as well as when worn.
Well thanks again. Lee
From: Brett Gober bgober@mail.socket.net
Hopefully the metallurgist pointed out that if he uses alloys
containing silicon, he should not soak them in muriatic acid
(HCl). The acid will react with the silicon at the grain boundries
and will lead to cracking. For normal treatment of castings you
don’t need to use HCl.
Brett
Casting with stones
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
From: amjad96@aol.com (Amjad96)
We are doing a lot of casting in gold and silver which we set with
CZ stones after casting. Currently we are thinking of setting the
stones on the wax before casting. We would like any technical
and details on this process. Any help and information
would be greatly appreciate.
Amjad Mehregani
End of rec.crafts.jewelry Highlights Digest
// – H-E-L-P – //