This question is directed at Cynthia and Trevor. Please forgive me
for not remembering the discussion on the issue of mixing Argentium
and regular sterling. Recently I heard that a local supplier will not
carry Argentium because he says the two cannot be stored together. I
haven’t noticed any problem storing my finished pieces of the two
silvers together. Will there be a problem if I mix the two metals on
an item?
Will there be a problem if I mix the two metals on an item?
IMHO no, certainly not. Your Argentium Silver (AS) will behave more
or less like AS and your standard sterling (SS) will behave pretty
much as you’d expect it to. You may get a little cross-contamination
during soldering and polishing processes but you’d expect that: do
what you can to minimize it and you should be good to go.
Recently I heard that a local supplier will not carry Argentium
because he says the two cannot be stored together.
I know of no good reason why this would be so. For instance I’ve
been wearing a AS/SS loop-in-loop bracelet for several months now and
can see nothing in it that would support said supplier’s claim. On
the other hand maybe what he really meant was “I don’t WANT to carry
the two of them” in which case his statement makes a little more
sense although it would seem to indicate that he has an honesty
problem.
There is no problem storing them together. There is no problem using
them in the same piece of jewelry or metalwork. What CAN be a
problem, is telling the two metals apart, if labeling is not done
carefully. I imagine that is what the supplier meant about storing
them together. It is a problem for suppliers, because they know that
we get pretty upset when we are sent the wrong material, by mistake.
Perhaps that supplier feels that the “hassle” of having one more
alloy to keep track of is not worthwhile.
Problems like this can be solved with DYKEM LAYOUT FLUIDS. They are
used in industry to provide a dark field on metal. It goes on very
thin and is excellent for marking out a design with a sharp point.
Works great for intricate jewelry design too. Just spray the sheet
when it arrives. Wipes off with thinner or just let it burn off.
Comes in spray, liquid and markers. We also mark the reticulating
side of our Crinkle metal with a rolling rubber stamp and “permanent”
stamp ink to avoid confusion.
Bill
Bill, Deborah, Michele & Sarah
Reactive Metals Studio, Inc
928-634-3434, 800-876-3434, 928-634-6734fx