Pickled hollow body

Jewelry Discussion
1

Howdy all and Alan!

I tried filling my hollow body piece up with water before I
pickeled in an effort to keep the pickle out of the inside. It
sounded good but it did not work. Maybe I had the piece in the
pickel too long.

DeDe

2

Hello,

try using alum when pickling hollow bodies. When you use it warm
and in a good concentration it works quite well. And there should
be no problem if something stays inside the hollow form.

Sabine

sabineas virtual gallery
metal design, jewelry & silverwork
http://www.sabinea.com/

3

Why couldn’t you plug the hole, in the hollow body, with hard
wax or plastic? Curtis

4 
    I tried filling my hollow body piece up with water before
I pickeled in an effort to keep the pickle out of the inside.
It sounded good but it did not work. Maybe I had the piece in
the pickel too long.

I would think that a hollow body piece/water would need two
holes, one for the water to enter, the other for air to escape?
Then, maybe it would continue to be full when thrown into pickle.
In other words, I guess I’m not surprised that this method
didn’t work well . . . maybe the piece should have been in left
in water longer, or should have been picked up (still in water)
so that water wouldn’t drip out before being put into pickle???
(just guessing . . .)

I’ve never thought of about the pickle being left in the hollow piece, until
it was brought up . . . I’ve made these, polished and sold, without
consideration . . . (oops?)

5

DeDe

Now I’m really curious as I haven’t done this with small
forms(asssuming your’s is) for about twenty years. Did you move
the form around in the pickle a lot? Was the hole very large? How
long did you have the piece in the pickle and at what
temperature? This has worked well for large hollowware forms.
Oh, almost forgot, how did you know that the acid replaced the
water? Linda M

6

Howdy all:

I had two small holes in my piece and I am pretty sure that my
piece filled up with water before I pickeled- oh well. The piece
was pretty dirty tho and I had it in the pickle for at least 15
minutes.

D

7

I tried filling my hollow body piece up with water before I
pickeled in an effort to keep the pickle out of the inside. It
sounded good but it did not work. Maybe I had the piece in the
pickel too long.

Due to molecular motion the pickle will diffuse into the water

in the hollow body and the water will diffuse out into the
pickle. The hollow will always have some pickle in it, how much
depends on how long it was in the pickle and other factors like
how different the temperature of the water and the pickle were.
This is why I always use two small holes rather than one. With
two holes it is easy to rinse out the inside after pickling.

Jim

@jbin
James Binnion Metal Arts
4701 San Leandro St #18
Oakland, CA 94601
510-436-3552

8

DeDe I’ve found that if I put the form into the water while its
still too hot to touch, it will literally suck the water into the
ball, almost filling it. To expel the water after pickling,
re-heat (gently) aiming the hole into the pickle. Be careful not
to squirt it in your direction. As for the acid taste, did you
try filling the ball w/ a baking soda solution before your final
rinse? (insulin syringes are great for this, just dull the
needle w/ 400 grit paper)

Hank Paynter
Brook Hollow Studio

9

To clear pickle out of hollow form pieces I use a syringe with
needle (cut the point off so it’s safer to use)You’d have to have
a medical type friend to get them, not available to the general
public. However, a glue syringe at the hardware store is a good
second choice. After you remove it from the pickle, use the
syringe to draw the pickle out. I then drop the piece into a
baking soda and water solution to neutralize any pickle left in
the piece. That too can be cleared with the syringe. If I’m
ready to close up shop, an even easier method is to place the
piece on a folded up paper towel with the hole in contact with
the paper and let the paper towel do the work. Hope this helps.
Dess

10

Hello Linda:

The first hole in my piece was smaller then the second. The
holes would have fit an 18 and 20 gauge wire.

I held the piece down in clean water for about 30 minutes. (It
sunk to the bottom I walked away and worked on another piece)

Threw it in the pickel, let it sit for about 15 minutes (did not
stir item while in pickle). Clean piece off in clean water -
threw in a solution of baking soda and water (it was really
bubbling up a storm!) - washed the piece in clean water again.
Then since I had other things to work on I wrapped the piece in
a clean paper towel so the water inside could slowly drip out.
Then I heated the piece to steam out the remaining water. The
piece became very dirty when I was heating it. This ususally
happens when pickle is still inside piece and leaks out. I then
continued to clean the piece out with boiling water.

I will try it again - don’t know what I did wrong!

DeDe