Orchidians,
Through a recent Orchid posting, I was turned onto United Precious
Metal’s S88 Fire-scale free, tarnish resistant sterling silver
alloy. I am really impressed with it. For the past month, I have been
alloying my own S88 sterling wire and sheet, and fabricating a number
of sterling projects with it. Marvelous stuff! Absolutely no
fire-scale, even when annealed with no flux barriers, and can be
quenched quickly after annealing, with no fears of breaking.
It is quite easy to form, and takes a beautiful finish. Although I
haven’t had much experience casting with it yet, a few of my students
cast with it last night, and the castings came out very clean and
bright, with a very smooth surface. So far, so good. I know there has
been a lot of interest in the new Argentium sterling out on the
market, and I have experimented with it. My experience with the
Argentium was that it was a bit quirky to use, and the long cooling
period required after heating or soldering to avoid breaking was
annoying for me personally. (I’m moving pretty fast when I’m
working, I guess, and I hate to slow down to watch metal cool.) The
S88 Sterling, on the other hand, was a pure joy to use, and I hope
more metalsmiths will start using it.
I plan to be at the Orchid Dinner, and would be happy to discuss
this alloy with anyone who is interested in it. (Oh, by the way, I
don’t work for United, I just happen to like their alloy!)
—Jay Whaley UCSD Craft Center