Speaking of annealing …
A friend asked a question of me today which I promised to lay
before this august and motley company …
This friend took in a job for another friend of a badly mangled
14K gold keyring, which apparently has some sentimental value to
the owner. This keyring – yes, the ring part, not the attached
fob or charm – was very badly bent in a car accident. My
friend (the one who accepted the job) annealed the keyring to
straighten it out. The keyring is now much too soft, with no
springiness.
My friend tried to workharden the keyring by hammering. This
didn’t work. He has already put some pretty good divots in with
his hammer, and doesn’t want to deface the item further.
Next, having read somewhere about hardening silver in an oven,
he baked the ring at about 600-degrees Fahrenheit for an hour.
This didn’t work either. Not having ever have hardened silver in
this way, my first reaction is that the temperature was too high,
and the time too short.
Have any of you any suggestions about hardening the keyring?
Please??
Thanks …
Marrin Fleet
@Marrin_and_Mary_Dell
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
(About halfway between the Gulf of Mexico
and Canada, on the Mississippi River;
home of Elvis and W.C.Handy)