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Sterling with gold cast after tumbling

#1

I’ve just finished tumbling some "925 castings and they all have a
gold finish to them. I changed burnishing solution twice. Tried dawn
and still… I haven’t seen anything in Judy Hocks book ( which has
been a Godsend by the way ) I also used shot (stnls) for gold
castings. So Any reasons other than I may be missing something RIGHT
IN FRONT OF ME? Thanks again in advance…

P.S. Y’all do know this site could be used for a complete online
education in metal arts just by continuing to ask and read… GEEZ
I’m worn out

#2

I’ve just finished tumbling some "925 castings and they all have a
gold finish to them. I changed burnishing solution twice. Tried dawn
and still… I haven’t seen anything in Judy Hocks book ( which has
been a Godsend by the way ) I also used shot (stnls) for gold
castings. So Any reasons other than I may be missing something RIGHT
IN FRONT OF ME? Thanks again in advance…

P.S. Y’all do know this site could be used for a complete online
education in metal arts just by continuing to ask and read… GEEZ
I’m worn out

#3 
I also used shot (stnls) for gold castings.

This may be that “something RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME?”… the gold which
has transfered to the stainless shot has burnished onto your
sterling.

Happy Holidays!

#4

Well - here are a couple of things to try.

Have you run the pieces in abrasive media prior to the steel? In any
case, that will clean up the work. While that is running, try the
trick with a can of Coke to clean up your steel. Since the first
color you get with LOS is gold, that might be what’s going on - that
is somehow your barrel and/or your shot got contaminated with weak
LOS. So after cleaning the pieces in abrasive media, now try running
in the steel - clean solution etc.

It’s not likely that they are gold plated - I regularly run a
mixture of gold and silver and the stuff doesn’t plate out. ( Much of
my work is mixed metals).

Now for the details - exactly what are you running in what machine
with what solution? Have you adequately removed investment prior to
tumbling?

We can figure this out, but it’s hard when I have to guess about so
much.

Judy Hoch

#5

I had a problem with all my sterling items coming out of the tumbler
looking like gold for the last few months. It was tarnish that was
slightly developed on the silver. The cause was a failed patina
experiment that I had tried to fix by tumbling. It left a residue on
the shot. The problem was gradually resolved with repeated use of the
tumbler, but it probably could have been fixed instantly with a shot
cleaner. The gold looking silver was easily cleaned up with an acid
jewelry cleaner.

Susan
Sun Country Gems LLC
http://www.suncountrygems.com