Has anybody here had any experience with Stuller’s new alloy
Continuum silver? I have a project I want to do that will need
springy silver. I’ll be fabricating. not casting this piece.
Thanks for any info.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com
I got some 24g out of curiosity and have not found good info about
it on stuller’s site; maybe I am looking in the wrong spot. After
soldering, it turned black in the pickle (sparex 2), and I am having
trouble getting the black off. Not sure why. I fused on some of their
sterlium, and did not have as much trouble with the oxidation. I
tried using chasing tools with it against a rubber mat and
anticlastic raising, and it is very plastic when annealed or so I
thought.
Melissa
I have been fabricating jewelry with Continuum silver from Stuller.
What do you want to know?
Ruthie Cohen
Jo,
Check out stuller.com/continuum for more on Stuller's new Continuum Sterling Silver.
We will assume this is round wire. Anyway. the more cold work you put
into this alloy the more “spring” you will get so we advise annealed
stock be drawn at least 5 B&S gauges (not half gauges); this will
result in a “springy” final product with 69% cold work. Keep in mind.
the greater the cold work or “spring” the shorter the cycle life;
knowing the application would be very helpful in determining how much
“spring” is required.
Randy Welch
Stuller Inc., Research & Development
I would request a small sample of the wire back for the metals guys
to test. I am not sure of why. but I like find out. We would run
some test. there might be a small a very small chance it is
contaminated
Andy “The Tool Guy” Kroungold
I got some 24g out of curiosity and have not found good info about it on stuller's site; maybe I am looking in the wrong spot. After soldering, it turned black in the pickle (sparex 2), and I am having trouble getting the black off. Not sure why. I fused on some of their sterlium, and did not have as much trouble with the oxidation. I tried using chasing tools with it against a rubber mat and anticlastic raising, and it is very plastic when annealed or so I thought.
Melissa Keep an eye out for an email from our metallurgist to assist
with your concerns about oxidation. They are running a few test as we
speak.
Thanks
Dottie Lukaszeski
Stuller Inc., Metals Product Manager
Since there are no specific questions, let me give you a quick
summary of my findings. I was asked by Stuller to test both the
Continuum silver and also the Sterlium Plus silver by fabricating
pieces of jewelry. Since the Continuum alloy has palladium in it, it
is important that you remember that the palladium will have some
effect on the silver.
- It is important to firecoat the metal in an equal mix of boric
acid, 90 proof alcohol, and a teaspoon of Magic Flame before you
start soldering.
2.When you anneal the sheet, do NOT heat it to a dull red; you are
looking for a wet sort of greasy look. I count to 3 or 4 and then
quench in water.
-
If the metal turns black in soldering, it probably got cooked. I
used Handy Flux and had no issues. The green flux is not necessary
for Continuum but works well with Sterlium plus. -
I have not fused the metal yet, but we have made earrings, a pin,
a wire pendant that was fabricated with the Orion 150i in its
entirety with a bezel set opal, and a ring that was soldered
together. -
Sterling findings have been soldered on with no issues.
-
Drilling is a little interesting because the metal is HARDER to
drill thru than just plain silver. We riveted 14k gold-filled sheet
to the Continuum silver and found that out. Broke a bunch of drill
bits so upped the diameter of the drills a tad. -
Forging with the metal does not cause problems. We annealed it
before running some shank stock through the rolling mill to increase
the length. -
Interesting finding when soldering the shank onto the back of the
ring plate. Working in Sterlium Plus or regular sterling silver has
no issues for putting on the shank. When I soldered the shank in
Continuum silver, there were some sharp edges left that had to be
cleaned up. The solder did not fill the connections as well. Just
needed a little more solder- no biggie.
Any other questions, please feel free to give a shout.
Ruthie Cohen
1 Like
Ruthie- Have you tried heat hardening it? Have you poured an ingot
and rolled out sheet or bar stock? I’m making a pair of glasses for
myself and want white metal that will be harder than sterling. I also
want some sheet stock that is heavier than the 1 mm that Stuller
offers.
Of course I’d love to do them out of white gold, palladium or
platinum, but since this is a personal job and I’m not makng any
money on my materials I want to keep my costs down. The sapphires
alone are gonna be pretty costly.
I was very impressed wit the Continuum I saw at the Portland
Jeweler’s Symposium last fall.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com
This morning we took two short lengths of Continuum 24 gauge wire
from stock, each about 4" long. Both pieces were bright with no
visible discoloration.
The first wire was dipped in boric+ alcohol mixture and let dry.
Using a lazy flame, we flowed Stuller’s medium silver solder at three
different places along the length of wire and dropped it in a pot of
Magic Pickle.
After about 3 minutes we removed the wire from the pickle pot and it
came out shiny, with no hint of discoloration.
We did not dip the second wire in boric+alcohol mixture; we flowed
the medium silver solder at three locations. We saw light brown
surface oxide on either side of flowed solder. The wire was dipped in
hot solution of Magic Pickle for 3 minutes and removed. Most of the
brown discoloration was gone but you can still see a hint of
oxidation, which came off with slightest buffing.
What Melissa noticed was true but we could not reproduce it in our
production area. We may have to check your exact sample to
understand what’s going on.
Regards,
Shan Aithal
Corporate Metallurgist
Stuller, Inc
Hi Jo,
I’ll make this quick and simple.
Don’t treat Continuum Sterling different than normal silver.
When you are ready to get it hard, do a normal anneal, then put it in
an 800 f Oven for 10 min and remove. It is now near white gold
hardness.
It is oxide resistant, much more than traditional Sterling. Yes it
is silver and somewhat sensitive to sulfides. It is also less heat
sensitive.
Have Fun!!! I think you have found the perfect match for what you
are doing.
John Butler
Dear Shan,
Try your trial with different kinds of flux.
Most self-pickling fluxes are a bit different than the historic
white paste flux.
You have to compare more variables than you are. Most deox metals
will work better with the white paste flux.
Best regards,
Todd Hawkinson