Not a straight mix, but mix in another element and you can alloy silver and nickel. CIA
Yes, but you are still not going to get significant amounts of Ni
into a high silver alloy. For example there is a silver copper nickel
alloy used in electrical relay contacts. 75% Ag, 24.5% Cu, 0.5% Ni.
If you try to get more nickel in the alloy it will just segregate on
cooling into two separate alloys. Not so good.
James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
Surprisely, my ears are allergic to silver ( must have been the stress from grad school) so if I try on or put on silver earwires, my ears get red and very itchy.
Whether sterling or another metal if there is irritation with
earrings it might be worth the time to check the end of the ear wire
with a loupe. I have seen cases where a rough end on the wire did
the earlobe no favors while passing through.
J Collier Metalsmith
Yes, but you are still not going to get significant amounts of Ni into a high silver alloy. For example there is a silver copper nickel alloy used in electrical relay contacts. 75% Ag, 24.5% Cu, 0.5% Ni. If you try to get more nickel in the alloy it will just segregate on cooling into two separate alloys. Not so good.
Absolutely, and there are better elements to use anyway.
Regards Charles A.
P.S. Had a failure with a Mokume experiment today, more the problem
with my heating device, it seems to have hot and super hot, even the
lowest setting is close to 800C, which is a bugger then you’re
attempting fine silver and 90/10. I managed to bond some Shakudo and
Shibuichi, but I was fighting oxidisation all the way… sucked. Im
going to go charcoal I think for my next attempts with these alloys.
Hello,
Not sure what you mean by Ar as that is argon. but if you mean Ag for silver then you need to look at the phase diagram for Ag-Ni there is no room temperature solubility of Ni in Ag. "
Yes James, you’re correct, it needs to be Ag and not Ar, my mistake.
Like I already wrote, this is I have from books and not
from practice. Ni in Ag is indeed used for implementing a better grain
size but I don’t see a need for having it in an alloy if you have
other way’s to improve the grain size of Ag. I don’t even know if that
amount of Ni can cause a Ni allergy, just a thought crossing my mind.
It sounds interesting to me that such little amount of an element
can have an impact in an alloy to start the solidification process.
Have fun and enjoy
Pedro
PS: btw,thanks for the correction James.
Hi James,
If you were trying to be dodgy you’d be throwing in the cheapest
working filler that you could, and in Australia, as long as the fine
silver content is 925 parts per thousand, then it can be stamped as
such.
I have an errata, the Australian standard does not preclude the use
of nickel in a precious metal alloy, but it does limit its use. 3%
for items involving external skin contact. 0.05% for body piercing
post assemblies.
Personally I would only use nickel as accents within the blades of
collector knives. There are a few patents which have a very small
proportion of nickel in a mix of silver and a few other elements,
but I wont be using them. Nickel has its uses, but for me jewellery
isn’t it.
Regards Charles A.
The ‘allergy’ can be related to the finish of the ends of ear ring
posts.
If the post has a scratchy end comprising a snipper and a tumble
then the skin of the ear will be scratched every time the post is
inserted through the ear.
The metal gets blamed when the finish should be blamed.
Ear ring posts must have smooth rounded points that push through the
ear without any damage to the skin.
If the allergy is clearly demonstrated on the finger the ring is
worn on…I will believe it and take the ring back with full refund.
I do not wish to be a researcher finding the exact allergy by trial
and error for free. The customer needs to find the exact allergy for
sure and then disclose it to me. Look at all the possibilities.
Alastair
If you were trying to be dodgy you'd be throwing in the cheapest working filler that you could, and in Australia, as long as the fine silver content is 925 parts per thousand, then it can be stamped as such.
Oh I fully understand that but two things, first nickel is not cheap
in comparison to other base metals and second you have to end up
with a functional alloy which will not result from trying to stuff
nickel onto a silver alloy.
Jim
James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
It sounds interesting to me that such little amount of an element can have an impact in an alloy to start the solidification process.
Most grain refiners are very tiny additions and they are chosen
because they don’t mix into the alloy thereby providing nucleation
sites for the formation of grains (crystals) out of the melt.
Sterling silver alloys don’t typically get grain refining additions.
It is more common in gold alloys where iridium is often used.
James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
Up near the solidification point of silver you can get a few tenths
percent of Ni in Ag but the only reason for putting Ni in Ag would
be to play some games with grain size.
Just to endorse James’ comments here. A company I worked for used to
make large amounts of a 99.85% silver 0.15% nickel alloy for
electrical contact applications. This alloy was induction melted and
the nickel content was introduced using scrap material from a silver
10% nickel alloy we manufactured (also for electrical contact
applications) using a powder metallurgical process. The nickel
content in the silver 0.15% nickel alloy was included to control the
grain size and prevent grain growth in the finished electric contact
(as a consequence of the temperatures generated in the contact due to
the electric currents passing through the switch). If you look at any
lower silver content alloys which contain nickel there will be copper
present as a copper-nickel master alloy is the usual way to
introduce nickel into a silver alloy, use of pure nickel powder does
not work due to the limited solubility of the nickel in silver.
Charles Allenden
Unfortunately, the use of nickel on people has not been limited to
jewelry. In the 80s and early 90s it was common for some dentists to
cheap out on the metal base of porcelain crowns and use alloys that
contained nickel. The result? A kind of contact dermatitis a
sensitivity of the gums. Apropos of Victoria’s post…if you have a
metal allergy (especially nickel) and need to have a knee, hip or
shoulder replacement, be sure to inform your surgeon BEFORE the
procedure so that the joint replacement prosthesis will not contain
the offending metal, thus avoiding complications.
This site listed below has a pretty nice size “how to” instruction
library and product reviews also.
This website that will send weekly instructional e-mails on cameras,
technique etc. : Photography Tips and Tutorials for Beginners
Here is an how to technique sample that helped me take better
pictures of jewelry: How to Make An Inexpensive Light Tent - DIY
Hope this helps
Debra Phillips