In my recreational life in the Society for Creative Anachronism, I make crowns for our "Royalty" out of brass and nickel (white brass).
Mark, do you sell at Pennsic? I’ve not gone for over 20 years, but
I’ve been thinking of going back and maybe bringing some Medieval
style pieces. Not this year, but maybe next.
Elliot Nesterman
Hi Mark,
In my recreational life in the Society for Creative Anachronism, I make crowns for our "Royalty" out of brass and nickel (white brass).
I used to do coronets & crowns out of .050" titanium sheet. A
full-on ducal coronet weighed 2 ounces. I got a lot of sales by
that simple fact alone. No, not period, but if you don’t color it,
it’s just a grey metal, and if you’re good, you can get a gold-ish
tone to it.
Counts and barons, not so much, but dukes, yes. They’ve had hats long
enough to value “Tough and light”. This was about 20 years ago.
Ti had a lot more ‘wow’ factor back then. I don’t think anybody’s
been nuts enough to do that since I quit, so there may be a market
for them again. (If you can work stainless for armor, you can deal
with .050" Ti. Just don’t heat it. It’s all riveting, unless you have
a PUK or a very good TIG.)
Have fun,
Alberic/Brian
Hi
I guess we use the term nickel to mean nickel silver of German
silver.
Whatever the name it is still a cause of many allergic reactions.
Richard
I haven’t worked with nickel for decades. But recently purchased a
couple of sheets and wire to play with. For those who think the use
of nickelsilver is a recent phenomenon, please think again. “German
silver” was used for many traditional Eastern Native American trade
items in the 18th century, and as such I’m interested in reproducing
some of these strictly for my own use, or as gifts for my
re-enacting friends.
Linda in central FL
Brian, I don’t have any problem with you being informative
about’Nickel’. I’ve always called it 'Nickel (not ‘nickle’) Silver,
but it’salso known as German Silver. Rio Grande calls theirs ‘Nickel
Alloy’, and it’s 65% Cu, 17% Zinc, and 18% Nickel (oh, where, oh
where have my periodic table letters gone ?!?).
One of my customers calls it Sliver because it looks like Silver
compared to brass and copper.
I didn’t read this thread, but as to why people use it, cost is
probably the main reason, along with functionality ;real silver
being so much more expensive. Some guitars are made from it, and
bunches of other items that have a needfor strength and sometimes
the need for the color. It’s quite a bit tougher to work than
silver, and is harder on blanking dies. I use NS wire as a first
choice when making pancake dies that need to also emboss lines in
thin metal parts because it’s durable. It oxidizes fast, so I use
more flux, but generally, it’s about the same as smithing other
non-ferrous metals ; silver, brass, copper, bronze.
DS
Dar,
I have only rarely worked with Nickel silver. Usually if I have,
it’s been small-scale, and early on, I learned that I truly hated
the way it works. I have avoided it for years, but recently have
used it in a large belt buckle, as the base, and am surprised at how
it’s behaved. It has been surprisingly easy to work with, but I
still don’t trust it. From what I can see, most people use it
because of the cost of silver. Because, obviously (to me, at least),
silver would always be the superior choice.
Catherine
It surely has to be horses for courses, The best horse harness and
saddlery always used nickel brass fittings including the bit.
I have some here and when polished look superb. the reason is that
silver just wouldnt be strong enough for the same job.
ive used this alloy in a whole range of products, one of my best
lines is a bracelet made from cutlery that is nickel brass then
silver plated.
We are forbidden here in the UK to remake sterling flatware into
another product without destroying its original hall mark and have
the item re marked.
So its this nickel brass alloy that does the job and very well
indeed.
This alloy isnt easy to rework being hardenable when heavily worked,
so it has to be annealed first. this generally destroys the original
electroplate.
Since I do sculptural work such as fancy purses, the nickel adds a
nice gray background and is sturdy enough to be a rigid frame. I
think nickel works great if you need a rigid metal that is still
workable. works great for flatware fabrication. I only use nickel as
a pinback for jewelry for its sturdier than sterling. I have a
repair background so I have to balance how long will something hold
up and wear. I only use stainless steel earposts after having to do
some costly repairs with bezel set earrings.
Due to allergic reactions, nickel is not viable for jewelry.
Some of us metalsmiths do like working in nickel. Spot solder nicely
Joy
I agree with Catherine about sterlin silver being a top choice for
jewelry over nickel silver. When I was making jewelry I looked down
my nose at NS, as I did all base metals, but at the last regular job
I had, doing some NS was required. Mostly soldering of prefabricated
components (like cast pewter tops onto NS lighter cases), and I used
NS and brass to fabricate master models for casting. That was where
I got over my distaste for it, as far as working it, and I lightened
up overall asthe economics of NS vs. SS became more acceptable, over
the years.
I keep it around becuse it’s stronger than silver, and since I’m not
making jewelry anymore, it has obvious, and huge, differences in
functionality and cost in non-jewelry items. I haven’t kept up much
with what’s what in the world of Soutwestern and NativeAmerican
smithing, but I was talking to a Navajo
man a couple weeks ago (who was working for a freight company now,
because the economy had killed his jewelry making gig, delivering me
a load of copper to make make parts for a garden art manufacturer)
and he told me that most of the silversmiths out here were making a
lot of NS jewelry because silver was so high. He was younger than I
am, so I told him all about ‘the good old days’ when I started out
silversmithing, when silver was $1.75/oz. I didn’t hear much about
NS back then !!!
Dar
One of my only concerns with Nickel Silver is that I’ve been told
recently that it’s highly toxic. An industrial hygienist came to our
school to do a consultation, and while I haven’t heard the research
on it, apparently Nickel is a carcinogen, which is why it’s banned
in the EU. I know a lot of people are allergic to it, as well, which
would be a major concern for jewelry.
What comes around, goes around, doesn’t it? I have a much cherished
coffee table book entitled “Bridles of the Americas: Vol I Indian
Silver”. Fabulous photographs, and wonderful research into these
objects by the authors. It references German (nickel) silver from
both Spanish and (later) Mexican sources as a highly valued trade
item to various Native tribes of the southwest. The metal was used
for both bridle adornment and conchas for belts and hair drops.
Linda in central FL
One of my only concerns with Nickel Silver is that I've been told recently that it's highly toxic. An industrial hygienist came to our school to do a consultation, and while I haven't heard the research on it, apparently Nickel is a carcinogen, which is why it's banned in the EU. I know a lot of people are allergic to it, as well, which would be a major concern for jewelry.
Nickel sulfide is considered a carcinogen and some other nickel
compounds may also be carcinogenic. And many nickel compounds are
toxic but the metal itself is not considered to be particularly
toxic or hazardous. In fact it is one of those elements necessary
for life, it is in getting too much or the wrong type of nickel
compounds into your system that is not a good idea. If you react it
in certain chemical processes to make it bio available it is
definitely a problem but the chunk of metal itself is relatively
innocuous. The reason it is banned in the EU is because of contact
dermatitis not because it is a carcinogen. See
James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts