How to Make Silver Soft Again
July 31, 2012 / Educational
This is an introduction to the concepts of work hardening and annealing. It is disquisitional that beginning metalsmiths starting to hammer, solder and form metals sympathize these principles. Read on to learn more. This popular blog mail service was updated in 2019.
One of the starting time lessons in jewelry making involves the concept of work hardening and annealing metal. The most commonly used example to illustrate the concept is the familiar experience of angle a paperclip wire back and forth until the metallic finally snaps. The wire starts out flexible so what makes it eventually break? The reply is work hardening.
Piece of work Hardening
Many jewelry makers have felt the effects of piece of work hardening. Sometimes you can break a headpin or a piece of wire when repeatedly trying to become a scroll only right. The breakage is not due to bad metallic sheet it has but been piece of work hardened by too much movement.
Piece of work hardening is not e'er terrible. I purposely work hardened this claw pendant to bear witness cracks in key locations on the pendant, for instance, around the claws and the edges. - Erica Stice
Angle, hammering and shaping metal wire or sheet puts stress on the metal. Those tasks are actually moving the molecules in the metallic to a point where they are no longer able to absorb force per unit area. When this happens, it will literally fissure or pause the metal. Shop CUFF BLANKS >>
Annealing Sheet Metallic
As you are working a slice of metal, you will feel when information technology begins to resist alterations every bit it work hardens. The good news is that about jewelry metals are easily softened or "annealed" to brand them workable again. In fact, you can go through many cycles of piece of work hardening and annealing on a unmarried piece of jewelry.
The leafage pendant shown above, was heavily piece of work hardened to achieve the final result. It was fold formed, rounded & shaped, textured, filed and cut, which put tremendous strain on the sterling silver sheet, therefore I annealed the silver four-5 times just to preclude whatever cracks from forming. - Erica Stice
When y'all feel the canvas metal begin to work harden, immediately anneal to avert breakage. Annealing silvery metallic also soon will not be a big trouble but waiting until it is too late may crusade irreparable damage. SHOP SHEET METAL >>
Steps to Annealing
To amalgamate a metal y'all must bring it up to a critical temperature with a torch and then quench the hot metallic in water. Be conscientious not to heat metals across the annealing temperature or they will cook. A good guide, to foreclose this from happening, is to use a permanent marker on the metal sail. The mark will burn off well-nigh the annealing temperature of copper and argent, then yous know to stop heating and quench it.
- Place your work-hardened metallic on a prophylactic soldering board or charcoal block.
- Have a permanent marker and use it to draw a line on your metal canvass.
- Take your torch and set it on the largest flame that y'all can.
- Heat the unabridged piece, otherwise the parts unheated will remain work hardened.
- Turn off the torch every bit presently every bit the marking line disappears.
- Immediately quench information technology in water.
Note: Dry your piece thoroughly subsequently quenching it, water tin impairment your jewelry tools if information technology'southward not completely wiped off.
Lookout man the video below to encounter how rapidly metal tin be annealed.
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