Yesterday was my first experience with Argentium® Sterling silver. I was able to get a couple of ounces of casting grain to practice with.
I was quite pleased with the results of my first experience. My son is graduating from high school this year and I wanted to make him a class ring.
I cast the ring in the same manor that I cast regular Sterling. As I melted the casting grain it seemed to me to be more viscous or "jelly like" than regular Sterling.
I let the flask cool fully before removing the ring. As I cut off the sprue, I noticed that the silver seemed to be harder than common Sterling. Filing it and cleaning it up too, took a little bit more work. I polished the ring using Tripoli® and then followed up with Zam®. It looked great.
I then decided that I would like to harden the ring a little bit more so I put the ring in the kitchen oven on a cast iron pan for an hour on the highest setting it would go (approximately 550 deg.).
When I took the ring out it had a thin layer of oxidation on it. I pickled the ring and polished it again.
This ring had a prong setting cast into it. The metal was hard enough that it was quite a lot of work setting the stone. Guess I need more practice working with Argentium® :).
If you need Designer Cabochons for your work, you can help support further work on this blog by buying them directly from me at Artfire.
