ARGENTIUM® STERLING SILVER

TIPS FOR USING ARGENTIUM® SILVER .935

The reasons for using Argentium Sterling Silver are many.  Argentium Silver is an anti-oxidizing, anti-fire scale Sterling alloy that is extremely tarnish resistant.  It is the most important advance in silver technology in modern times.  It stays bright and beautiful for weeks, months, for years and requires only an occasional wipe with a soft cloth to remove a smudge or finger mark.

Fabrication and workability characteristics are much better than standard Sterling silver, and it can be heat treated to achieve hardness approximately twice as strong as standard Sterling Silver.  Unlike traditional Sterling Silver, Argentium Sterling casts and solders without fire scale and is laser and resistant weldable.  Excellent for making durable, tarnish resistant silver products.  Argentium Sterling Silver is available in casting grain, sheet, round wire, half round wire, square wire, tubing and solders.

MELTING:  Melt Temperature is 60º F  lower than standard sterling silver.  Solidus:  1522°F (828°C), Liquidus:  1724°F (935°C)

CASTING TEMPERATURE:  A pour temperature of 1780-1880°F (950-980°C) and a flask temperature below 1350°F (677°C) are recommended.  It may take a few attempts to become familiar with these lower temperatures.  If the metal looks yellow or light orange, it is too hot.  If you over heat the metal, it will become brittle.

REMELTING:  This could cause brittle castings.  For high quality pieces, G&S recommends using 75% fresh / 25% scrap mix.  Using more fresh metal will yield superior results.   It is important that used trees and buttons are free from investment powder residue to avoid sulfate contamination.  When trees become excessively dark, or any inclusions are present, the silver should be considered scrap.  It has most likely been depleted or contaminated.

FLUXING:  Use of a protective atmosphere to protect the molten metal is recommended, but flux can also be used if a protective atmosphere is not available.  Boric Acid is recommended.  Skim any surface oxides off of the surface before stirring.

QUENCHING:  Air cool for 30 minutes MINIMUM before quenching (the minimum necessary to avoid cracking).  Best results have been reported by completely cooling the flask and hand tapping out the casting with a wooden mallet.  To AVOID hand tapping, place in quenching bucket until plaster softens.

INCREASING THE HARDNESS OF CASTINGS:  This alloy will be approximately the same hardness as standard Sterling Silver when the flasks are quenched after 20 or 30 minutes.  Waiting until they are completely cool will result in much harder and stronger pieces.  When necessary, the hardness can be increased even further by placing the castings or whole tree in a glass pyrex dish in an oven set to 580° F for 45-60 minutes. At this point, a water quench is not necessary.   Typical hardness of rapidly quenched pieces is about 70 DPH(a Vickers standard measurement).  Flasks cooled to room temperature can approach 110 DPH, and heat-treated castings can approach 125 DPH! (Approximately twice the hardness of standard Sterling silver!)

INVESTMENT REMOVAL:  Most standard investment removers will successfully remove the investment powder.

ANTIQUING: Use hydrochloric or muratic acid.

FLASK TEMP:  In most cases, use your normal flask temperature.  Do not exceed 1250° F.

TUMBLE FINISHING:  Successful tumble finishing has been done using rough cut with epoxy cones and triangles in a vibratory tumbler, and also by using a steel shot mixture in a rotary tumbler.  It is very important to maintain clean shot and solution.

POLISHING:  To avoid contamination from other alloys in the workshop environment, it is ideal to have separate polishing wheels for use on Argentium Sterling only.  If this is not possible, thoroughly rake wheels before use.

RECYCLING:  When trees become excessively dark, or any inclusions are noticed, the silver should be considered scrap.  It has most likely been depleted or contaminated.

SOLDERING:  Argentium Sterling displays a lighter color when heated.  If the metal looks yellow or light orange, it is too hot.  Low temperature solders are therefore recommended.  For maximum results, use Argentium solders now available in sheet and round wire in easy, medium and hard tempers.  It is important to avoid overheating this metal.  Use standard soldering fluxes.

DENSITY:  10.3 g/c

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