Also, developing intuition over time for how much tool and hand pressure is needed helps, too. Using non-plated, solid base metals opens the door to a few other options.
Tool marks and scratches on the metal surface can be sanded away using files, sanding sticks or sanding sponges. To get a smooth result, work from from coarser to finer grits on the area to remove the mark then gradually smooth the new surface.
Many metals will oxidize or experience surface changes over time as a result of being in contact with oxygen. Oxygen is in air and in water and acids. Think about sweat and how exercise or living in a hot environment causes jewelry to tarnish or oxidize faster than desired. Body sweat is 4. It also explains why something as simple as keeping jewelry in a zip-lock bag can prevent some oxidization by decreasing exposure to oxygen.
Though eventually the jewelry must come out to be enjoyed, so decide whether to attempt to prevent or push the natural oxidization as part of your designing.
Some people seek to seal their designs using waxes or spray clear acrylics. These will act like a clear nail polish coating, and may be prone to yellowing and drying out depending on the quality used. Stones and other components in the design also might not be happy being coated by the acrylic. For those who desire to keep their metals shiny, a great article on cleaning copper and brass, can be found HERE.
Using agents to force the color change instead of waiting for oxidization to take place naturally is an option. When silver tarnishes it goes through a process much like dying hair darker as it goes blonde, then coppery then black.
When jewelry is fully darkened and re-polished, those unattractive phases are avoided, and the pieces just need worn frequently to keep the high points buffed off. There are a variety of patina methods available and some are dependent on the metal type being treated.
It works on copper alloys, which includes sterling since it contains about 7. Brass is not as reactive to LOS and may require different chemicals to get a good patina. One thing not up for debate is that LOS has a characteristic stinky rotten-egg smell. When used in the rock lump form, Liver of Sulfur can have an unstable shelf-life and weaken quickly over time. Currently there are stabilized gel forms that require just a small amount for the desired result, so the first bottle goes a long way!
Regardless of what finish you find the most appealing, experiment and be informed about it so you can educate your friends and customers in what to expect from their pieces. Disclaimer: this article is a result of my experience and research during my jewelry designing and is only an introduction into the concepts discussed.
The reader is encouraged to engage in learning as part of their own artistic practice before engaging in the use of new materials and tools. Click to Receive Daily Tips by Email. This article was very helpful. This eventually causes pitting of the wire, which creates more surface area, which will cause your jewelry to oxidize naturally more quickly.
Neutralizing those acids will halt that etching process. Prepare a warm bath of water and blue Dawn dish soap. I use a small bucket for this step, but you can just as easily do it in your sink. Using a small wad of wet steel wool, gently burnish your jewelry to bring back bright metal highlights on all the high spots.
This step can be tedious. Once satisfied with the highlights on your jewelry, thoroughly rinse the jewelry under clean running water to remove any small particles of steel wool. An old toothbrush comes in very handy at this point to help remove all traces of steel wool. Load your freshly burnished and cleaned jewelry into a tumbler barrel.
Fill the barrel to just above the surface of your jewelry with hot tap water and add a generous squirt of Dawn dish soap. Carefully seal your barrel, put it on the tumbler. Plug your tumbler in and let it run uninterrupted for at least two hours.
Dump the contents of your tumbler into a fine-mesh kitchen colander after tumbling. Rinse the jewelry and the shot thoroughly, and pick out your jewelry. I lay my jewelry out to dry on a clean towel, and I air dry my steel shot completely in the colander before putting it back in the barrel for storage.
The longer you tumble your jewelry, the better your polish will be. But first determine if the gemstones or beads in your jewelry are safe to tumble. The orange Apple Coral beads in the main image above, for instance, are quite soft and porous.
I then finished polishing those earrings by hand. Wondering how? I have a tutorial for that! The cleaning solution I use is the exact same solution that I use to remove fire scale on torched copper or sterling silver wire.
The only difference is that I heat that solution aka pickle in a small crock pot. The heat helps to more quickly break up the fire scale. Never use steel utensils in your cleaning or pickle solution. Because this solution is mildly acidic, it actually etches away the surface of your metal jewelry. If you use it long enough, your cleaning solution will begin to turn blue. Those copper sulfates can bond with and discolor your silver jewelry if you introduce steel into the solution.
If I need to fish a piece of jewelry out of my cleaning solution, I always use a clean bamboo skewer. Always rinse your sink thoroughly after cleaning and burnishing your jewelry with steel wool. LOS comes in two different forms: the dry lump form, which comes in a small plastic tub, and the extended life gel form, which comes in a small metal container like a paint can or a plastic bottle.
I do not recommend buying the dry lump form as it is not shelf-stable. This LOS is highly susceptible to changes in heat and humidity, and it will go bad on you very quickly. The gel form is much more stable and will keep indefinitely. So, read the product descriptions carefully — especially when shopping online — to make sure you get the extended life gel form. Do not pour your LOS solution down the drain. You need to neutralize it first before you dispose of it.
Seal the container and allow it to neutralize for a couple of days. You can identify neutralized LOS in two ways. It becomes clear and it no longer smells like sulfur.
You can safely dump neutralized LOS down your drain. As you continue to use your metal cleaning solution, copper sulfates will continue to build up. This applies to your pickle solution as well. Never pour this solution down the drain as high levels of copper sulfates can be highly toxic to humans and animals.
So, are you ready to patina and polish your first batch of jewelry? Get the password for the library with the free Patina Process Checklist here by filling out this form:. Want to learn more about making wire jewelry? September 13, 0. September 6, 2. August 7, 2. August 3, 1.
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