The image was printed onto PNP Blue etching transfer sheet, which was then transferred to the Argentium.\u00a0 I used ferric nitrate for the etching process.\u00a0 When I was happy with the result, the silver was cleaned up and the designs saw pierced using a jeweller’s saw.\u00a0 After finishing the edges of the aeroplanes using files, I fused them onto another sheet of Argentium sterling, to which I had given a hammered finish.\u00a0 The cufflink findings were then soldered onto the backs, before polishing and then hardening in my domestic oven.\u00a0 Discolouration was then pickled away before a final quick buff.<\/p>\n

Here are a few pictures of the finished result.\u00a0 Photographing them was a whole different learning curve!<\/p>\n

\n\t $\"Argentium$ <\/a>\n\t

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

I was HUGELY impressed with the Argentium and in particular how easily it fused, and that I didn’t have to contend with any firestain!\u00a0 I did have a couple of problems making the cufflinks though, one to do with Argentium, and one self induced.\u00a0 The self induced problem was that I cooked the steel springs in one pair of cufflink findings, and so had to cut them off and solder on a new pair using a lower melting point solder.\u00a0 Lesson learned that I can’t always use my favourite, hard solder for everything.\u00a0 I used easy, as the medium solder I have does not flow nicely and has a texture like crunchy peanut butter when it melts!\u00a0 I must find some decent medium solder.<\/p>\n

The other problem I had was that the Argentium didn’t seem to want to take a polish as easily as standard sterling silver.\u00a0 I’m presuming this is because of the layer of germanium oxide, which is harder than sterling silver.\u00a0 If anybody has any suggestions for a suitable polishing compound for Argentium sterling, which will produce a high polish, I’d be very interested.\u00a0 I was not happy that I couldn’t get into all the nooks and crannies and get rid of the “frosted” look, so in the end, I used a steel burnisher to put a shine into those areas.\u00a0 It worked pretty well, but when louped (and in the pictures above), you can see some scratches as a result.\u00a0 Fortunately, they are not visible to the naked eye in real size.\u00a0 The customer was over the moon with happiness at how they turned out, and will be placing another order.\u00a0 I will be using Argentium again soon – it’s great!!!\u00a0 Oh and this etching lark is a whole lot of fun!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My main supplier has recently started carrying Argentium sterling, so I decided I had to give it a try.\u00a0 I had an order for a pair of “Spitfire” cufflinks for a customer who has a relative in the RAF. The image was printed onto PNP Blue etching transfer sheet, which was then transferred to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/helensgems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/helensgems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/helensgems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/helensgems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/helensgems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/helensgems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/helensgems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}