1st Silver Pendant

[hulagrub]

Posted this cab awhile back. Finished polishing it last night. The first pic is before adding the bail and doing the liver of sulfur.


Any tips on getting the liver of sulfur, to darken the silver better? I put it in hot, and let it sit for about an hour but was not satisfied with the darkening. I see a couple of solder spots I need to clean up.
Thanks for looking.

[Deb]

Hey Dave,

That's beautiful.  I envy your skills.  I'm just learning to do
silverwork, and it's not easy.

Great job!!

Deb    

[ScarlettoSara]

Well lookie here.... Mister Dave, I do declare you have skills you havent even shown us till now.
Charlotte said you make this silversmithing look easy and it sure is a pretty piece.
Can you tell me how you made it and maybe show the back and sides too please:)

[tgood1969]

It might be in the way you mixed the liver.  I get very dark (almost black) on silver by mixing 3/4 teaspoon of gel to about 6-8 oz of warm water... let sit for about 1 - 5 minutes (varies, longer if desired) and them rinse.  Afterwards, I brush lightly with OOO grade fine steel wool to soften the patina.  I have never used powered liver of sulfur but this works well with the gel.

Very nice pendant!

[hulagrub]

Thanks, Deb, Sara and Mike!
Guess I should have said, was using the crystals of sulfur (chunks) in water. Have heard alcohol works too.
Hey Sara, did this spice things up a little?

[Enchantra]

Gorgeous pendant.  You did good justice to the cab!   

Sorry I've never used Liver of Sulfur so I can't help you there.

[thewrightthings]

Dave, it is a beautiful pendant.  Love the design.  Did you solder on jump ring halves around the edges.  Great touch.

[spirit bear beads]

Dave I use a product called "silver black"  ( I think I got it at thunderbird)  yup I did..

http://www.thunderbirdsupply.com/proddetail.aspx?stockNum=717009

Or they also make a liquid Liver of Sulpher solution for darkening silver.  They both work Great!

[christopherl1234]

You did good Dave!

[Taogem]

   Exceptional !

[hulagrub]

Thanks Mia. Sara, will try and get sides and back pix tonight.
Paula. yup on the half jump ring. Did them on a 16 penny nail.

[ScarlettoSara]

It sure did get us stirred up you little ole rebel rouser:)
Looking forward to seeing how you created this beauty:)
Stay cool:)

[Steve]

Commercial Silverblack is the way to go for a good dark oxidation.  Insure you clean the silver before applying - fine steel wool, satin finish polishing wheel, etc.  This stuff is a mild solution of hydrochloric acid.

I like your bezel cup design - some tedious soldering there........Congrats on getting it as clean as you did - that's a hard thing to do with so many moving pieces..........

[slabbercabber]

Really nice work.   That's a lot of patience.  I haven't  used liver of sulfur since college goldsmithing class.  Lets just say that was a lifetime ago.  I do remember that cleanliness was the most important feature to make it work.  I think the sulfur was crushed with alcohol, but it has been a year or two.  When I did it, the transformation was basically immediate and the silver turned absolutely black.

[Neural]

Beautiful work!  Love the design.   I haven't worked with bezel tape that is serrated or otherwise not-flat on both edges.  With the outer rings lining it, it really goes well with the overall look.

[legendarygranite]

Nice work. Maybe we can trade stones for lessons. Way to go!

[MrsWTownsend]

Oooo that turned out REALLY PRETTY!!!  The bezel is absolutely perfect for the stone!