Annealing Silver

[crthomps]

Does anyone have any idea how one might anneal sterling silver, or knows someone in the LA area who does this? I've searched and called a bunch of companies, but haven't made any progress.

Please advise.

 

[swall]

The desk edition of the Metals Handbook shows maximum elongation is achieved in sterling silver wire (.091" dia) with an annealing temperature of 600C. You would need a hydrogen atmosphere or vacuum furnace.

 

[EdStainless]

It depends on the composition of the silver. You could try 400F. This should remove the effects of prior cold work, but it may not be a full anneal. This could be done in air as long as everything is very clean and there is not sulfur anywhere near (no combustion of oil or gas, only cleaned with pure solvents).

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[tomwalz]

Maybe wrap it in stainless heat treat foil. If you put a bit of paper inside the paper burns and consumes the oxygen.

Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.

http://www.carbideprocessors.com

 

[mphillipps]

Adding onto crthomps question:
When annealing silver, is it possible to eliminate any or all warping of the metal? In the past I have seen that "soft" metals tend to distort shape when heated to annealing temperatures. I have never seen a way of preventing this. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Robertmet]

Try 1200 F for 20 min. This sterling silver is a precipitation hardening alloy .To harden anneal at 1200 F 20 min, quench, age at 600 F for 1 hour .Cold working unevenly may cause warping when annealing.Vacuum or inert gas will prevent oxides [hard to remove ]from forming.

 

[unclesyd]

If you have some scrap pieces you may want to try:

To Anneal:

1000F for 20 minutes and quench in water.

To Harden:

650F for 6-7 hrs and air cool or cool in furnace/oven/kiln.