Beyond beginning again

 Well I got back into the groove with the silversmithing the other day and was chuffed with how my large pendant worked out. During the week, my mind kept turning to oxidising and trying to work out if I could oxidise some silver.

So I looked up books, and watched You Tubes and read blog posts and thought I think we could do this, and on Friday we did. We had purchased a couple of glasses bowls at the Op Shop for $5 and they will become our oxidising-only bowls.

I took my pendant apart, separating it into the three components.

And then we set about making up a mixture of Liver of Sulphur - which as one can imagine, smells like rotten eggs. Apparently you can also oxidise silver by leaving it in a plastic bag with some hard boiled eggs, but that is an experiment for another time.

You dip quickly, then drop into cold water, then dip again, and cool, and then dip again .... until you get the required depth of colour.

I was pretty happy with this colour. Then you brush it with a soft brass brush to remove some of it, and start again. This way, the oxidisation layers sort of grow into each other and bond; rather than simply layer themselves and then flake off. Apparently. 

Barry thought it would also be a good opportunity to re-oxidise the ring he made years ago with Lindsey in Thurso, so in it went as well.

And out it came.

And here is where we got to.

And here is the pendant put back together.  I really like the contrast between dark and shiny.

I like where this could be going...