Pickle question

HI, I'm new here, and am a jewelry maker so I'm familiar with soldering. I'm starting to do my first project with steel and silver. (conchos) My question is what is a good pickle to use for a steel/sterling combination. Will my Rio pickle work or should I be using a Sparex #1 or #2 ?

You are definitely gonna have copper plating out of the solution all over both metals IF the "standard" pickle solution has been used before - with any copper bearing alloy including sterling. (the standard being dry sodium bisulfate mixed with water in the jewelry industry)

Minute amounts of copper are leached into the pickle solution each time you immerse anything containing it.


However, if the solution is fresh, unless the sterling is way more than half the area, I doubt you will even get a reaction - IF you don't leave the item in there longer than necessary.

Problem is - that if you are doing multiples, you will have to change to a fresh batch each time...


Sparex is on my hit list. First off it is way overpriced - as are almost all "jewelry" chemicals - as well as tools.

Second, the quality sucks. I don't want to pay good money for a product that constantly forms a brown scum on top.

Go down to your nearest grocery store or hardware/pool supply and buy far a purer product, usually called something like "PH Down" made for balancing PH in swimming pools - for half or a quarter of the price. Make sure you read the label and that the active ingredient is sodium bisulfate.


If your goal is simply to remove the flux residues, hot water will do just fine. You can remove firescale manually with bobbing compound, Greystar or the like on a buffing wheel. Tripoli is generally too slow for me...


There are "safe" pickles these days, but each has it's little quirks or drawbacks too. You can use a lot of commonly available chemicals on your own - without, again, paying exorbitant "jewelers" prices. For example - alum from the baking aisle of the supermarket. Or food grade citric acid.


And then there are specific formulas solely for nickel or ferrous metals.


Brian

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering if the PH down would also work. Will give it a try!

Years ago, i had a terrible fire with my pickle pot( I make buckles & conchos)my solution was to get a glass bead blaster & use a very fine medium of glass(extra fine) this cleaned up the solder runout and no damage to silver, leaving a matt finish that polishes out & is ready for blueing or browning which ever you prefer

Interesting solution. I do have a sandblast cabinet, might give that a try also.

Brian Marshall said:

You are definitely gonna have copper plating out of the solution all over both metals IF the "standard" pickle solution has been used before. (the dry standard being sodium bisulfate in the jewelry industry)

However, if the solution is fresh, unless the sterling is way more than half the area, I doubt you will even get a reaction - IF you don't leave the item in there longer than necessary.

Problem is - that if you are doing multiples, you will have to change to a fresh batch each time...


Sparex is on my hit list. First off it is way overpriced - as are almost all "jewelry" chemicals - as well as tools.

Second the quality sucks. I don't want to pay good money for a product that constantly forms a brown scum on top.

Go down to your nearest grocery store or hardware/pool supply and buy far a purer product, usually called something like "PH Down" made for balancing PH in swimming pools - for half or a quarter of the price. Make sure you read the label and that the active ingredient is sodium bisulfate.


If your goal is simply to remove the flux residues, hot water will do just fine. You can remove firescale manually with bobbing compound, Greystar or the like on a buffing wheel. Tripoli is generally too slow for me...


There are "safe" pickles these days, but each has it's little quirks or drawbacks too. You can use a lot of commonly available chemicals on your own - without, again, paying exorbitant "jewelers" prices. For example - alum from the baking aisle of the supermarket. Or food grade citric acid.


Pickle solutions are also not as simple as they seem. There is a specific formula for nickel, for example.


Brian

Click to expand...

Thank you Brian, I learn something new again today , you should be writing a hints and tips book,

Richard.

I am. It's gonna be called "201 Tips & Tricks - for Less Money" - than the other book by a similar name


Brian

Thanks for the tips! PH down and graystar worked like a charm. Have them all polished up and ready to engrave now.

Sage Hen said:

Thanks for the tips! PH down and graystar worked like a charm. Have them all polished up and ready to engrave now.

Click to expand...

So ph down allowed you to mix steel and silver with no plating?
I know citric acid will also allow steel and silver to mix in it. But I find that I wind up with the residue on my pieces. Just a fine invisible stuff that is U apparent till I try to polish.

That will only work when the solution is fresh.

Once you've run enough sterling through it, the copper that leaches out of the silver WILL plate. Both the silver and the steel.

You might get a couple batches before it starts showing...


But the stuff is cheap enough - and you can reuse it as pickle for precious metals until it is oversaturated with copper - as long as no ferrous metals are introduced. (Supersaturated is when it turns green and crystals start forming at the bottom)


Brian


There needs to be something written about safely disposing of the solution. At the moment, I simply dry it down to crystals and bag it in with the copper scrap.

Not sure if the recycler who picks up the metal every coupla years knows what it is or what to do with it?


DO NOT dump it, let it get into your septic system or public drain systems. Neither mild sulfuric acid nor copper salts are "healthy"...

Brian.
Thanks for the great tips. I ran out of pickle and found what you recomended at BiMart today. Saved me from waiting for a week ,shipping price and I got twice as much for the money. I do a lot of silver gun mounts.

The best part (to me) of this whole thread - is actually reading that 2 people got something out of what I posted!

Almost never know if I write anything useful? (other than the "likes" which are OK, but not the same as knowing that someone actually got some use out of it - and why it worked for them)


Brian