Make text easier to read on jewelry

Discussion in 'Finishing Techniques' started by 1162196_deleted, May 31, 2016.

  1. HI,

    It's hard to read the writing on my jewelry.

    I saw this that has black on the letters, which makes it so easy to read. How do they do this?

    Or, does anyone have any other ideas to make text more readable for jewelry?

    Thanks,
    Elaine
     

    Attached Files:

  2. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    Looks like silver that was tarnished on purpose (various recipes around for that, from egg yolk to less friendly chemicals like "liver of sulfur") and then polished. (I noticed one designer wrote in a recent "It arrived" thread that he used black shoe polish to darken an engraving, but I suspect this is too messy to be useful for anything besides a photo shoot)
     
  3. numarul7
    numarul7 Well-Known Member
    Boil two eggs , cut them in round pieces , get a bag , put your jewelry in the bag with the eggs , leave it like that for 24 hours then polish the jewelry. It is valid for silver and brass.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2016
  4. katkinkead
    katkinkead Well-Known Member
    @numarul7 is that legit? or are you trolling!?
     
  5. PeterFitz
    PeterFitz Active Member
    Boiled eggs out-gas sulphur compounds that will oxidize metals like silver, brass, bronze and copper. It's not controllable enough for large-scale pieces like sculpture, but the principle is basically the same as any other fume-patination process.

    Note: the metal needs to be completely clean and grease-free before going into the fume chamber (or plastic bag), or else you will get a very patchy result and may very well end up with visible fingerprints on the piece.
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2016
  6. Is the fume-patination trick also possible with gold plated brass Shapeways has on offer?
     
  7. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    Extremely unlikely unless you remove the plating first. Gold does not tarnish that easily, if you really want it to form sulfides you have to dissolve it with a cyanide or aqua regia solution first...
    (Partial removal of the plating, e.g. using a thin drill to expose the brass in an engraving, will probably lead to ablation of the surrounding plating both through mechanical wear and undermining by continuing tarnishing of the exposed brass.)
     
  8. katkinkead
    katkinkead Well-Known Member
    Also, I looked up we had a tutorial about this in our wedding campaign... this blog he discusses how he added a patina to his silver:

    "GIVE IT A HANDMADE TOUCH
    I’d seen that you could polish silver, adding a chemical patina to it that gave the design more depth and detail. I tested this out on a sample and then polished each cufflink with Liver of Sulpher to give it more of a multi-dimensional, handmade feel."

    Maybe there's something here that can help... and not use stinky eggs!
     
  9. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    "Liver of sulfur" is a concentrated mixture of various sulfides, so the main olfactory difference besides concentration will be the addition of other unpleasant (and equally unhealthy) smells in addition to plain hydrogen sulfide. Good ventilation is a must, and absolutely avoid mixing it with acids - high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide will block your sense of smell in an instant, and can kill in seconds.