Annealing Metal
Bending, twisting, sawing and hammering all contribute to work hardening metal. Work hardened metal is no longer easy to bend or shape and may crack with continued force. It can also damage your tools or equipment like the plates on your rolling mill.
To return the malleability to metal, it must be annealed. The key to perfectly annealed metal is reaching the correct temperature without overheating it. Using a torch, here are a few tips that will help insure that your metal has reached the proper annealing temperature without over heating it.
• Flux your sterling silver before annealing. Heat the metal until the flux resembles a glass-like surface.
• Use a permanent marker and write on the metal. Heat the metal until the marker ink has disappeared.
• Heat the metal until the flame from the torch is kicking off a tiny orange flame near the surface of the metal.
• Under ideal annealing temperatures, silver will exhibit a dull pink and gold will turn red.
A company called Hoover and Strong has some helpful suggestions for working with gold here, http://www.hooverandstrong.com/blog/archives/107/
Good luck with your annealing!
To return the malleability to metal, it must be annealed. The key to perfectly annealed metal is reaching the correct temperature without overheating it. Using a torch, here are a few tips that will help insure that your metal has reached the proper annealing temperature without over heating it.
• Flux your sterling silver before annealing. Heat the metal until the flux resembles a glass-like surface.
• Use a permanent marker and write on the metal. Heat the metal until the marker ink has disappeared.
• Heat the metal until the flame from the torch is kicking off a tiny orange flame near the surface of the metal.
• Under ideal annealing temperatures, silver will exhibit a dull pink and gold will turn red.
A company called Hoover and Strong has some helpful suggestions for working with gold here, http://www.hooverandstrong.com/blog/archives/107/
Good luck with your annealing!
