Captain_MacNamara Posted February 6, 2005 Posted February 6, 2005 I have a certain silver coin that I would like to look old... how does one tarnish silver? Just wearing it won't work for me... for some reason, silver doesn't tarnish on me. Captain of the Iron Lotus It is the angle that holds the rope, not the size of the hole.
PyratePhil Posted February 6, 2005 Posted February 6, 2005 Harking back to H.S. Chem... Doesn't an acid (lemon, vinegar, etc) turn silver black - various silver sulphides, or some such? ...Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum... ~ Vegetius
Cap'n Pete Straw Posted February 6, 2005 Posted February 6, 2005 Jeez -- all my silver coins are oxidized ... I don't know what your problem is... One hint is DON'T USE SILVER POLISH. In my professional ("real life") capacity, I have connections to an amazing number of chemists. Called one, and asked how one would do this, but with household supplies. Here is what he said: "Oh, that's easy...." HOW TO TARNISH A SILVER COIN Step one: Clean the silver coin thoroughly. Use dish detergent and clean, clean, clean. It is adviseable to wear rubber gloves, as your skin oil can interfere with step two. Step two: Break open an egg. Separate it, and discard the egg white. Immerse the coin in the yolk and let it sit there. (The natural sulphur compounds in the yolk will react with the surface silver, producing desired silver sulfide.) Chemically, this is supposed to work, but he hasn't actually done it. He hypothesized that cooking the yolk and applying THAT to the coin might actually work better (possibly releasing greater amount of sulphides?). "If that doesn't work," he said, "I bet using onion or garlic oil would do the trick," because these things also contain high sulphur levels. I didn't want to ask why he gave me four methods if the first one was supposed to work so well off the bat, but ... whatever. Oh, and if you have any feedback, he is excited to hear it. I think chemists are, for the most part, lonely people. They rarely ever interact with pirates (except in Gideon DeFoe's book "The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists" which I still highly recommend as a Fun Read). "He's a Pirate dancer, He dances for money, Any old dollar will do... "He's a pirate dancer, His dances are funny... 'Cuz he's only got one shoe! Ahhrrr!"
PirateQueen Posted February 6, 2005 Posted February 6, 2005 Googled this: http://www.finishing.com/127/14.shtml Boil an egg, let cool, mash the egg yolk with your silver metal, fork-spoon-dish-whatever, place it in a sealed plastic baggie and put in the refrigerator overnight--both the silver and the yolk-and you will have a black silver tarnish in the AM. Two days for a heavier tarnish, or two eggs. Feed the residue to the dog or cat. James Watts - FL Also just happened to catch part of Haley's Hints on PBS earlier today. He showed how to remove tarnish from a copper piece with a lemon wedge dipped in salt. Tarnish came right off without scrubbing. Melusine de la Mer "Well behaved women rarely make history." - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Captain_MacNamara Posted February 6, 2005 Author Posted February 6, 2005 sweet, thanks! I tried the vinegar, and it didn't work... I completely forgot that eggs had sulpher... Captain of the Iron Lotus It is the angle that holds the rope, not the size of the hole.
lorien_stormfeather Posted February 6, 2005 Posted February 6, 2005 You can buy Liver of Sulphur form Dick Blick or other craft/hobby suppliers. I have used it for "antiquing" silver lost wax cast jewelry items. About $3.00 for a 4 oz. bottle. Works on silver and copper. You would want to follow up with a electric buffing tool (SOFT Polishing- like a craft dremel tool) to remove the highlight areas leaving recesses black. Dick Blick
PyratePhil Posted February 6, 2005 Posted February 6, 2005 sweet, thanks! I tried the vinegar, and it didn't work... I completely forgot that eggs had sulpher... Oh, well, sorry - ...pr'olly why I failed HS Chem... ...Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum... ~ Vegetius
Captain_MacNamara Posted February 6, 2005 Author Posted February 6, 2005 I am currently trying the egg yolk method... I'll let you know how it turns out Captain of the Iron Lotus It is the angle that holds the rope, not the size of the hole.
PyratePhil Posted February 6, 2005 Posted February 6, 2005 Along the lines of Lady Stormfeather's reply - It reminded me that hobby shops that carry model train supplies might have the weathering chemicals for metal - I've used it before, and it worked good on most of my projects... ...Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum... ~ Vegetius
Captain_MacNamara Posted February 7, 2005 Author Posted February 7, 2005 well, the egg yolk method didn't even hint at darkening... I left it in the gloop for nearly 24 hours... This silver just don't want to tarnish... guess I'ma have to go to town and try to find a chemical solution. Captain of the Iron Lotus It is the angle that holds the rope, not the size of the hole.
PyratePhil Posted February 7, 2005 Posted February 7, 2005 Wow! Wish some of my silver jewelry would act like that... ...Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum... ~ Vegetius
Captain_MacNamara Posted February 8, 2005 Author Posted February 8, 2005 I finally found something that looks right... to me at least: sorry for the poor quality, my camera's a piece of crap I took a brass cup, put the coin in, covered it in black powder, and lit it. I repeated on the other side of the coin. Then I put water in the cup to mix with the powder residue, left it for a while, and it made a nice blackish tarnish look all over the coin where the residue caked on. Then I polished the embossed areas with neverdull... now the coin looks truly old to me. Looks really cool on my bone skull-bead and hematite necklace, but that picture didn't turn out. Captain of the Iron Lotus It is the angle that holds the rope, not the size of the hole.
darkthing Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 I took a brass cup, put the coin in, covered it in black powder, and lit it. Ah, black powder. Is there anything it can't do?
Captain_MacNamara Posted February 8, 2005 Author Posted February 8, 2005 not so far, there isn't LOL Captain of the Iron Lotus It is the angle that holds the rope, not the size of the hole.
Cap'n Pete Straw Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 Approximately 1/3 of black powder is sulphur, so that ought to do it! "He's a Pirate dancer, He dances for money, Any old dollar will do... "He's a pirate dancer, His dances are funny... 'Cuz he's only got one shoe! Ahhrrr!"
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