Water Casting Argentium Silver and Sterling Silver

[@SonneCreations]

Hi subscribers and others, I have just posted a new video on Electro-Etching and how to get started for cheap by building your own electroetching unit. Check it out at Electroetching Argentium & Sterling SIlver and Copper/Brass (CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP And ECO FRIENDLY!) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX_NaXihmdN-oZo

[@leeferris5940]

Wonderful video, I liked your technical additions to your commentary. Your voice was clear and video quality was good. Thank you.

[@SonneCreations]

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback!

[@TheFreak111]

That's quite fascinating, thank you for showing this.

[@SonneCreations]

@TheFrunk Thank you for enjoying the video and never let anyone tell you that something that’s been written in a book means it can’t be done. Possibilites are everywhere and boundaries are there to be pushed and questioned. Thanks again!

[@NorthernAuburn]

Thank you so much for sharing this! Ive wanted to do this for so long and I was struggling to get a crucible etc. I didnt know you could use wire like this. It's easy, cheap, and pretty. I also found it consistent compared to videos I've seen showing people pouring. Love it. Thanks again. Xx

[@SonneCreations]

@Uhtred SonofUntred Well better late than never I guess. I usually pride myself in returning responses to comments in a timely fashion, but yours escaped my notice until today. Thank you for the comment. It’s a super easy technique and you are right about the consistency, which is rewarding, I always like knowing what I’m going to get. Not a fan of getting a box of chocolates without a menu card, LOL!

[@shirleylowe8045]

really good technique!

[@SonneCreations]

Thank you! Hope you’re enjoying your castings!

[@Sea_Witch_Silver]

Love this! Thank you for posting (I realise it was a long time ago) I’ve seen people with huge set ups to do this, however this is my kind of No Faff Batshit Crazy jewellery making! Thanks again!!

[@SonneCreations]

@Sarah Cassidy THANK YOU!! I always appreciate the comments no matter how long they were posted. This is one of my favourite techniques because it proves Batshit Crazy jewellery does work. Thank you and hope you’re enjoying the results for yourself.

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

Water casting - who knew? Very cool stuff. Will be ditching bezel settings maybe. Thanks so much. 😃

[@SonneCreations]

James Barisitz I think there are no shortage of possibilities with these little cups. Thank you for watching!

[@angeyates7155]

How would you use these to bezel set a stone or to put a Pearl in? So great to see this, thanks for showing.

[@SonneCreations]

@Ange Yates, sorry for the delay in replying! I’m not on this channel much. You can use the water castings to bezel set a stone by creating or cutting a small tube setting and soldering it on. You can also enamel the cups. Or drill a hole through them and use a head pin to attached to things. The skies the limit!

[@the-fiddling-fox]

I love this. Going to try it! 😃

[@SonneCreations]

@The Fiddling Fox. Have fun!

[@jimbettridge3123]

Thanks for the technique Sonja!

[@sonjar3569]

jim bettridge You're very welcome!

[@tracyhamilton2757]

Just did this! So fun. I did find that the height of the water column had an effect on the shape of the cup......shorter water column worked better!

[@SonneCreations]

@Tracy Hamilton Thank you so much for your comments and observations, great information for sharing! The technique lends itself well to experimentation and I always enjoy the varying results I get. I do find that the sterling silver provides a more organic “floral” shape vs the Argentium. But both make wonderful little components either by themselves or embellishing other items. Thank you again Tracy!

[@robertspano4468]

Curious how water temperature effects the shape of the casting...

[@SonneCreations]

@robert spano sounds sciencie, don’t get me started! LOL! Currently just using room temp water. ice water might be cold enough to provide a thermal shock and have the drop of silver to form up faster. I know height makes a difference, the closer it is to the water the more likely it is to pancake. During the descent the silver has time to cool just enough to prevent it pancaking.

[@annh3599]

Thank you! Perfect! Batshit crazy is exactly how I roll!

[@sonjar3569]

Nay Thank you! Welcome to the "club"!

[@marenc9648]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge in the video... I have some questions... I have a lot of sterling scrap, but not the possibility to make wire. Can I make the watercasting also with pieces of sheet scrap? The ring that you made is very beautiful. Which wire gauche did you use? Is it a adjustable ringshank or did you solder it on both ends of the shank?

[@SonneCreations]

@Maren C Thank you! If you can ball up the scrap in a semi controlled fashion, holding it with a pair of tweezers, etc, then you might be able to get some shapes from it. It’s a very good question! I found the best results with 16 to 18 gauge. It’s not an adjustable ring but it could be made into one. I am intrigues with your question regarding balling up the scrap metal now. The wire works well because it’s uniform and you can control it a lot easier. I sent most of my sterling silver to the refiners because I mostly work in Argentium, but if I can find some scrap 925, I will make a video of your question.

[@marenc9648]

Hello, thank you very much for your very soon answer. Don' t make a hurry... Can you tell me the gauche of the ringshank, it seems a very good size for adjustable rings. If I get two domed shapes, I want to solder on each end one with a little pearl inside 😁. Have a nice weekend. Greetings from Germany

[@SonneCreations]

@Maren C, I tested melting scrap (I didn’t have any scrap sheet in sterling silver, but I did have a sterling silver earring). As I suspected the scrap does not melt very well. It does not ball up nicely and when the pieces drop in the water they look like small mishapen balls which I did not like at all. The ring shank is 16 gauge, 14 to 16 gauge are best for rings and will be more sturdy, especially on an adjustable ring as you describe. The ring as you describe with the two inverted domes and with a little pearl sounds beautiful! I just tested some 7 gauge round sterling silver wire, melting it with a bigger torch and it made some really surprisingly nice pieces, maybe even nicer than the Argentium. May I suggest that instead of melting scrap, buy a small piece of 14 or 16 gauge wire and melt that to get the results you are looking for? As I type, I have the sterling silver pieces in the tumbler and I will post the video for you after they come out. Noch mal, einen ganz schöenen dank für deine nette Worte! Alles Beste! Sonja aus Kanada. I hope you have a nice weekend as well!

[@SonneCreations]

@@marenc9648 Hi Maren. Here is the unlisted video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5WoppSlj8ljas0 If you are ok with sharing the idea of the pearls in the silver then I will make the video available to the public Hope this helps! If you are getting wire for making the ring band, then get a bit more and ball that up. The results are so much better than scrap. Sonja

[@marenc9648]

@@SonneCreations Good morning Sonja, thank you so much for the video, of course you can share the idea of the pearl ring. Only with sharing the knowledge grows😁. Time ago I made a watercasting ring and earrings with pearls. For the ringshank I took a ringband and molted the edges. Unfortunately the following watercastings were without success, so I gave up. I also don't remember, how I did it exactly. Now I'll try it again. If it helps, I can send you a foto of the ring and earrings. If you need, you must say, where I have to send. Sorry for my bad English. Greetings from Germany Maren

[@lionelhodges226]

Hi Sonne, They could be an easy way of making oyster shells or do I need to change my glesses??? mark (uk)

[@SonneCreations]

@lionel hodges very tiny ones, yes! great idea!

[@theflamingpearl]

the ring was argentium and you decided to use solder instead of fusing it.....correct? was that because the water casting was thin and you were afraid it would melt before it fused?

[@sonjar3569]

Pamela Pollock Good question. The component is small and the ring shank has a big heat sink. If I didn't have the heat sink I would have fused.

[@Melleetaitunefois]

Is the temperature of the water gonna change something in the shape? Did you use warm, cold or room temperature water?

[@SonneCreations]

Melleetaitunefois Water temperature will not change the shape at all. I used room temperature water, of course the water starts to warm up with the molten silver dropping in the water.

[@00myrtille]

Hi, I'd like to know what is the brand/name of your butane torch? With mine I can't get nice shape like yours with argentium (my flame is very tiny compare to yours)

[@sonjar3569]

Juju Hi there, its a Messermeister Chef Torch. The Blazer torches are a bit too small for this use. It was around $100 CDN. On Amazon.

[@00myrtille]

Thank you Sonja for the info. I'll go chech that right away :-)

[@sonjar3569]

Juju You are welcome! I see it's 32.99 US. (If you are in USA).

[@00myrtille]

I'm in Canada :-) I see it's 63.79$ CDN and it burn at 2700 F, which is 200 degrees higher than the microtorch ... I didn't know cooking torches could be this powerful :-)

[@sonjar3569]

Some of those chef torches are amazing compared to jewelers torches.

[@mingwenwu]

Thank you for posting the video. I really like the easy set up and the repeatable process.i have a question on the weight of the results sterling silver peddle. How much do they weight when you use 16 gauge wire and the sever when you use 14 gauge wire.. I would like to try the technique and use the silver pieces for earrings and want to make sure it is not too heavy Thanks

[@sonjar3569]

mingwenwu They are very light weight. They would be perfect for earrings. Even in multiples.

[@kylieyoung7239]

I tried this with 2mm sterling wire (which I thought was 14g, but thinks it's 12g) and I got tiny blobs that are copper or gold coloured & nothing like your shape. I use a torch with an LPG gas bottle (bbq) and thought the flame may be too hot, so tried using a kitchen torch like yours. Same result. I switched to a thicker wire, 8g and went back to my hotter torch. Results were much better with the shape and a little better with the colour, but sill very copper coloured. Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong please?

[@sonjar3569]

Kylie Young I think your wire is oxidizing (with the dual gas torch). If you're seeing a splat, the wire is too low to the water and hasn't had a chance to cool enough.

[@angeyates7155]

I’m getting the same results as Kylie, any ideas how to resolve this please? So cool, would love to be able to do this. Do I need to use flux?

[@SonneCreations]

@Ange Yates. Flux not necessary. Sometimes it’s just trial and error. Have you ever tried Argentium Silver? If not, you should try it, it’s lovely to work with and doesn’t discolour like sterling. If you’re finding the silver discoloring, that’s because it’s oxidizing, flux might help in this case, but I’m not 100% sure on that, because I’ve never experienced that.

[@lsmerza]

Hello love the video and I will be trying this in my studio. Question Why square wire?

[@sonjar3569]

Liza Smerza It's what I had on hand. I reuse my scrap, cast it into rods, then roll it into square wire. I don't bother pulling it through a draw plate to round it.

[@hollyprentice7065]

So I tried this exact method or so I though with 16g Argentinium wire and got nothing but little boobs tiny over and over. No cups boo hoo! I was holding over a bucket maybe I should try a shallow dish like you had ?

[@kevinsolove458]

the ones over 12" look like egg shells that have been cracked in half

[@SonneCreations]

@Kevin Solove Great observation! Unlike traditional water casting, this technique is easily replicable with great output of usable shapes. Thank you!

[@Silversmith925]

Don't try this technique into a plastic bucket or bowl. Ask me how I know 😳

[@SonneCreations]

@Silversmith925 LOL! This is why I’m using borosilicate glass. I once water cast about 4 oz of scrap into a 5 galllon plastic pail, filled with water. Clearly wasn’t deep enough because I was left picking silver shot out of the bottom of the pail. So I feel and apprecaite your pain!

[@carolinaramirez1402]

too low volume.

[@SonneCreations]

@Carolina Ramirez Turn up the volume on your device or hearing aids. No one else is having an issue with the volume.