QuestionHi there,
This has happened to me several times, with new gold (wire) or when working
on customers gold repairs. When heating the piece, and soldering - I notice
even before putting it in the pickle (i had to test that my pickle wasn't
exhausted), the piece has gone from yellow, to pink. Polishing does not
remove this, and the piece is too intricate to emery the 'surface color' off. I
use a propane/oxygen torch. Please help. Thank you - Laura
AnswerHi, Laura. This is an important question to anyone doing jewelry work. The pink coloration will happen to every jeweler at some time or the other.
First, be very certain you have a good anti-oxidation coating. The standard is the denatured alcohol/ boric acid mix. Stir up the stuff to get boric acid in suspension, cover your jewelry and burn off the alcohol to leave a fine powdery coating to protect against tarnish and discoloration. I mention that because I must but figure you have the basic stuff down already.
I only within the last couple of years heard of a method of removing the pink color and tried it. This is chemical and not abrasive. Sure, I know that getting to the color is about impossible with tools an there has to be another way to do it. This works for me and I suggest you give it a try:
With Sparex pickle, take enough pickle solution to cover your jewelry item and put it in a glass container. Then, start adding some hydrogen peroxide, a bit at a time. (I used the home medicine cabinet sort.) Watch the gold. When the mix is right, the pink will begin to go away and will soon enough be gone totally. I was quite surprised this works so well but it does.
Give the pickle/peroxide a try and sometime let me know if if works for you. There is not a sudden bubbling reaction or anything like that to worry about when the peroxide is added; still, add a little at a time and watch to see it begin to work. I believe my mix was close to half and half.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
