QuestionHi, I was reading your answers about using PhDown as a substitute for Sparex.
Will it work for metals other than sterling, such as copper and brass?
A. Also, I have been seeing alot of pickling solutions that claim to be the safest
and the "greenest" on the market like Black Magic, Citrex, Citri-pickle, and even
Potassium Alum used for making edible pickles. This appeals to me but I don't
know which is best for silver, copper, and brass or if they work as well as sparex-
type pickles. Would you still recommend PhDown over these alternatives? Thanks
you so much!
AnswerHello Emily,
First pH down is for non-ferrous metals, golds, silvers and platinum group metals, brass and copper won't work in that type of pickle, copper needs no pickle and brass and bronzes are best polished with a 3M radial bristle disc or some compounds ( there are a wide range of compounds available for ferrous metals I recommend water soluble compounds as the clean up is far easier than some ( although a product like fabulustre for polishing can be used dry and added to a rotating tumbler as a burnishing compound so the choice is in one's experience and willingness to have many products in the studio over a few that perform multi-tasks..) or Dialux a French brand that is quite excellent in all their offerings. If you like to buy "local",the US company Thunderbird Supply run by native Americans manufactures their own high quality compounds and depending on the formula you need I would recommend them as equivalent to most on the market and better than those available at home improvement stores ( though not as refined as Dialux brand compounds and not water soluble in most of the forms- though they do special orders should you want to create your own product and become a maven of water soluble compounds and sell them yourself!) -an aside about Thunderbird is that the money goes to supporting a good company that takes pride in their product.
Just like a flux and anti-firescale preventative in one; I recommend 4S Labs Cupronil hands down,.it is based on a Hopi formula and has been consistent for the 35 + years I have used it and it excels any new "ceramic' containing fluxes on the market without the hazards to water and aquatic life that products like firescoff have ( on their MSDS you can read those hazards and as such I have to say No to using it myself).
Anyway- as for the "green pickles"..you can go to an Indian ( east Indian not native American) grocery store and buy a huge 2-21/2 lb bag of citric acid as that's all that they are is citric acid and the cheapest source for food grade citric acid is Indian grocers (Laksmi brand is my favourite!)..All of the green branded names are hyped up marketing of what used to be sold as sour salt in kosher deli's and grocery stores ( still sold therein is as a matter of fact!)..so green is just a ploy..it is just as safe as peroxide or vinegar.. both of which can be used ( although regarding vinegar or acetic acid: glacial acetic acid that is available in paint stores or from pickle works - the cucumber pickles in this case!is the effective product whereas household vinegar will not do much of anything on its own)..
Black Magic has benefits to the home jeweler but is designed so that the user adds water- you are then paying for a few ounces of what I think is saltpetre and a plastic jug !..so it's cheaper by the pound from a number of chemical supply houses.You can then make up just what you need for your pickle pot, not a gallon at a go! I think Black magic was made by Swest inc. which is no longer in business- so you may want to research it further,nonetheless it is not worth the 9 dollars for a plastic jug with less than a pound of dry chemical..saltpetre works just as well, will allow you to use copper or stainless or otherwise chromed steel tweezers into the warm mixed pickle and will give the same results..
So for precious metals you can choose between citric acid, saltpetre or pH down ( which is equivalent to sparex but make sure it is at least 93% active ingredient -sodium bisulfite)- all work yet some have more benefits than others : citric acid- is perhaps cheapest in a grocery store as suggested above over saltpetre pound for pound, though pH down is cheap at " x" marts and readily available so no shipping is incurred but the limitations that brass, copper etc. won't be cleaned as with sparex is the same..for ferrous metals a 3M radial bristle disc set is my recommendation it is chemical free, and they are an excellent almost addictive product- once you experience them you want to clean and polish everything near the bench! and they also offer a number of sizes of all the grades- so if lessening your studio's chemicals is the objective go with the discs ( the price is worth it and is admittedly on the high-ish side if you are not wealthy). If you don't like having to have a polishing machine or at least mounted felt bobs to use with a flexshaft to clean with compounds ( otherwise you'll need a separate polishing wheel for each compound which you should write on the centre of each wheel what compound or rouge you have dedicated that particular wheel to so you don't mix compounds).
I hope this is what you were looking for.
Best Regards,Ari
