Forging Sterling Silver

[blacksmithman64]

Alright I have made my one mistake for the year!I drilled out the side of a double twist horn :cursing: :redface: :shocked2: Bein' as this is MY new horn and is going to have all the bells and whistles, I am thinking of making a sterling silver band to cover this creative alteration. What do I need to look for in the way of scrap silver? Can it be melted and cast? I don't know anything about sterling except that its shiny and the good stuff has english touchmarks!Thanks in advance!

 

[LRB]

Sterling, is Sterling, English, American, or Chinese. It is the copper content that makes it sterling. It has just a bit less copper than coin silver. Make it easy on yourself and just buy enough to make a band the width you desire. Silver braze the joint, slip it on, attach with small silver nails you cut from your scrap. You can then use a center punch, or other suitable punch, and stamp a nice border design around it. You could file a line border, to go with the stamping. Sterling is quite easy to work with. To anneal, heat red hot, and let air cool. Do not anneal as some do brass,by dunking in water. It can go brittle, if you do. You probably will not have to anneal anyway. If you have the Buckskinning series of books, Frank House has a nice hawk in one of them, with nice,but simple silver bands around the handle, with stamped border designs. You could also add a loop on the band, for your strap, and acually make the band functional, like it really belongs there.

 

[blacksmithman64]

Man Wick, thats slicker than a ..nevermind! I really like that idea of making the ring function as a strap holder! Way cool! I got three more double twists I'm gonna go and drill out the side! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: I'll post pics when I get it done! Thanks