All of us know that normal sterling silver consists of 925 parts fine silver and 75 parts copper so as Argentium sterling silver, except one thing that some of the copper in the alloy has been replaced with germanium which prevents oxygen from penetrating the surface of the metal that keeps it safe from the tarnish and the firescale, or in simple words “less pickling, less polishing, and less labor”
There are a little bit differences between Argentium sterling silver and fine silver
You can fuse Argentium sterling silver without distortion or with less percentage than fine silver
Argentium sterling silver melts lower than traditional sterling or fine silver around 1410°F - 765°C
When heated Argentium sterling silver, it stays white or get a light grey scale and you can control that by heating the surface with an oxidizing flame, pickling or light sanding. In the other hand fine silver doesn’t change color when heated, and traditional sterling silver turns dark grey with fire scale
You can polish Argentium sterling silver by using separate solder boards, bricks, files, pickle, and polishing tools, but take care from using shared tools which contaminate clean Argentium sterling silver with base metal and cause it to tarnish, develop firescale during heating, or not polish as beautifully
There are also some tips for soldering and fusing Argentium
You can build up heat faster to solder and fuse and spend less time heating Argentium sterling silver as it is less conductive than traditional sterling silver
Don’t use flux when fusing but soldering and make it sparingly
Don’t use charcoal block as it reduces oxides and Argentium sterling silver likes an oxidizing flame while fusing, but use a fire brick or honeycomb board instead
Choose a flat and smooth area to place your metal while fusing or soldering to avoid any imprinting on the metal
Don’t move Argentium sterling while it’s red hot or it will break or stretch
