The Silversmith's Handbook / Containing full instructions for the alloying and working of silver

Acids, vegetable, 10

Action of acids on copper, 44
of silver under heat, 8

Acts of the Legislature, 189
on licences, 186
clause on, 193, 194

Advantages of scorification, 20

Air in furnace, 33

Alkalies, caustic, 10

Allowed, remedy in fineness, 72

Alloy, 41
Clark’s patent, 172
commonly used, 63
for cupel quantity, 35
for hall-marking, 62
for plate, 71
for silver-wares, 72
French, for coinage, 69
French, for plate, 69
French, for silver-ware, 69
German, for coinage, 71
instructions in preparing, 70
new, 205
Nos. 1 to 8, 64-67
of the highest quality, 62
silver dissolving, 202
standard, 61
white, 172

Alloy, with copper, 68
with palladium, 173
with platinum, 172

Alloys of common silver, 167-170
characteristics of, 173, 174
imitation, 166-173
imitation, uses of, 173
of nickel, 46
of silver, 42
of tin with gold, 49
of tin with silver, 49
silversmith’s, 40, 197

Aluminium alloy, 205
solder, 206

Amalgam, 41

Amalgamation of zinc, 153

America, 11

American supply of silver, 12

Ancient method of assaying, 37
workers in tin, 48

Ancients, 6

Annealing silver, 109

Anthracite, 21

Art in soldering, 90
in the silver trade, 122

Articles, hand-made, 54
of silver common, 147

Art of soldering, 74

Arts, metals employed in, 41

Assay crucible, 16
charge for, 17
English system, 39
fluxes, 16
of silver ores, 16
scorification, 19
weighing of, 30

Assayer’s muffle, 28

Assaying, borax, use of, in, 22
Dr. Lamborn on, 38
of silver ores, 16

Austrian style of work, 211


Battery, Bunsen’s, 152
constant, 150
exciting mixture, 151
for plating, 150
solution, 151

Bean-shot copper, 44

Best crucibles, 95

Birmingham, 52

Black cyanide, 157

Blowpipes, 89

Boiling-out mixture, 144
pan, 143
pickle, 93

Bone-ash, 32
cupel, 33

Borax, 22
sprinkle, 92

Breaking-down rollers, 112

Brightening, 29

British Isles, 11

Brown colour on silver goods, 146

Burning of lemel, 104
of polishings, 179, 180

Burnished silver work, 124

Burnishing silver work, 161, 162


Calculated alloys, various, 80

Calculating the qualities of silver, 64

Carbonate of soda, 16, 102

Casting-mould, 18

Cause of inferior work, 74

Caustic alkalies, 10

Cement for chasers, 121

Chain bracelets, 128

Chain solder, 85

Characteristics of imitation alloys, 173, 174
of metals, 41

Charcoal, 99

Charge and flux for crucible, 23
for assay, 17
for scorification assay, 20

Chief places for filigree, 53
of filigree manufacture, 8
uses of silver, 9

Chinese filigree, 56
silver, 170

Chloride of silver, 183

Christianity and tin, 48

Clark’s alloy, 172

Cleaning plate, 198
powder for plate, 206

Coinage, 69
alloys for, 71
English, 61
French, 69
German, 71

Collecting-vessels, 184

Colour-improving, 149

Common articles of silver, 147
easy solder, 85
silver alloy, 167-173
silver solder, 84
solder, 85
solders, 81

Composition for solder, 81

Conducting-wires, 154

Connections for soldering, 77

Constant battery, 150

Continental cheap labour, 54
method of assaying, 22
silversmiths, 208

Copper, 42
action of acids on, 44
bean-shot, 44
characteristics of, 43
chemical name, 44
dissolving, 202
for alloying, 68
powder for, 199
protoxide of, 44
solder with, 76

Cost of silver alloys, 64, 67
of silver-rolling, 112

Cronstedt, 45

Crucible, dimensions, 16
for lemel, 106
mixture for, 104
pouring lemel from, 107
weighing metal for, 95

Crucible assay, 16
fluxes for, 16
process of, 19

Crucibles, 95
best to employ, 95
action with fluxes, 96
testing soundness, 97

Cupel, defects in, 33
mode of manufacture, 26
mould, 27
quantity of alloy for, 35
tongs, 28
withdrawal of silver, 34

Cupellation, 26
of silver ores, 31
purity of silver, 37

Cup-fusing, 19

Currents of air to furnace, 33

Cyanide solution, 156
black, 157


Defects in bone-ash cupel, 33

Density of nickel, 45
of silver, 7
of tin, 48

Dimensions of crucible, 16

Dipping-mixture, 199

Directions on melting, 94
in preparing solders, 88

Discoverer of electro-plating, 149

Dissolving silver, 202
copper, 202
impurities, 103
soft solder, 202
silver solder, 202
sealing-wax, 202
tin, 48

Dissolution of silver, 9

Dr. Lamborn, 38

Drawbacks to hall-marking, 63

Draw-bench, 114, 115

Drawing fine wire, 116

Draw-plate, 114

Draw-tongs, 115

Drossy solders, 88

Drum for wire-drawing, 115

Ductility of nickel, 45
of silver, 6
of tin, 49
of zinc, 48


East Indian silversmiths, 141

Easy solders, 79
for chains, 85
silver solder, 80
solder, 81
solder, for filigree work, 84
solder, common, 85

Economical processes, 175

Economy, 1

Education, technical, 2

Electro-plate, 46

Electro-plating, 147
discoverer of, 149
soft solder, 202

Elements, metallic, table of, 50

Employed metals, 41

Enamelling, 131

England, alloy commonly used, 63

English and foreign workmen, 2
coinage, 61
filigree workers, 91
silversmiths, 63
standard for silver, 60
style of work, 211
system of assay, 39

Enriching the surfaces of silver, 139

Exciting mixture for battery, 151

Experts, Government, 73


Filigree manufacture, 8
method of making, 57
of China and Japan, 56
of Norway and Sweden, 56
silver work, 127
wire, new, 59
work, 5, 40, 52
working, 56

Filed solders, 76

Flatting of twisted wire, 59

Flux and charge for crucible, 23
for soldering, 77
in pouring, 101

Fluxes for assay, 16
their action on crucibles, 96
employed in melting, 96

Foreign silver currency, 13
silver standards, 207, 8
workmen, 2

French alloy for silver ware, 69
alloy for coinage, 69
alloy for plate, 70

French duty, 208
standards, 69
style of work, 209

Fusibility of nickel, 45
of tin, 48
of silver solders, 80

Fusing-cup, 19


Galvanic ring, 129

German coinage, 71
standards, 72
style of work, 210

Gold alloyed with tin, 49
mode of soldering, 88
removing, from silver, 198, 205

Goods, silver, brown colour of, 146

Government experts, 73

Gravity, specific, of zinc, 47

Great Britain, 11

Guarantee mark, 73


Hall-marking, alloy for, 62
drawbacks, 63

Hand-made articles, 54

Hard silver solders, 79
solder, best, 81

Hardest silver solder, 78
silver solder, 79

Hardness of silver, 8

Hawk-sparrow, 119

Heating power of silver, 7

Hollow silver work, 131


Imitation silver alloys, 166, 173
alloys, characteristics of, 173
alloys, uses of, 173
silver, 166, 197

Improving colour of electro-plate, 149

Impurities, dissolving, 105

Indian filigree workers, 5

Indian filigree silversmiths, 141
mode of whitening, 142

Industrial arts, 41

Inferior plating solution, 159

Ingot-mould, 100

Instructions in preparing alloys, 68

Irregularities in rolling-mills, 110


Japanese filigree, 56

Jewellery trade, state of, 12


Law on silver wares, 73

Lead, 103

Legislature, Acts of, 186

Lemaille solder, 91

Lemel, 104
burning, 104
crucible, 106
melting, 104-106
pot for, 104
pouring from crucible, 107

Licence question, 191

Licences, 190

Litharge, 17

Loss, working, 175
real, 175
total working, 176


Making filigree, 56

Malleability of nickel, 45
of silver, 6
of tin, 49
of zinc, 48

Maltese filigree, 55

Manner of removing litharge, 35

Manufacture of cupels, 26
inferior, 73
of filigree, 53
of silver wares, 72

Mark, guarantee, 72

Marking, hall, 62

Marking, hall, drawbacks of, 63

Material, bad working, 98

Mechanical uses of silver, 52

Medium solders, 82
silver solder, 79

Melting, crucible for, 99
directions on, 94
fluxes employed, 96
imitation alloys, 166
points of metals, 51
solders, 86
tongs for, 100

Mercury, 15

Metal, fusible, 98
pure, 56

Metallic elements, table of, 50

Metals, 41
their characteristics, 41

Method of assaying, 22
for whitening, 139
of calculating qualities, 64
of preparing filigree, 59

Mills, rolling, 110
Kemp’s, 111

Mine, richest, 12

Mining, 11

Mixing metals for melting, 97

Mixture, boiling-out, 144
dipping, 199
for washing-out, 138
stripping, 200

Mixtures for whitening, 147
for battery, 152
nitrate of silver, 148

Modes of melting lemel, 105
of preparing ring, 130
of whitening, Indian, 142
of whitening, our, 145

Molten metal, 99
lemel, 103

Mould-casting, 18

Mould cupel, 27

Mould ingot, 100

Muffle assayers, 28


Native silver, 11

Necessity for pure metal, 56

New alloy, 205
method for filigree, 59

Nickel, 45

Nitrate of silver, 8
of silver, mixture, 148

Nitre, 10

Norway filigree, 56


Old method of filigree, 57

Oldest method of whitening, 140

On the melting of silver, 94
working of silver, 108

Ores of silver, 9