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Basic steps for alloying silverSilver is commonly alloyed with copper to make the silver metal used in jewelry making. You alloy silver to change its working properties such as hardness. The proportion of this alloy may change (increase or decrease) according to how “hard” you need the metal to be.
Just like in the page about
gold,
working with standard qualities of silver is your best bet for having repeat customers.
The more copper you use in the alloy, the harder the resulting metal will be, thus, more durable. Sterling silver is a standard used since the XII century; it is 92.5% silver with another metal, usually copper, making up the other 7.5%. How do you alloy silver?When you buy pure silver its standard of fineness (its “pure” state) is parts per 1000.When you add pure copper to make the alloy, then that standard will decrease and that’s why you end up with 925 silver quality, 950 silver quality or even 900 silver quality. Your formula for calculating a silver alloy:
Example 1: So, say you have 20grams of pure silver and you want to alloy it to 925 silver quality (sterling silver). Your formula should look like this
Example 2: Say you have 50 grams of pure silver and you want to alloy it to 950 silver quality.
Now that you know how to make your desired silver alloy,
go to this page to see a slide show presentation of melting silver.
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Acknowledge that precious metal alloys are still regarded as “precious” metals as long as you maintain standard proportions in which the precious metal dominates the “combination” or compound. 
