where do you buy pure silver for stitching inlays and how do you machine them? and where do you buy abolone for inlays? a friend of mine builds cues and has never used any of the mention materials. any thoughts or pointers would be great.
silver and abolone ?
- Thread starter Cheessehead
- Start date
MaseCraft also. Many inlay artists use reconstituted material.
Rick
Rick
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Pure silver is tough to find except in ingots. Almost all commercially available silver comes in the form of sterling silver, which is an alloy containing 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Coin silver is sometimes available, but it is only 90% silver and 10% copper. The copper is added mostly to make the alloy harder so it can take some abuse without deforming.
I have about 10 pounds of sterling silver in all sorts of shapes and thicknesses (mostly sheet silver). It is left over from when my wife and I were in the jewelry business. I've been waiting for silver prices to rebound so I can dump it all on the market, but I can sell you small amounts cheaper than you will get it from jewelry supply places like Rio Grande. Just spot market price plus shipping. PM me if you are interested.
I have about 10 pounds of sterling silver in all sorts of shapes and thicknesses (mostly sheet silver). It is left over from when my wife and I were in the jewelry business. I've been waiting for silver prices to rebound so I can dump it all on the market, but I can sell you small amounts cheaper than you will get it from jewelry supply places like Rio Grande. Just spot market price plus shipping. PM me if you are interested.
Wow, it was about $40 an ounce a few months ago. How high are you expecting?
Silver spiked about two months ago and has been dropping in value since. It's pretty cheap right now. It should start climbing again soon...
Silver spiked about two months ago and has been dropping in value since. It's pretty cheap right now. It should start climbing again soon...
Right. Silver is down to about $28 right now. I hung onto my stash when I should have sold. Worse, last year it went up to $48 and I missed that peak as well. The dollar is doing well now, so all the precious metals will be down accordingly. That won't last forever.
Even if the price stays down, I'm not worried. I bought all this silver about 10 years ago... when it was around $4/oz. I can't get hurt.
sloppy
i have owned 8 jewelry stores, the last time i sold silver i sold a 58 pound parcel, i deal in silver. the reason i sent him to rio grande was because he wanted pure silver, rio sells fine silver which is .999. yes most is sterling, but they also sell pure in any shape, size or amount. now for me i use sterling in my cues. but he ask for pure.
i have owned 8 jewelry stores, the last time i sold silver i sold a 58 pound parcel, i deal in silver. the reason i sent him to rio grande was because he wanted pure silver, rio sells fine silver which is .999. yes most is sterling, but they also sell pure in any shape, size or amount. now for me i use sterling in my cues. but he ask for pure.
Well, our operation was pretty small, so I don't think we ever had 58 pounds at one time in our entire inventory. lol
Yes, I have had suppliers draw me .999 annealed dead soft for violin bow wraps. I know it is available, just that most folks think sterling is "pure", which it is not. I see no advantage in using pure silver in a cue, but if that's what the OP is really looking for, I'm sure Rio can supply him.
For the record, I'm not really looking to move any of the sterling I have on hand. I could get 94 cents on the dollar for it from the refiners if that was the case. Just putting it out there that I can help out with small amounts... without adding the milling fee that Rio and others add to the spot price. I wasn't aware that you deal in silver or I wouldn't have mentioned it. :smile:
If you are using silver for inlays, specify dead soft when you buy. It works out better.