Martini Shaker

[matthewsx]

I have a family heirloom silver martini shaker I want to bring back to life. It's base appears to be soldered and there's a small gap between it and body, I basically want opinions on how best to repair it or should I just leave it alone until it breaks which may not be in my lifetime. I plan on polishing it up but if I need to solder it I don't know if it makes sense to do that before or wait until after I've repaired it. I do have an oxy acetylene rig but my torch is on the large side, this may be an excuse to buy that small torch I've wanted for a while.

So, who here has worked on antique silver?


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Thanks,

John

 

[Aukai]

I'm not able to open any of the links, I do not have permission...
Get some opinions first, sometimes messing with patina ruins the value of the object.

 

[Aaron_W]

It might be worth searching silver jewelry repair for options. Somebody repairing a silver broach or watch case will probably offer you more finesse than what is needed on your shaker, but I don't see that as a bad thing.

 

[matthewsx]

I’ve looked at the Smith mini torch set and it’s tempting. I have plenty of non-heirloom pieces I could practice with.

 

[matthewsx]

I'm not able to open any of the links, I do not have permission...
Get some opinions first, sometimes messing with patina ruins the value of the object.

Okay, I’ll check the links. They’re from this site so I thought they would work.

Good idea to check on value, similar shakers are maybe a few hundred bucks online but I’ll never sell mine. Pretty sure it’s okay to polish silver though, that was the original intent after all.

Thanks,

John

 

[7milesup]

I don't really have an answer for you, but personally, I would shy away from the Oxy/acetylene setup. If you are looking at silver soldering (a really neat process that if done correctly will hardly be noticed) I have had good luck with a small butane torch like this one here.

EDIT: I should qualify my response by saying that the butane torch has better temp control that the oxy/acetylene setup in my opinion. I have one of those Bernz-o-Matic setups and it goes through those small oxy tanks like no tomorrow. I thought it would be a great tool to have but not really.

 

[matthewsx]

I changed the view permissions on my album, could someone confirm they can see my pictures?

John

 

[FOMOGO]

There are some very low temp solders available. Check you tube, or online search. Mike

 

[matthewsx]

I don't really have an answer for you, but personally, I would shy away from the Oxy/acetylene setup. If you are looking at silver soldering (a really neat process that if done correctly will hardly be noticed) I have had good luck with a small butane torch like like this one here.

That's a nice little unit but it's well along the way to the cost of a Smith Little Torch which is used by all kinds of jewelers and can work with butane too if oxy-acetylene is too hot.

https://www.amazon.com/Smith-Little-Torch-Soldering-Welding/dp/B000T43L30?th=1

Edit: because I think the first link I posted may be a scam site.

 

[Nutfarmer]

The Smith mini torch works great on small items such as silver work. Easier to control the heat than with what we normally would use on an oxygen acetylene torch. It's the only heat at my jewelers bench.