Smells like vinegar...

I don't hopefully!! Well maybe I actually do...hard to tell!

I have been busy working in my shop the last few days and the pickle (cleaning agent for silver to remove residue from soldering) that I use is vinegar and kosher salt. I heat it up high in my crockpot so needless to say the stench of vinegar is everywhere around me down here! On a bit of a side note, I used to use an acid as my pickle (most metalsmiths do) but I found forums where others started using this vinegar solution because:
a. its better on the environment
and
b. its better for our health
A. is important, but B. is really the tipping point for me. I try to eliminate as many chemicals as possible in making my jewelry because I just don't want to sprout a third limb down the road ;) hahaha
But in all seriousness, using the acid is safe if you have a good ventilation system, and I don't, so I'm sticking to my stinky vinegar!

Here are the pieces I've worked on since yesterday:

The three on the far right have already gone through the tumbler and the others were just put in right now. Look for them to pop up in my shop over the next few days.

Okay I'm starving....see you tomorrow!

**Oh and by the way, I just put up a Facebook business page together and you can access it through the link to the right. You have no idea how much of a pain it was to do.....Facebook is not the easiest application to use. So you can stop by and say hi to me over there as well!**