MnM Title Photo Montage

Meet the Couple

Photos:
  • Engagement Session
  • The Wedding
  • Happy Times!

    Elements of Our Wedding:
  • Our Traditions
  • Our Rings
           Outline

    Logistics:
  • Time and Place
  • Directions
  • Accommodations

    Registry
  • Previous Page Next Page

    Deep Cleaning

    Once again, the last step before any diffusion bond is a thorough cleaning. I suggest using acetone and ethanol as before, because it will remove just about everything from the surface. If you're following along on your own project, put gloves on at this point. Because I have access to a sonicator (ultrasonic cleaner, similar to those used to clean jewelry) I used it, first with acetone:


    and then with ethanol to remove any junk left over in the acetone:


    It is important never to pour a flammable fluid directly into a sonicator if you use one. Pour the solvent into a beaker, and then put that beaker in a sonicator filled with water. The sound waves will transmit very well through the walls of the beaker.

    Ultrasonic cleaners use high frequency sound waves to clean surfaces. The sound waves have a frequency of 30-60khZ, which is beyond human hearing. They clean surfaces by forming pressure waves in the liquid. These pressure waves create tiny bubbles of vacuum, which very rapidly expand and collapse. This phenomenon is called cavitation, and the shock waves from the bubbles collapsing forces the liquid into every nook and cranny of the piece.

    Jewelry is normally cleaned by sonication because it requires no mechanical polishing, and therefore will not scratch or wear away the surface. In addition, intricate pieces can be easily cleaned, even places that can't be reached by hand. However, jewelry with certain gemstones should NOT be sonicated, because shock waves caused by cavitation can make the gemstone shatter. To clean pieces with stones, the stone is usually removed and cleaned separately by hand, while the rest of the piece is cleaned ultrasonically. Then the stone is remounted in the piece.

    Previous Page Next Page
    Please click here for Mike's normal website.