Sam Smith Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I cast this piece today, the alloy is strange because the person I cast it for wanted me to melt their wedding band 14k gold but I don't have enough from that to make the cast so I used sterling for the balance, I figure probably 25% of the metal is 100% gold it still looks like a very blond gold color and there was virtually zero oxidation like I usually get from casting silver (silver almost always goes black then you cast it). I have the original wax picture to. One small problem is a bit of porosity at the base of one sprue thats either from the sprue being to small or the metal being to cold, fortunately its on the inside of the ring. If I had a torch I could repair it with gold solder. Anyway the person it's for loves it and doesn't mind. I kinda like casting originals because I get to carve a brand new piece every time. I'll have to post the post finished pictures all shinny. Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Hi Sam Smith, nice work, i hope i can see it when it will be polished, it will be very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Smith Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Hi Sam Smith, nice work, i hope i can see it when it will be polished, it will be very nice. coming right up I finished this today, it turned out really nice, only I messed up on figuring sprue size. I was not thinking clearly I guess, you are supposed to use a sprue with a cross sectional area that is greater then the cross sectional area of the spot the sprue is attached to, I used a sprue that was larger in dia then the width of the ring, in fact the ring has probably 3 times the area of the sprue used kinda surprised it cast as well as it did. As a result I have a small amount of shrinkage porosity on the back, fortunately its limited to the back at the spots the sprues were attached and is fairly minor, probably easy to repair with a micro brazing torch, if I had one Anyway casting science aside the alloy looks like a very blond gold since its only about 25% gold, and seems to look like silver or gold depending on the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janel Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Great transformation series! Thank you for posting these photos. I like the color of this mixture. Janel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamingDragonDesigns Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 coming right up I finished this today, it turned out really nice, only I messed up on figuring sprue size. I was not thinking clearly I guess, you are supposed to use a sprue with a cross sectional area that is greater then the cross sectional area of the spot the sprue is attached to, I used a sprue that was larger in dia then the width of the ring, in fact the ring has probably 3 times the area of the sprue used kinda surprised it cast as well as it did. As a result I have a small amount of shrinkage porosity on the back, fortunately its limited to the back at the spots the sprues were attached and is fairly minor, probably easy to repair with a micro brazing torch, if I had one Anyway casting science aside the alloy looks like a very blond gold since its only about 25% gold, and seems to look like silver or gold depending on the light. You might warn your customer that it will be a little softer than Sterling, and that they shouldn't let another jeweler repair it without telling them that it's an alloy. It looks really fantastic tho. And the color is really nice. What hardness of wax did you use for the carving? I ask because you got really nice crisp lines, and I like that in a casting. LJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Smith Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 You might warn your customer that it will be a little softer than Sterling, and that they shouldn't let another jeweler repair it without telling them that it's an alloy. It looks really fantastic tho. And the color is really nice. What hardness of wax did you use for the carving? I ask because you got really nice crisp lines, and I like that in a casting. LJ Why softer? I have been told gold is harder then silver, anyway I wouldn't let a commercial jeweler near it and I can't sell it as gold because its below 10k. I would have used sterling but they wanted their old wedding band melted down Greenwax is a wax used by the jewelry industry for this kind of thing, awesome stuff you can polish it till it shines, file it even use a rotary tool with it. It will take a lot of detail, this ring is 7mm wide so all that detail is really small. That guy that makes celtic knot beeds, Magus uses greenwax to so it can really take good detail. I actually like ferris greenwax more then matt, it seems crisper then the matt stuff. Its called file-a-wax, www.kingslynorth.com sells ferris greenwax I think. I absolutely love this stuff the little chunk missing is from this one ring. Its a 1/2lb block Regards Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Hello sam. I like the colour of your ring, it's "original". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Smith Posted July 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 Hello sam. I like the colour of your ring, it's "original". Well thanks folks, even with the slight defects on the inside of the ring I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I only say original because the wax was "lost" when I burned it out of the mold so this is a "one of a kind" I didn't mean the word as praise for my own work , just as a term for what this is, in jewelry this would be the master or the "original" then they would make a rubber mold from it and make wax duplicates from that rubber mold and invest those duplicates, sorry for the misunderstanding. oo btw gold is harder then silver, I googled it also all but 24k gold is an alloy of gold and silver. I think someone said that 25% would be 4k, I know 10k is 42% Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Barnhill Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Great job Sam, Thanks for sharing it with us. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamingDragonDesigns Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Why softer? I have been told gold is harder then silver, anyway I wouldn't let a commercial jeweler near it and I can't sell it as gold because its below 10k. I would have used sterling but they wanted their old wedding band melted down Greenwax is a wax used by the jewelry industry for this kind of thing, awesome stuff you can polish it till it shines, file it even use a rotary tool with it. It will take a lot of detail, this ring is 7mm wide so all that detail is really small. That guy that makes celtic knot beeds, Magus uses greenwax to so it can really take good detail. I actually like ferris greenwax more then matt, it seems crisper then the matt stuff. Its called file-a-wax, www.kingslynorth.com sells ferris greenwax I think. I absolutely love this stuff the little chunk missing is from this one ring. Its a 1/2lb block Regards Sam. Most gold is a bit softer in my experience. My partner and I bought each other handfasting rings about 4 years ago. I was a bit more strapped for cash, and he was a bit more flush. His ring is Sterling, mine is 14k white gold. (Its a properly hallmarked Claddagh, from Galway. http://www.thecladdagh.com/ ) He's much harsher on his ring than I am on mine, but mine has showed far more in the way of wear/scratches. Now, I'm not saying that some gold may be harder, but most alloys I've seen are softer than silver. Something to think about. Thanks for the wax info. LJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Smith Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Most gold is a bit softer in my experience. My partner and I bought each other handfasting rings about 4 years ago. I was a bit more strapped for cash, and he was a bit more flush. His ring is Sterling, mine is 14k white gold. (Its a properly hallmarked Claddagh, from Galway. http://www.thecladdagh.com/ ) He's much harsher on his ring than I am on mine, but mine has showed far more in the way of wear/scratches. Now, I'm not saying that some gold may be harder, but most alloys I've seen are softer than silver. Something to think about. Thanks for the wax info. LJ All I know is gold is a harder metal, and most kinds of gold alloy are a mix of gold and primarily silver, so most any gold alloy is harder then silver, gold is the metal of choice for wedding bands because its fairly hard. When I was cutting filling this ring I noticed it was a bit (not much) harder then the sterling I usually work with. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gold White gold is very often rhodium plated because the alloy itself is more of a gray color, the rhodium gives it a platinum/silver like shine, this plating will wear off over time though, and I have read that its common for people to replate white gold bands every 16 months I don't know why rhodium would wear off its part of the platinum group.. Your very welcome, imho knowledge only grows when shared Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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