Hi All, i was looking for info in the archives for the hoover and
strong Peach gold, there is very little on it, and after checking the
HS web site with very little there, did place a phone call to HS and
had to leave a msg for the techy, i am just wondering if any one out
in orchid land has used the peach alloy in more then simple
fabrication, as in casting an ingot and drawing /rolling out
product/forming. anyone ? i had bought some and am trying to work
with it.
i was looking for info in the archives for the hoover and strong
Peach gold, there is very little on it....
Hratch-- we have used H&S Peach gold in both 14 and 18k – very nice
beautiful color alloy. The 14k is pretty well behaved, but the 18k
is very much like 18k red gold-- gets very very very hard and
brittle if you don’t anneal properly-- you must quench at red to
black heat.
Jim is one darker or richer looking than the other? the 14k Peach vs
18k peach, I have some H&S 14 that I will pour an ingot of and work
with, roll down to square and forge out + carve into a ring. been
looking for a bronzy rich color gold that works easier then harder?
thanks for your comment/help.
Atelier Hratch Babikian
contemporary Jewelery and sculpture
I used to use quite a bit of their peach alloy until I began making
my own ( due to cost of their mill products and what i neede dwere
special order items invariably!)… its a bit softer than their royal
yellow as it has more copper. It rolls out nicely if you add a pinch
of refining flux to it ( ammonium chloride/sal ammoniac and powdered
charcoal 1:3) whether or not it is from"dirty" scrap/material youre
melting down. You can easily recreate the recipe as well ( Harold
O’Connor’s*" jewelers bench reference" *has the same recipe- though
technically out of print, you can find copies in many places usually
under 15 dollars as it’s a plasticised covered,smallish trade
"paperback" with spiral binding). I am not at home or i’d send you
the recipe as i don’t know the exact ratio of gold,silver and copper
offhand. I add a small amount of germanium to it these days to
improve the tarnish resistance and malleability ( it performs more
like argentium in 14 karat if you take this additional step in the
melt, however, for 18 or 22 karat peach gold it isn’t necessary as
the yellow gold added to the recipe is itself more forgiving than
alloying the colour in 14 K). The 24 karat gold you use makes a
difference to some extent in the final colour more than the
malleability or ductility. I use an african source yellow for the
recipe ( when i have it )It comes out far deeper than say a south
american or canadian sourced gold casting grain, and even in 18 karat
appears to be a higher fineness than it is. as for drawing, with
anything, the quality of the drawplate, shape and guage of stock you
are intending to fabricate are all made easier by keeping it
lubricated with a good wax over any other preparation particularly
liquids…and of liquids, glycerine works as well as “bur lube” brand
lubricant. If you want to get technical ther are fluids intended for
industrial use that contain ceramic based compounds that are
superior to say a “teflon” like ready made product but the quantities
available are in general, for the small shop- prohibitive: try asking
the manuf’s. to send you a sample. largely, the sample wil last you
months if not a year or more depending on how much drawing and mill
work you do in the studio. Of course a sapphire drawplate and draw
bench ( even if home made) work well for time and muscle saving than
doing it all by hand with a Pakistani or Indian made steel drawplate!
.rer