Eleanor Phillips asked for some about palladium. Since
my time is limited, I am just doing a copy and paste of a few
paragraphs about it from the palladium chapter in my “Gold,
Platinum, Palladium, Silver and otherJewelry Metals” book. Hopefully
the selection will be readable on Orchid, because sometimes the
formatting changes when text is pasted into Orchid.
“Some palladium alloys offer the same high 95% purity as platinum,
while other palladium alloys may be as low as 50% or 500 parts per
1000. Palladium may be alloyed with ruthenium, iridium, copper, gold,
silver, cobalt and/or other metals. According to the Palladium
TechnicalManual, UK Edition, three important palladium 950 alloys
are: 95% palladium " 5% ruthenium: commonly used for wedding bands.
Ruthenium makes palladium harder and stronger than pure palladium.
95% palladium " 5% ruthenium and gallium: used for casting, this
alloy is hard and resists wear. 95% palladium " 5% copper: used by
Italian companies for chain makingLike platinum, palladium has the
following advantages. Palladish with wear * Is malleable, making it
easy to form and manipulate. It doesn’t have the brittleness of white
gold. * Is hypoallergenic* Is whiter than white gold. Palladium is
about the same color as platinum but slightly darker and more
grayish. The color depends on the alloy used. When consumers see
palladium next to platinum jewelry, they usually think it looks the
same. Unlike gold, palladium doesn’t need to be repeatedly rhodium
plated to maintain its appearance as a white metal. * Isclassified as
a precious platinum group metal with an inherent commodity value and
currency code * Is strong and wears well * Palladium 950 provides a
higher purity than white gold, while at the same time having a whiter
color. Working with palladium requires training and differenttools
than those used for gold and silver. For example, the Palladium
Alliance International says that casting equipment with a protected
atmosphere is required for both the melting and casting parts of the
casting operationto prevent palladium from absorbing gas and
developing porosity. Welding palladium in a laser welder requires an
inert gas cover. Best results are obtained with lower power settings,
longer delays and medical grade argon as the cover gas. However, at
the bench, palladium must be soldered. The Palladium Alliance
International offers free seminars, videos, and support
for anyone interested in learning how to work with palladium.”
Some good websites for on palladium are:
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep811g
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep811h
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep811i
Palladium Technical Manual at http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep811j
Renee Newman
reneenewman.com
