Hi All – I know this is the right group to go to for help!! I have
been hooked on chasing & repousse for the last year + (thank you
Valentin Yotkov!!). To date, all of my work has been in copper,
sterling and fine silver (with one small piece in 14k gold). I want
to move into gold (Valentin’s recommendation is to work in 22K). My
work with / use of gold in the past has been minimal – soldering
decorative accents, sizing rings, adding it as a component of a
married metal piece, etc. It is necessary, in repousse, to anneal
the entire work at least once in the process, and I’m not sure what
exactly to look for and whether there is a particular strategy to
heating the piece effectively that is different from other metals.
First off – do I use the same kind of flame that I use for
annealing silver or copper ?
My reading about the correct temperature seems contradictory – and
I’m thinking this is because how you heat gold depends on what
process you want to accomplish. (??) The Revere book indicates in
a table that 200 C is what you look to achieve for fine gold;
Brepohl on the other hand states that gold needs to reach a minimum
temperature of 400 C. I’m assumong there is a reason for these
differences that I just do not understand.
All my reading seems to indicate that the shortest possible time at
the right temperature is the best. What about quenching? I have
read that cold water right away is best and have been told that
denatured alcohol is better as it causes less stress on the metal.
Does it make a difference? Do you quench right away or wait 10 or
20 seconds?
What about pickle – is standard pickle the best thing to use –
and here I’m speaking generally more about the lower karat golds –
those that have more copper – will standard pickle lessen the
"rosey glow" that you can get?
Any help will be appreciated – thank you so much for your help –
Laura Wiesler
StoneHouse Group