Simon Jester, It is my understanding that copper, bronze and
brass all have toxic patina. Geo
Simple problem. Bronze contains mostly copper, which reacts to
acids in the skin, causing it to tarnish, and to discolor the
skin. Some times people are sensitive to this corrosion, and
this results in skin irritation and eruptions. Bronze can be
plated, with nickel, gold, silver, or other less reactive
materials, but then it doesn’t look like bronze any more.
simon Bronze is stil used in some extrafagant desing in the
Netherlands. Not so many in rings. The look of this material in
not expencive and therefore not often used. Also the apperance
changes a lot in time and by wearing. In the Roman period a lot
of ring where made of bronze. Bronze is very good for casting. Be
aware of overhating this material. The tin wil evaporate easy.
Greeting
Martin N
Hi Simon-I cast a bronze ring as an experiment in college,
trying to cast a real pretty iron pyrite in place-jeweler’s
bronze is frequently used for master models for production by
the industry. It just tarnishes like crazy and many people’s
skin gets blackened or greened by it. Anyway, the bronze cast
just fine-but the iron pyrite partially smelted in the
kiln-losing about 10% of its’ volume and turning into something
black and organic looking(like pig iron)with the bronze filling
in the difference. So after I cleaned it up I was walking home
from class and I started to pass a biker I knew who was working
on his old panhead harley at the curb(he was ALWAYS working on
it)he looked up and asked me what new thing I’d made today(he’d
bought a ring from me for his girlfriend) and I showed my
"failure". He thought it looked real masculine and gnarly and
bought it from me on the spot for $25. So it just goes to show:
- If you don’t do your homework or read the directions you
might not get the result you wanted…and 2) SOMEBODY somewhere
will like and want just about ANYTHING we make, if we show it.
Happy New Year and a Millenium w/more Peace, Donal
Some 20 plus yrs ago when I was in school all they used for
making rings was brass (bronze is family of brass). We used low
flow weld -it worked much like gold and the color was close so
the student got familiar with the work. Don’t over heat when
casting, keep your sprue button small because you lose tin in the
melt. If you roll your work, aneil it often. Don
Don’s Custom Jewelry & Repair