Hi all. I’m an amateur interested in trying my hand at 18K gold. It looks like I need a business registration to buy gold in the USA, so I was checking out Cookson in the UK; they seem to sell to individuals. If I can avoid paying VAT it might be workable. So… a couple of questions: First, do you think I’m being silly for trying gold? It’s just to make some earrings for my wife. Second, am I asking for complications by trying to import precious metals? I’d love some input.
Are you sure about that? I’m pretty sure that anyone with a credit card can buy gold from riogrande.com. My students buy gold from Rio Grande all of the time.
Jeff
I missed the second part of your question about working with gold. When working with gold, especially for the first time, you don’t want to make any mistakes. I almost always recommend making an exact prototype or two in silver.
Hope that helps!!
Jeff
For 18K, the largest I can find in sheet is 1/4 inch by 0.5 mm at Rio (I’m bilingual for measurements, sorry). Other sellers that have larger sheet ask for some business registration or EID. And, yes, for sure I’ll make prototypes! I even prototype in copper for challenging silver designs (challenging for me, that is). My goal is to make some simple earrings with hammered textures; nothing fancy. Careful as you go, I say! And at the same time, dazzle the spouse.
TBH, she’s been very good about me buying tools and taking over a room for my hobby, so I’d like to acknowledge that with something a little different. I’m thinking something primitive-looking like these silver earrings I made for my nieces.
Is this what you’re taking about?
It seems like it would work. 18 kt is heavier and more expensive, so a little lighter should be a good thing for earrings.
Jeff
That’s the largest size that I had found previously, and that’s only 3 mm wide and 1 mm thick, so even rolling it out isn’t an option. I’m looking for something in the order of 10 mm in width. I was mistaken when I said that Rio required a business ID. My issue is that I wanted larger pieces, Rio didn’t seem to carry that, and the other suppliers ask for some ID.
I might start out using silver and trying that paint-on gold in combination with some texture and patina for the naked silver. There’s potential there. But eventually… gold beckons! 
I really appreciate your interest, by the way. This is a great community.
Hi,
what are the approximate dimensions of your earrings?
perhaps you can:
make a depression in a charcoal block
melt bits of gold alloy in the depression
(no sense buying wire, whuch has a fabrication charge added…)
then forge/ hammer to the thickness you want
perhaps to the width of 2 earrings
and/ or perhaps cross peen hammer to increase the length to 2 earrings
anneal, saw/ file to shape
hammer again for surface detail
…something along those lines…
do you have a jewelry or kitchen scale?
perhaps weight a pair of the silver
then convert to weight needed in gold
using specific gravity of each metal
julie
Hi, Julie.
I had thought about some of those things myself. I’m imagining something like 20 or 22 gauge, 10 mm x 25 mm, or close to 3/8 x 1 inch. I was born metric, so I struggle with fractions. I just bought a soft charcoal block to melt my silver scraps; my first melt is coming soon! And I teach chemistry and biology so I have access to a balance 
I also have a rolling mill and happen to like hammering things. I don’t know why I never thought of just buying the alloy in whatever form and melting it! 
Thanks!
2 Likes
Hi,
i too prefer metric…much more straight forward in my opinion……
i am always having to use online conversion calculators to convert inches and fractions to mm.
here is a chart of specific gravities for precious metals
so you can plan how much metal you might need…
http://www.hauserandmiller.com/reference/melting.html
julie
Thanks for letting us know specifics with your sizes. Rio Grande does sell 6mm x 2 mm 18kt rectangular stock. You should be able to forge or roll that out to 8 or 9 mm 22 ga (maybe even 10 mm?) I think I have some of that size silver stock. I’ll try to roll it out this afternoon and do a test for you.
Melting and forging/rolling your own metal works too!
One other thing to mention is that most jewelry stores will order whatever size metal that you want. The jewelry store in my little town will do that for students. Sometimes they don’t charge anything extra or sometimes they’ll add 10%. Making friends at a local jewelry store is always a good idea, especially when you’re learning.
Cheers!
Jeff
1 Like
I did the test roll. Approximately 1” of 2mm x 6mm sterling rectangular turned into 11mm x 1mm (18 ga) I quit there since it was bigger than what you asked for.
So 6x2 mm of 18 kt should work!
Jeff
Hope that helps!
Jeff
if you live in the USA, there’s no reason not to be able to gold as a private citizien. In the UK there is a VAT. I did not know that UK citizens could not buy gold without a business registration. Buying gold in the US, a state sales tax would applied to the purchase. For buying from Rio Grande, as a resident of New Mexico, the New Mexico State sales tax would apply at 5.1%. Albuquerque has an additional city sales tax that brings up the total to 7.5%…Online orders out of state are subject to sales taxation depending on the US state that you are a legal resident. Being in the UK, you may be able to get it tax free from Rio Grande, but should have to pay the VAT for your country, if you declare it…(why even bother) One way to get a smaller amount of18k gold is by buying 90% fine gold coins… Krugerrands and 1/5 oz. Austrian Philharmonics have less of a premium than US gold coins or Canadian Maple Leaf…90% gold/copper coins are slightly less than 22K which is 91.67% gold. adding silver or copper by atomic weight% will get the alloy down to 18K which is 75% gold, green or yellow gold respectively. You can do this on a charcoal block by melting proportionate amounts of metal together, for small qualtities. If you have access to a rolling mill and an ignot mold, then it will be easy… pour the molten alloy into a mold and just roll it down to the thickness desired. The atomic weight of gold is 197, copper is 63.5…the weight percent ratio has to be adjusted for the difference, otherwise the alloy will have more copper in, it if going by weight percent only, as copper is much lighter than gold on an atom by atom basis.-- i.e., more copper atoms per oz. and a larger volume, than the number of gold atoms in an oz of fine gold…
I’m in Canada and I can buy all my precious metals from Riogrande. Pretty sure if you’re American, so can you.
Wow! That was very nice of you; thanks!
1 Like
Thanks, everyone! This is such a helpful community; I’ll post some pics when I’ve finished the earrings! 
1 Like
Ricardo,
I think you’re onto something here. Maybe think about making the earrings out of sterling silver and then accenting with some gold by way of a nice wire design. Or how about Keum-boo? Just an idea.
Ellen Lyons
Seattle & Baja California del Sur, México
1 Like