Hello! I am new on this forum, and I thought that it would be useful to ask a hard question on. Does anyone know who (or can) make a jewellery metal ring made of the metals in the lanthanide series (I’m specifically seeking a ring made of lutetium or alloyed with a large amount of lutetium)?
Thank you, and I will read your responses!
I found it strange that no one tried to answer this…funny. Anyway, If anyone sees this post I did find this answer on Wikipedia: Similar to magnesium, rare earth metals are difficult to cast in air, as they’re very reactive and require inert atmosphere. Metal casting - Sciencemadness Wiki
I will keep researching and post what I find out.
I did happen to find a business that offers rare earth elements in alloys: Rare Earth Alloys | Sputtering Targets & High Purity Metals | ACI ALLOYS, INC.
Sorry that I don’t have any suggestions for you! I have never used this metal. I Googled it and didn’t come up with anything to suggest. I’m guessing that since no one else responded that others didn’t come up with any ideas either.
What I always tell folks who are charting their own path is that they have to embrace the mindset of an inventor. Experiment, see what works and what doesn’t.
Keep us posted & best of luck!
Jeff
One other thing that I forgot to mention is that assuming that you figure out how to make a ring with this metal, you’ll need to somehow determine if the metal is safe to contact skin over extended periods time. You definitely don’t want you or anyone else to get a rash or worse. It doesn’t happen with everyone, but allergic reactions to regular jewelry making metals like nickel, brass, copper and silver are fairly common. Who knows what’s going to happen with this metal?
Jeff
Thank you for the reply, Jeff!
Yes, I did fortunately find a goldsmith who has worked with this metal before! He isn’t sure what it should be alloyed with, since lutetium itself is very soft, and we don’t want a toxic oxide reaction. So I am looking at the periodic table much, and learning about the different alloys. I’m learning about the properties of different elements when alloyed to other elements. I will post more updates when I find out more.
Please feel free to post any ideas, anyone! Thank you!
Contact (Forgot his first name) Binion at Reactive Metals in Phoenix. https://www.reactivemetals.com/about-us-contact He knows alloying and will be able to help you out. It looks like the metal is very inert in that it won’t cause an allergic reaction, but Jeff is right, you don’t know. My question is from looking at it is why? Platinum would be a better color than it would be, and silver is even brighter. Is the rarity of the metal? This is just me wondering about this. It’s not to discourage you, it just has me wondering. Good luck with it all.
Aggie
Thank you Aggie for the response! I will take a look at the business! The metal has much symbolism to me because of its rarity, the difficult process in extracting it. It’s commonality in the rare earth minerals of the earth, but so little in each mineral chunk… and the difficulty, and the learning it takes to make this metal a jewellery piece. The metal also has a nice slightly tarnished, yellow-silvery look that platinum and most other metals do not have. This will look great on the gemstone that will be set in the ring, as the gemstone is extremely rare, similar to the rarity of extracting lutetium (and the rarity of lutetium itself) and using the metal in an alloy of a jewellery ring. The gemstone is also difficult to distinguish from another related gemstone - similar to the how rare earth elements are often found together, but it can be difficult to extract one rare earth element from the others. All of these reasons have much symbolism for the purposes of the ring. I want to use this metal (in an alloy) as a marriage ring for my spouse.
Feel free to post any answers, anyone. Thank you!
Interesting topic.
Were you successful?
These are unusual metals and are usually not cast “in bulk” but as additional elements in an alloy or as deox or grain refining treatments in the manufacture of steel and other higher temperature melting alloys.
There are safety concerns you should find in the SDS.
Thank you for your reply, paulfinet!
I am currently doing research on lutetium, and what it could possibly be alloyed with to strengthen it and make the alloy in an unreactive state. I will post on here what I find out. I am also researching with a goldsmith on this.
Feel free to reply if you have any more ideas, anyone. Thank you!
I will also look at the SDS. Thanks!