Drawing gold wire -fusing

Jewelry Discussion
1

Edward, Have you ever tried to apply your red gold using the
keum-bo process? I was told that only 24k will work but a red gold
would sure look nice.

2

Hi Pat:

I haven’t tried the kum-boo technique with 22k red gold, but it
certainly will fuse to a sterling or fine silver base at a higher
temperature, same as you would fuse silver to silver. Just flux
both pieces, and heat till fine bright line appears around the
edges of the applique piece. You don’t want the gold extremely
thin, or it can disappear (dissolves in the base metal). It
oxidizes some when you do it, because of the copper, but a quick
dip in the pickle pot fixes that.

Regards,

Bob

3

I haven’t tried the kum-boo technique with 22k red gold,

Somehow or other, I missed the rest of this discussion. Can
someone explain ‘kum-boo’ to me?: it sounds fascinating.

Thanks,
Dauvit Alexander,
Glasgow, Scotland.

4 
   Somehow or other, I missed the rest of this discussion. Can
someone explain 'kum-boo' to me?: it sounds fascinating.

David:

I believe there is a section in Tips from the Jeweler’s bench on
this technique; I for sure remember one on “doublee” making, which
is basically the same thing. Kum-boo (and other spellings of same)
is the process of diffusion-welding very thin gold foil to an
underlying base, such as sterling. Piece is heated on a hot plate
to (I think) about 5-600 deg., and foil is burnished down.
Diffusion takes place between the two (clean) metal surfaces
resulting in a bond.

Regards,
Bob