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First Rose gold cast

#1

Going to do my first casting in 14kt rose gold and looking for some
advice.

From everything I’ve read, one is to immediately quench rose gold so
it does not become brittle.

Being a little on the anal retentive side, does immediate mean -

Quench while the button is still glossy?

Quench when the button has crystallized?

Quench when it no longer glows red with the lights out? Dull red or
no red?

Will be a 4x6 perforated flask. Vacuum assist with electro melt
pour.

Thanks for any advice and tips. Can clean rose scrap be reused 50/50
or just one time?

Charlie

#2

I quench while button still glows red.

Regards
Franz

#3 
Quench when it no longer glows red with the lights out? Dull red
or no red?

Button between glowing dark dull red in subdued light, to a little
cooler, like around 900F. Too much hotter than that and you can
crack it just from shock, too much cooler and it starts to harden,
which makes it brittle. 18K red gold, like around 75 percent gold and
25 percent copper is the really “dangerous” one that can become glass
hard and brittle if cooled too slow. With some silver in it still
(most “rose” golds still have a little silver), or 14K alloys, it’s a
little less tricky. You just want to avoid a slow cool through the
700-800F temp range to avoid hardening.

Peter

#4

I’ve been using a 14k rose alloy for many years. It’s from AAA
Precious Metals in Portland OR.

I use only the casting alloy. I haven’t cast in several years
(although my casting set up is still at the ready) but I still use
the casting shot, pouring ingots from which I roll out plate/sheet
and rod/wire stock. I fabricate forge and form with this alloy and
even torch weld and pulse arc weld with it(the latter tends to be
more brittle). It draws well in my experience: evendrawing wire down
for my Orion welder: about.4mm.

I’ve never had problem with it as I’ve seen described here and
elsewhere. I treat it as I do other alloys.

Please excuse any typos-- curse my clumsy digits…