First I would like to thank those orchid folks who replied to my
question. It seems though that I was not clear enough in stating the
question, so I do so again.
First off I live in the middle of nowhere in central Namibia so,
calling up a metal supply house in the US and ordering up some green
gold is not so simple.
What I would I like feedback on is personal recipes for alloying 24kt
to produce as strong a green as possible.
I have a refining books that addresses the matter from the standpoint
of “de-alloying” to refine back to pure but does not provide specific
quantities of specific metals to produce green.
So, if any one has any experience in making greenage, please let me
know.
Thanks.
Christopher L. Johnston B.Sc. Geology. Idaho
Gem & Mineral Dealer-Consulting Geologist-Master Blaster
PO Box 354 Omaruru-Republic of Namibia-Africa
If by any chance you have access to Alan Revere’s book “Professional
Goldsmithing” it will have some very helpful regarding
both the color and strength considerations in formulating gold
alloys.
Page 4 has a Diagram of the Au-Ag-Cu ternary system, and the Appendix
has detailed on the ‘Physical and Mechanical Properties
of 14kt and18kt Gold Alloys’. This book is a very worthwhile
investment. ----
What I would I like feedback on is personal recipes for alloying
24kt to produce as strong a green as possible.
For my own uses, I’ve always used just silver and gold, nothing else.
But that’s partly based on wanting an easy to make alloy, who’s
scraps are easily incorporated back into other alloys.
One of my favorite references for gold alloys is an old 1929 book
titled “Gold Alloys”, by british author George Gee. He’s got a table
of various colors of gold alloy used in those “floral” and other
multicolored pieces where the color of the golds used was more
important than the actual karat.
Here are the various Green’s he lists. I’ve not tried them, but here
they are… Au=Gold, Ag=silver,Cu=copper, CD=Cadmium
Green - 750 Au, 250 Ag (also listed elsewhere in the book for “fancy
work”) Dead Leaf Green - 700 Au, 300 Ag Water Green - 600 Au, 400 Ag
Greenish Yellow - 917 Au, 083 Ag Green - 750 Au, 167 Ag, 083 Cd Dark
Green 750 Au, 118 Ag, 090 Cu, 042 Cd Pale Green 750 Au, 125 Ag, 125 Cd
18K Green for enamelling - 750 Au, 212 Ag, 038 Cu
I have one client who wanted green gold, and over the years have made
a number of pieces both rings and pendants for her. She wanted the
gold as green as possible so I mixed a few sample of 14k and 18k
using different % of silver and copper and rolled them out and
polished them for her to choose from. What she like best was the the
18k green gold with a mixture of .750- 24k and .250 -fine silver.
Hope this helps,
Jimmy Eriksson
J. Eriksson’s Gallery
Scottsdale, Arizona
Sorry for this late reply.Had a big time in France for 3 weeks. Here I
have some on how to make your green gold and the solder
if you want to repair something made out of green gold. The list below
is based on making one gram of green gold,so recalculating is made
fery simple for you.
Color nr 65 Gold 0.750;silver 0.214;copper 0.036;melting point
991�c;SG15.82 color nr 66 gold 0.585;silver 0.356;copper 0.059;melting
point 960�c;SG13.96 Solder for nr 65 gold 0.750;silver 0.150;copper
0.030;zinc 0.020,cadmium 0.050 Solder for nr 66 gold 0.585;silver
0.257;copper 0.118;zinc 0.040;no cadmium Melting point for the first
solder alloy 934�c and for the second one 818�c Be careful when you
alloy cadmium into your metal.It’s extremely hazardous and use a very
well ventilated room.Let the alloy cool down first.Add the cadmium as
the last metal and heat up your alloy slowly. Hope that this will get
you started with your green gold. Regards Pedro Palonso@t-online.de