Hi folks,
Here I am back again trying to figure ways of using stone without
needing to set it.
I’m wondering if there is a form of gold that has spring qualities
so that it can be bent repeatedly. I’m working on a new idea for a
piece of jewelry but it would depend on the gold having longterm
flexibility. It wouldn’t need much flex but would need to avoid
metal fatigue over the short run. I’d prefer this to have a gold
content of 14k or higher. Any thoughts?
Derek Levin
Derek,
It’s been a while since I had metallurgy, but I think the trick will
be in hammering … like the tension set rings.
Alain
There are many spring golds. Some old formulas heat treat to a
reasonable amount of spring without special additives. Our #75N/D
alloy is one of the oldest, most understood alloys- basically half
copper half silver. Use that to make 14 or 18kt as a simple one. If
you need more spring than that you need something with an additive.
Some use magnesium, some nickel, we have both. But it takes some
experience to get the heat and the timing just right with any of
them. We plan to make a video out of Gary Dawsons heat treating
seminar at Kraftwerks this weekend. We will have copies of the
basics of the website fairly soon I think. Feel free to contact me
next week when I get back to my desk at HQ.
Daniel Ballard
WWW.Pmwest.us