This is fascinating Wadedesigns1, Since you have used all three Sterlium, Argentium and Continuum - and you melt your scrap and reuse it, do you have to keep them separate from each other? or what?
Also, is Sterlium similar in price to Argentium?
Re hardness, I’ve found that the Argentium properties are plenty hard enough for me, and also, when annealed, very malleable, so that’s great.
Also I love the way Argentium fuses to itself. Does Sterlium fuse and make lovely round smooth white granulation balls like Argentium does?
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I’m not surprised some are allergic to argentium. I was making an engagement ring for my nephew and was surprised to find his fiancée was allergic to gold. Oddly enough silver was OK so I bought some kind of platinum containing sterling from United Precious Metals and made it out of that. I don’t recall the brand name, as I understand it their entire production is now spoken for so I was unable to get any more. Worked like sterling, supposed to be lower tarnish and stronger.
Those glasses are beautiful and so is the model - she does not need photoshop. I also wear glasses and would love to make something similar but not sure I have the skill yet. Maybe some day - sigh.
I don’t use Argentium anymore but I do for the most part keep them separate. It does work for me to mix my sterlium with the alloy I mix with pure silver.
Well it is sure is easy to get from RIO so I would agree with that. Most
of the other silvers you would need to buy from Hoover & Strong, Stuller
Settings or United Precious Metals.
I was mostly considering the properties of the metal, I have used it
extensively and there is nothing wrong about it and it is far superior to
traditional silver.
I myself prefer a recyclable casting alloy that I get from United Precious
Metals because the ability to recycle it is very important to me.
best Regards
Geoffrey Pyle
Arttech casting CO
www.arttech.org
Carol- I still love Continuum the most. It is the most stable and easiest
to work with of all of the sterling alloys out there. Unlike Argentium no
special training, handling or solders are needed. Wears like iron and is as
hard as 14 kt white gold after heat tempering. If I ever get the time
carved out to do so I want to do a paper on it for the Santa Fe Symposium.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
-Jo Haemer
www.timothywgreen.com
Lovely glasses! On my "When I win the lottery list"
Cheers,Karen
Good Morning and Happy New Year…. There has been a bunch of talk about the Sterlium Silver if any one like a tech sheet on that or continuum please email and I will be glad to share.
Andy “The Tool Guy” Kroungold
Director Tool Sales & Stuller Bench
Stuller Inc.
P 1-800-877-7777 ext 4191 or 4194
Re Germanium being more expensive than Gold… is that right?
Germanium was reported online as being about 1,150 per kilogram (1,000 grams). (I found Geranium at 60/10 grams on Amazon
At about 32 troy grams per ounce that’s about 48 to 192 $ per ounce. A bit less expensive than gold at about $1,160 per ounce.
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Actually years ago I read that it was more expensive than gold, but with D.E_Main’s info I decided to research it a bit. Discovered this interesting info here - Germanium - Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table
Under Uses it says -
Germanium is a semiconductor. The pure element was commonly doped with arsenic, gallium or other elements and used as a transistor in thousands of electronic applications. Today, however, other semiconductors have replaced it.
Germanium oxide has a high index of refraction and dispersion. This makes it suitable for use in wide-angle camera lenses and objective lenses for microscopes. This is now the major use for this element.
Germanium is also used as an alloying agent (adding 1% germanium to silver stops it from tarnishing), in fluorescent lamps and as a catalyst.
Both germanium and germanium oxide are transparent to infrared radiation and so are used in infrared spectroscopes.
Biological role - Biological role
Germanium has no known biological role. The element is non-toxic. Certain germanium compounds have low toxicity in mammals, while being effective against some bacteria. This has led some scientists to study their potential use in pharmaceuticals."
The first bit leads me to suspect that perhaps it used to be more expensive than gold when it was “used as a semi-conductor”, but now that “other semiconductors have replace it”, perhaps it’s come down radically in price. Which is good news for us. Wish we could see the same thing happen to Gold. [smile].
When I look at a ‘nugget’ of it [on that website] it looks like a mineral. When you mention prices - I also wonder if it comes in different qualities or grades, like Lapis.
Very neat idea of yours, trying to alloy some yourself.
If you decide to give it a go, I hope you’ll report your findings. Good Luck.
Hi Jo,
What are the relative costs of Continuum vs. Argentium?
Janet in Jerusalem
For comparison I looked up the price of casting grain on all three
Continum $2.59 per dwt.
Sterlium $1.26 per dwt.
Argentium $1.21 per dwt.
Sterling $1.12 per dwt.
I really don’t care about the cost as long as the metal I am using is the best for the task at hand. Since we always keystone our material costs, the higher the price of the metal the more profit we make.
Jo
Hi Andy, I’d like to get those spec sheets.
Don
Since I was intimately involved with Argentium from its initial development, take a look at what
others have made by following this link to the Argentium Guild site:
http://www.argentiumguild.com/showcase http://www.argentiumguild.com/showcase. Though I now use
very little of it myself because I’m a restoration specialist, I continue to feel it has outstanding
working qualities. The Argentium sterling welding wire has been indispensable for repairs on
numerous alloys.
Don,
Good morning be glad to send the tech sheet was is your email address.
Andy “The Tool Guy” Kroungold
Director Tool Sales & Stuller Bench
Stuller Inc.
P 1-800-877-7777 ext 4191 or 4194
Andy- I’d like a tech sheet as well. I’m interested in doing a paper on
comparing the latest de ox alloys.
-Jo
My pleasure JO what is your email address
Andy “The Tool Guy” Kroungold
Director Tool Sales & Stuller Bench
Stuller Inc.
P 1-800-877-7777 ext 4191 or 4194
so i remember that continum fireplaces is this right? Big reason to use Argentium … it doesn’t fire scale.
It would be nice not to constantly be afraid the piece will explode or break… because it is hot