I am training an apprentice and I am looking for a castable nongold
alloy that would simulate gold in the way that it sets. It doesn’t have
to look like gold. Any ideas? Thanks John Caro
John: I have 1- 2oz package of “Rich Gold Metal” left in stock I have
never used it myself but the Grobet catalog says: It is lighter than
Gold, it melts at 1900 Degrees, and resistant to tarnish. It is yours
for $4.00
Charles Eichhorn, Pres. of D.L. Romey
www.eichhorninc.com/dlromey
John Caro: Several years ago while I was still calling in south
Texas, a friend was an instructor at a technical school in the dental
lab section. They used the heavy 100 peso coins in circulation at
that time. If you live in the southwest part of the USA you could
probably find these coins floating around. If you are anywhere near
the border these coins can probably be had for the hauling off. you
should not have pay more than a a dollar for a handful. We used to make
"51cent gold" by mixing a penny (when they were copper) with two
quarters or 5 dimes. dimes worked best as you could control the
"gold" color better and you had control over the quantity of metal you
played with. You controlled the “gold” color by adding more penny or
more silver. It cast fairly well with they use of adequate spruing
with the addition of a couple of vent sprues if the piece was large.
I have some students who are casting a Bronze alloy. 90 % Cu, 10 %
Sn, it behaves well when melted and used for centrifugal casting and
gravity casting using the Delft casting system. Hope this is of some
help. Cheers, Brian minnear
Dear John,
We excusively use an alloy called TS Alloy from Stebgo Metals in St.
Paul MN here at our college. Their # is 651-451-8888. This alloy
polishes and looks just like 14 karat yellow gold. When setting stones
the feel is also very similar. The only real difference is that it
melts at about 2200 degrees F. When spin or vacuum casting the process
feels just like casting real gold. Another good part is that it only
cost about $1.00 per ounce. You can’t leave it in the pickle or
ultrasonic very long but that is no problem. We gold plate all our
assignments so we have samples that don’t tarnish.
Best regards,
TR the Teachjer & Student
Hi Mike,
Do you know what karat gold your ‘51 cent gold’ is. Also could you
add more copper and make a pinker gold?
I now should re-introduce myself. I have been lurking for many moons
(years). I have a home studio and work in 22 karat gold. My pieces
are all fabricated one-of-a-kind. I am starting to make some money
(lol) at this wonderful craft. I also study at Jewelry Arts in New
York City.
I am traveling to germany soon and will be spending a day in
Pforzheim. Does anyone know places for tools, stones, etc. or what to
do and see.
Thanks to the Orchid community, I have continued to learn other ways
of doing things and solving problems. Sharing is good, we all profit
in the long run.
Linda, in northern new jersey
red1eagle@aol.com
Hi Todd You can get some really inexpensive alloys from the small
tool specialist MICRO>MARK Great stuff for the Jewelry Trade also,
they are at 1 800 225 1066 Call for their catalog they have lots of
things that can be applied to our trade. They even sell Tim
McCreight’s book The Complete Metal Smith.
Best Regards
Susan Chastain
Linda I’d guess that the “51 cent gold” is about 12 Carrott 
I
have a “bunch” of fun with that. (GROAN!) Honestly it has been too many
years since I was a young private at the dental lab school at Ft. Sam
Houston in San Antonio TX. Miss Williams and Miss Vor Den Baum were
two of our instructors and they show us how this was done. Played
with the material for about three years and then decided that working
in silver (coins) was much less trouble.
Mike
Dear Susan,
I love MICRO MARK. Every time I look at their catalog I spend money.
I still think the TS alloy is the best. I have used some alloys thay
have a little silver in them, but the cost is three or four times the
cost of the material from Stebgo. I dollar an ounce really can’t be
beat.
Best Regards,
TR the Teacher & Student