Hi, Someone has asked me if I can make them a ring out of Tasmanian
gold and Cornish tin. Does anyone have any idea how to get Tasmanian
gold and can I solder tin in the normal way, is it possible to solder
the gold to the tin?
Thanks everyone
Justin Duance
Negative points aRe: Tin has a very low melting point - so not easy
to solder to anything - and gold and tin alloyed together form
brittle intermetallic compounds. Even small traces of tin in gold can
make the gold unworkable. In theory you might be able to cast a gold
tin alloy, but not sure why anyone would want to.
Positive point is that gold is very heavy, tin is very light and so
the volume of tin in the alloy could be more than twice the volume of
the gold and you could still mark it 14 Karat. You customer would get
a BIG ring for their money. 
Jack
Hi Justin, I don’t know if there are any gold mines in Tassie, but
Australia generally has a bit of alluvial gold, so maybe a gem /
mineral club member might have panned some nuggets that they might
sell to you?.. just a thought… good luck, Christine in Sth Aust