A friend recently came across a damaged (ct gold necklace and has
asked me to use the gold to make a pendant. My question is: Can I
safely work 9ct gold (ie roll sheet and/or draw wire) or is it too
hard? Also what solder would be best to use, Hard, medium or soft,
when constructing?
9 carat gold is fine to work with I use it quite often. Being
remelted chain it will probably have a little bit more solder content
in it so it may be a slight bit more brittle as well. I would try
using medium solder as the melting point of the metal may be lower
due to the extra solder from the chain.
I sometimes melt 9 carat gold, I make sure there is no solder in it.
If there are joins, I cut those bits out and give them back to the
client.
I cast an ingot in Delft clay, then forge it out to about half the
original width and thickness before rolling into sheet or drawing
into wire. Use medium or easy 9 carat solder.
Dear Jhon…
IT will totally depend on what alloy the chain metal is made of … Best is to XRF the jewelry & know the contents well in advance to know if its workable as 9k gold contains 80-92% alloy… & only 37.5% gold … even though it is workable it will be difficult…
regards,
Prakash V Pai
Hi John,
I’m in the UK where 9ct is very common. I’ve used hard, medium, and easy solder on all types of 9ct with no ill effects. There are various grades of 9ct gold: red, white, yellow, soft and “dead” for claws and hard and springy for clasps etc. - I’ve soldered them all, with all solder grades, without problems, and none of them are brittle unless they’re work hardened without subsequently being annealed.
I always wondered if you could depletion gild 9K to the point where it really looks like 14K or 18K. I assume you can–I believe the ancient depletion gilding in S. America was often done on a very low carat alloy.