Need info about soldering / setting stones in mokume gane.

I have some sheet mokume gane from Reactive Metals.

I need to solder jump rings to the sterling backing of the sheet.
Should I apply patina to the mokume gane before soldering, or
after?

I've heard that the patina wears off easily. Is there any
treatment to make it more durable?

I also need to set small faceted stones in this should I make
prongs from sterling head pins and drill holes from the back?

I'm at a loss not having worked mokume gane before this.

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions or pointers!

Jean

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 05:23:28 +0000, Chris wrote:

Should I apply patina to the mokume gane before soldering, or
after?

After.


I've heard that the patina wears off easily. Is there any
treatment to make it more durable?

Wax or acrylic coatings help but also change the appearance.
You could just accept the natural patina that develops with wear.

I also need to set small faceted stones in this should I make
prongs from sterling head pins and drill holes from the back?

There are a number of strategies to avoid defacing the m.g.'s surface
with solder. Usually designers set a stone near the m.g. instead of
directly on it. I have not seen examples of prongs directly attached to
m.g., but I imagine you could do it cleanly by soldering from the back of
the sheet. Get a copy of Midgett's book, "Mokume Gane in the Small Shop,"
and use google for examples of how different people handle setting stones
in m.g. pieces.

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 05:23:28 +0000, Chris wrote:

I've heard that the patina wears off easily.

....a-and remember,
"The More You Polish, the Less Intelligent You Are."
Repo Man

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 05:23:28 GMT in rec.crafts.jewelry Chris
, intended to write something intelligible, but
instead wrote :

I have some sheet mokume gane from Reactive Metals.

I need to solder jump rings to the sterling backing of the sheet.
Should I apply patina to the mokume gane before soldering, or
after?

I've heard that the patina wears off easily. Is there any
treatment to make it more durable?

Brown's Snake Oil.


I also need to set small faceted stones in this should I make
prongs from sterling head pins and drill holes from the back?

I'm at a loss not having worked mokume gane before this.

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions or pointers!

Couldn't you raise a bead with a graver and set your stones in the
metal? Or gypsy set them?
Jean

Hello Jean..
I have no idea when you asked this question probably someone has
answered it before but anyway. Patina is almost the last thing you do
on a piece of jewellery. After you solder clean and polish it. Mokume
from reactive metals shouldn=B4t have soldering on it so you can pretty
much use it like any other sheet. Be a bit careful with the fire...
try not to put it directly on the mokume. I am not 100% percent sure
about all this because it depends on the metals used in the mokume and
how thick the sheet is and all that but it shouldn=B4t be too hard if
you are careful.
=A1I would like to ask you if you could please send me the link for the
reactive metals page. I had it but i lost it. Thank you very much!
good luck with your mokume and tell me how things turned out!
Naomi

On Sat, 19 May 2007 12:36:06 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry
wrote:

I would like to ask you if you could please send me the link for the
reactive metals page. I had it but i lost it.

It's not one that takes a lot of difficult searching... :-)

www.reactivemetals.com

Peter