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Palladium Issues!



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 4th 07, 08:35 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Ravi K.
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Posts: 2
Default Palladium Issues!

Hello,

Why do Mom and Pop Jewelry stores have a problem with Palladium. A lot of
them don't know about them or don't want to be bothered with it. I
personally like it and would like to see more of it. It looks the same as
platinum without the cost. Palladium is in the platinum family and is a
strong enough metal. Moreover, it is hypo-allergenic. Unlike white gold, it
doesn't need to be rhodium plated on a regular basis, which might I add is a
pain.

Most jeweler's I have come across find it to be a difficult metal to work
with. I would like to know from bench jeweler's who have worked with
Platinum and Palladium, exactly what is the difference in working and
handling these two metals. Why do some jeweler's have an issue with it?

Thanks in advance,
Ravi K.
www.AdamasIndia.com
PS: eBay & PayPal - Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun Reading ;-)


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  #2  
Old November 4th 07, 09:05 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Peter W.. Rowe,
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Posts: 355
Default Palladium Issues!

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:35:27 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Ravi K."
wrote:

Hello,

Why do Mom and Pop Jewelry stores have a problem with Palladium. A lot of
them don't know about them or don't want to be bothered with it.


while palladium itself, as a metal, and as certain findings like heads (stone
settings) have been available for many years, the availability of finished
jewelry made of palladium is a very new trend. Only in the last two years,
perhaps, and even more in the last year, has palladium made serious inroads into
the jewelry industry. Most likely, the increases in the price of both gold and
platinum are the causes of this increased interest. It should come as no
surprise that many smaller stores, used to selling and working with the classic
metals, are not yet sure either of palladium's marketability, or how to work
with it. This will change, but give them some time, please.


I personally like it and would like to see more of it. It looks the same as
platinum without the cost. Palladium is in the platinum family and is a
strong enough metal. Moreover, it is hypo-allergenic. Unlike white gold, it
doesn't need to be rhodium plated on a regular basis, which might I add is a
pain.


Agreed on all points. Some people prefer the heft and feel of heavier metals,
since both gold and platinum have much more heft, being denser metals. The
light weight of palladium makes it seem insubstantial to some. But this is a
minor factor, and people will accept it easily enough once the reason for the
difference is explained. it may make some heavier designs more comfortable.

I would say, though, that palladium, while in the platinum family, is not the
equal of platinum. It's not as hypoallergenic (though it's close), and is not
as strong. Still, it's good enough on these counts, and certainly a good
competitor with white golds. (for the record, I've worked a lot with both white
golds and platinum. I simply don't like white gold. Nasty stuff sometimes, and
if one has an option, I'd much prefer to work with platinum.

Most jeweler's I have come across find it to be a difficult metal to work
with. I would like to know from bench jeweler's who have worked with
Platinum and Palladium, exactly what is the difference in working and
handling these two metals. Why do some jeweler's have an issue with it?


In the first place, palladium in general use for making jewelry is, as I said,
fairly new, so one issue is simply a lack of experience working with it. Also,
a lack of palladium specific materials, like solders, though the existing
traditional platinum solders are actually made with palladium, and work well
enough with it, and as well, some suppliers are now offering palladium solders.

But lets be clear, while palladium offers some attractive options for the
jewelry consumer in terms of price, feel, color, and performance, for the
jeweler or manufacturer, the stuff is a pain in the rear. Here are the
problems:\

In fabricating platinum, unlike platinum, it oxidizes easily and readily. This
means that it must be protected, as with gold, against oxidation with fluxes,
etc, during heating and soldering operations. However, the high temperatures
involved in palladium work mean that the usual fluxes available to jewelers
don't work. The result is significant difficulties compared with either white
gold, or platinum, in keeping the work clean and free of oxides while working.
this can lead to failed solder joints, or to increased effort in cleaning up a
piece after working it, since now the oxide has to be cleaned up. Pickling
helps, but it's not like platinum, which simply stays clean and bright. In some
cases, this can be more than a simple annoyance.

In addition, unlike platinum, palladium when melted absorbs prodigeous amounts
of several gasses, most notably nitrogen, if I remember it right. This leads ot
significant problems with some soldering (pits in the solder seams), and in
particular, problems with casting palladium. This is important, since the
majority of jewelry sold today is cast, not fabricated. In our shop, we cast
all our own work, including all gold alloys (including palladium based white
golds, which are also difficult to cast), and platinum. The temperatures are
not a problem with our equipment. But we've been unable to achieve an
acceptable level of freedom from porosity in our castings. Most of the stuff,
even using fairly sophisticated equipment (Our platinum casting is done in an
induction melt high speed centrifuge which has, if needed, argon shielding or
the capacity to cast in vacuum, for example), simply has too much gas porosity.
So we have to use the services of a more specialized casting company who, at
least so far, seems to have solved the riddle well enough to give us usable
(though still not perfect) castings most of the time. But by the time we're
done with that, our costs have risen enough so our finished pieces in
palladium, are not actually much cheaper than similar pieces done in 18K white
gold. This means that the price differential for the raw metals, one of the
apparent big advantages of palladium, disappears in many instances.

This same problem with melting the metal to get an acceptable casting also means
that as a bench worker, one of the things I can routinely do with other metals,
remelting my scraps to make an ingot to roll or draw out into new wire or sheet,
isn't an option with palladium. This means I have to buy all the metal I
fabricate with, as finished sheet or rod or wire. I can roll it thinner as
needed, or draw it down to thinner wire if needed, but I can't, if I need
thicker stock or a bigger piece, just melt some bits together, pour an ingot,
and make my own. So now, if I'm fabricating palladium routinely, I'm forced to
carry a bigger inventory of metal so as to have enough stock to work with, and
my left overs are not so simply reused, but must now be sold back to the refiner
in trade for new metal. As with platinum scrap, refiners pay a lower percentage
of the metal value than they do with gold scrap. All this again increases the
costs of working with palladium.

None of the above problems are insurmountable, of course. If the market demands
palladium jewelry, we'll find a way to make it, and I'll figure out what I need
to work with it. While it has it's problems, it at least avoids some of the
most aggrevating aspects of white golds, which I can appreciate.

But platinum is still far nicer to work with, and I expect this will remain my
opinion. I'll work with palladium if i need to, but please don't expect me to
ever fall in love with the stuff. (but our diamond setter, in contrast to me,
would love to see palladium replace white gold, since palladium is a lot easier
to set stones into than is white gold)

Peter Rowe
Seattle


  #3  
Old November 5th 07, 07:34 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Marilee J. Layman
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Posts: 119
Default Palladium Issues!

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:05:43 -0700, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote:

In fabricating platinum, unlike platinum

^^^^^^^^ = palladium
--
Marilee J. Layman
http://mjlayman.livejournal.com
  #4  
Old November 5th 07, 07:38 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Peter W.. Rowe,
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Posts: 355
Default Palladium Issues!

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:34:56 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Marilee J. Layman"
wrote:

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:05:43 -0700, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote:

In fabricating platinum, unlike platinum

^^^^^^^^ = palladium



picky picky picky... (grin)

read what I meant, not what I type, OK?

Funny how the brain can think one thing, and the fingers do something else.

Sometimes I have the same problem with jewelry....

You go back and look at something you finished a half hour ago, and which seemed
perfect then, and wonder how you ever could have overlooked some glaringly
obvious error or oversight, etc....

( Thanks for the correction! )

Peter
 




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