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#1
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Why all the fuss about white gold?
I notice a lot of fuss on Orchid about (nickel alloyed) white gold and
the assumption that it's so difficult to work with, i.e., cracking and stuff. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I wonder what all the brew-ha-ha is all about? Frosty -- Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus! |
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#2
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Why all the fuss about white gold?
On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 22:55:16 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Frosty
wrote: I notice a lot of fuss on Orchid about (nickel alloyed) white gold and the assumption that it's so difficult to work with, i.e., cracking and stuff. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I wonder what all the brew-ha-ha is all about? Frosty A lot of this depends on just which alloy you're trying to work with, and in what karat. The longtime "standard" 14K white gold, such as most standard die struck findings are made of, isn't so bad to work with. But it's color isn't optimal either. White golds vary from those with somewhat "softer" or warmer colors (ie, they're noticably yellow tinged) to those that are icy white, as white as the platinum group metals. Some of the original white gold alloys, often found in antique items from the early part of the 20th century are pretty white. But if you've ever worked on these things, you know that metal is rather hard, and quite brittle sometimes. And many times, these are 14K. In general, the 18K white golds, if very white, are even worse. it's not that they cannot be worked, it's just that they're tempermental and sometimes unpredictable. Annealing technique is critical to whether it's reasonably soft. Do it just a little wrong, and you can cause fracturing, or even increase the hardness. And Casting these alloys in simpler equipment (torch melt, for example) is difficult in terms of getting consistant castings without porosity problems (something that's variable in perception, since some goldsmiths simply aren't as pickly about porosity, often due to preferences for finishes on the jewelry that don't show it as much, or simply that they've never worked with white gold that doesn't do that, so they take it for granted) For some time, in our shop, we tried multiple variations of the super white, or at least white enough so as to not need rhodium, 18K white golds. They all had problems somewhere. Few could be cast consistently, using an electric melt, graphite crucible furnace or a torch to melt, with vacuum casting. Just too high an incidence of castings with too much porosity. And the castings that weren't too porous, or those which we'd manage to repair sufficiently via lots of burnishing and/or laser welding, were still problems when it came to setting the stones. A constant stream of nasty language from the diamond setters, due to just plain hard metal, hard enough to make raising beads and bright cutting difficult, or metal that just didn't want to move even with pretty aggressive hammering. And just when they'd think they about had a ring all set, they'd find one or two beads cracking off. That, at least, we could fix with the laser, but still... We finally gave up on the very white alloys. We're now using a "soft" white gold alloy from Stuller. Still occasional problems with porosity, but not so amazingly bad all the time, and the castings, once annealed, can be set without too much trouble. The downside is that the stuff very much does need an rhodium finish when done, if you want the color to be truly white, as most of our clients want it. And even this alloy isn't totally predictable. Every now and then we find odd inclusions in the metal. Whiter and harder than the gold, but more aggresively attacked by acid. Not magnetic. Slightly crumbly when cut with a diamond grinding point (the stuff tends to dull a bur). Not sure what it is. Either some unalloyed componant that Stuller didn't fully melt, or nickle carbides forming from the crucible (not sure about that, but someone mentioned the possibility once...) or? Annoying. Usually found in chunks coming to the surface which, by the time I've ground out the whole offending inclusion, leaves a 2-3 mm wide cavity in the ring I then have to fill in with the laser. So if you have no trouble with nickel white golds, thank your lucky stars that you happen to be working with one of the more tractable versions of the alloy. And if you'd like some physical exercise, obtain some of any of the superwhite 18K alloys. Cast an ingot, roll and draw down to fine wire. Just see how hard you have to work to do that, compared with yellow golds... Then melt the wire down into an ingot again, and repeat. See if you can get it to work the same way, twice or three times in a row. Or, for real fun, use some of that wire to fabricate a nice cluster prong head for a half dozen stones or so, and put a shank on it. Polish up, feel proud, and THEN try to set the damn thing with emeralds or something else a bit brittle. See how much that damn springy wire makes it hard to get stones tight without breaking them. Have fun. Peter |
#3
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Why all the fuss about white gold?
I downloaded new messages from rec.crafts.jewelry on Sun, 15 Oct 2006
06:19:56 GMT, and "Peter W.. Rowe," vomited forth this bit of wisdom : On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 22:55:16 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Frosty wrote: I notice a lot of fuss on Orchid about (nickel alloyed) white gold and the assumption that it's so difficult to work with, i.e., cracking and stuff. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I wonder what all the brew-ha-ha is all about? Frosty A lot of this depends on just which alloy you're trying to work with, and in what karat. The longtime "standard" 14K white gold, such as most standard die struck findings are made of, isn't so bad to work with. But it's color isn't optimal either. White golds vary from those with somewhat "softer" or warmer colors (ie, they're noticeably yellow tinged) to those that are icy white, as white as the platinum group metals. Some of the original white gold alloys, often found in antique items from the early part of the 20th century are pretty white. But if you've ever worked on these things, you know that metal is rather hard, and quite brittle sometimes. And many times, these are 14K. In general, the 18K white golds, if very white, are even worse. it's not that they cannot be worked, it's just that they're temperamental and sometimes unpredictable. Annealing technique is critical to whether it's reasonably soft. Do it just a little wrong, and you can cause fracturing, or even increase the hardness. And Casting these alloys in simpler equipment (torch melt, for example) is difficult in terms of getting consist ant castings without porosity problems (something that's variable in perception, since some goldsmiths simply aren't as pickly about porosity, often due to preferences for finishes on the jewelry that don't show it as much, or simply that they've never worked with white gold that doesn't do that, so they take it for granted) For some time, in our shop, we tried multiple variations of the super white, or at least white enough so as to not need rhodium, 18K white golds. They all had problems somewhere. Few could be cast consistently, using an electric melt, graphite crucible furnace or a torch to melt, with vacuum casting. Just too high an incidence of castings with too much porosity. And the castings that weren't too porous, or those which we'd manage to repair sufficiently via lots of burnishing and/or laser welding, were still problems when it came to setting the stones. A constant stream of nasty language from the diamond setters, due to just plain hard metal, hard enough to make raising beads and bright cutting difficult, or metal that just didn't want to move even with pretty aggressive hammering. And just when they'd think they about had a ring all set, they'd find one or two beads cracking off. That, at least, we could fix with the laser, but still... We finally gave up on the very white alloys. We're now using a "soft" white gold alloy from Stuller. Still occasional problems with porosity, but not so amazingly bad all the time, and the castings, once annealed, can be set without too much trouble. The downside is that the stuff very much does need an rhodium finish when done, if you want the color to be truly white, as most of our clients want it. And even this alloy isn't totally predictable. Every now and then we find odd inclusions in the metal. Whiter and harder than the gold, but more aggressively attacked by acid. Not magnetic. Slightly crumbly when cut with a diamond grinding point (the stuff tends to dull a bur). Not sure what it is. Either some unalloyed component that Stuller didn't fully melt, or nickel carbides forming from the crucible (not sure about that, but someone mentioned the possibility once...) or? Annoying. Usually found in chunks coming to the surface which, by the time I've ground out the whole offending inclusion, leaves a 2-3 mm wide cavity in the ring I then have to fill in with the laser. So if you have no trouble with nickel white golds, thank your lucky stars that you happen to be working with one of the more tractable versions of the alloy. And if you'd like some physical exercise, obtain some of any of the superwhite 18K alloys. Cast an ingot, roll and draw down to fine wire. Just see how hard you have to work to do that, compared with yellow golds... Then melt the wire down into an ingot again, and repeat. See if you can get it to work the same way, twice or three times in a row. Or, for real fun, use some of that wire to fabricate a nice cluster prong head for a half dozen stones or so, and put a shank on it. Polish up, feel proud, and THEN try to set the damn thing with emeralds or something else a bit brittle. See how much that damn springy wire makes it hard to get stones tight without breaking them. Have fun. Peter Yikes!! Well, I'll have to pass thanx anyway. Last year I made a platinum wedding band for my wife. She said she wished her engagement ring was platinum too. I rhodium plated her 14KY engagement ring. That was 9 months ago. It's still nice and white. Frosty (Nobody here has ever asked what this following bit of Latin translates to, but I'll tell you now anyway: "Let's all wear mood rings!") -- Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus! |
#4
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Why all the fuss about white gold?
Frosty wrote:
I notice a lot of fuss on Orchid about (nickel alloyed) white gold and the assumption that it's so difficult to work with, i.e., cracking and stuff. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I wonder what all the brew-ha-ha is all about? Frosty White gold alloyed with Nickel is the biggest garbage ever foisted onto the jewelry field. It is crap of biblical proportions. Besides, it is not even white! A little historical perspective. The silly concoction did not even exist until the 40's when the US government declared Platinum a "strategic metal" (it was needed as a catalyst in bomb making during the war), and metallurgists developed white gold as a Platinum replacement. After the war when Platinum was again allowed to be used, it unfortunately never regained it's popularity. Probably due to the fact that "white" gold was cheaper than Pt, easier to work with, without the need for special tools and skills that working with Pt requires. And due to the fact, that with additional Rhodium plating "white" gold would "look just like Pt". And let's not forget, that "white" gold is a contradiction in terms! -- Abrasha http://www.abrasha.com |
#5
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Why all the fuss about white gold?
I have to admit, I have quite a bit of trouble with 18k white. I have been
sizing rings for 22 years, but just recently started working for a store that carries a lot of 18k white semi mounts. Some of that stuff is wacky, you put heat on it and watch it move!! Really hard to get the rings round again too, especially when baguettes are so popular now... One thing I do like is our shop manager keeps a solder called 20k White Weld around and it is really nice for sizing 14k white, good hard solder that flows and leaves very few pits, doesn't polish out very easy either. "Frosty" wrote in message ... I notice a lot of fuss on Orchid about (nickel alloyed) white gold and the assumption that it's so difficult to work with, i.e., cracking and stuff. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I wonder what all the brew-ha-ha is all about? Frosty -- Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus! |
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