[Jewelry making - Article 00677] - Re: [Orchid] Mokume rings materials issue

[James Binnion]

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Hi Donna,

    Thanks for your kind words, it was a pleasure to meet you as well.
    The problem with talking about golds is that they are more complex
    alloys than sterling and each manufacturer has slightly different
    "recipes" for their alloys so the critical information about the
    alloy characteristics (melting  temperatures , ductility, hardness,
    grain growth etc.) are different  from one manufacturer to the next.
    So unfortunately the empirical experiment is the best way to get
    information on how a group of alloys will go together. With that
    being said if you treat a gold alloy stack just like a
    copper/sterling one for the lamination part of the process you
    should not have any problems with that phase. It is in the forging
    (hot? cold?) , and heat treating (annealing time? temperature?,
    quenching air? water? oil?) where the characteristics of the alloys
    and their interfaces become too difficult to talk about in
    generalities. Both Steve Midgett's and Ian Ferguson's books have
    good info about technique. So read up and jump in and get your feet
    wet. Make friends with your refiner and experiment. 

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Jim Binnion

James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (360) 756-6550
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (360) 756-2160
http://www.mokume-gane.com
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
Member of the Better Business Bureau

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