[Jewelry making - Article 00545] - Re: [Orchid] Drawing 22k wire from coin

[Randy Smith (PSS TEXAS)]

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    Hi  Jerry and Noel, 

    I'll try and answer both questions in the same reply. 

>     I don't  understand why you say anything less pure than ,9999 is
>     not suitable for wire making.

    It all depends on what you are going to use the wire for.  I make 22
    kt wire.  I use it for making chains by Jean Stark's method where I
    create the wire, make the jump rings, fuse them and then weave them
    into chains.  Anything less than 4 nines gold will break during the
    weaving step. I demonstrated this during one of her classes in Hilton
    Head (not on purpose...<grin> ..but as a result of not listening to
    the teacher and using 3 nines gold.)  When I start with 4 nines gold,
    I know exactly what is in the final product, pure silver, pure
    copper, and pure gold. With anything else, there are foreign
    substances I cannot control. Sorry if I was misleading. 

>     you go through some unnecessary steps 

    First, I melt the coin to determine if it is pure.  When it cools,
    if the surface is not bright-shiny-polished, but has a glaze over it,
    or a crystaline surface, it is not pure.  I save it for casting later
    on. If it does not have the 'hole' when it cools, it is not pure.  I
    don't really know what this means and would love to know the cause,
    but Jean showed it to me, and I have seen it every single time the
    gold cools with pure gold, and never with 3 nines gold.  Any
    metalsmiths  out there with a solution? 

    Second, I do what you do. I alloy it and pour it into water if I dont
    need a whole ounce of wire, or pour it into the trench if I need the
    whole ounce. I use the charcoal block and a bamboo chopstick( or
    dowel )to stir when alloying in lieu of flux. The charcoal removes
    the oxygen from the process. 

    I wrap the charcoal block with binding wire, several times, around
    the edge to keep it from splitting during use. After I melt or
    alloy, I spray the charcoal block with a sprayer filled with water to
    stop the heat.  This seems to prolong the life of the block.  I use
    about 3 or 4 charcoal blocks a year.

    One neat trick with the charcoal block, is if you are going to make
    sheet instead of wire, after alloying and while the gold is in the
    depression , press another charcosl block down on top of the gold.
    Press down and flatten the mass of molten gold.  It will take the
    shape of the depression, square and about 1/8 inch thick.  Ready for
    the rolling mill. 

>     How long do you work for the $150? (That is, how much time does it
>     take to draw wire from an ounce of gold?) 

    This all depends on the guage of wire I am making.  Smaller gauges
    take longer times. I usually stop about 16 ga.  I can always draw down
    whatever I need for a job, chain, neckllace, etc from that. 

    I've never timed it, but its not that long. Sort of a side interest
    while I'm doing other things. 

    1) Melt the coin (2 minutes) and let it cool while doing other
    things. 

    2) Cut and measure the silver and copper for the alloy for 1 ounce
    of gold. (3-4 minutes). 

    3) Re-melt the coin and add the alloy ( 2 minutes ) , pour it in
    Water ( 1 minute). 

    4) Put gold pebbles in the trench, heat and form into a long ingnot.
    (2-3 minutes) Let cool while I'm doing something else. 

    5) From here on out, its running it through 9 or 10 grooves of the
    mill, about 2 or 3 minutes per 2 grooves, then put it in the kiln to
    anneal. 

    6) File a point on the end and draw it through the first two holes
    of the drawplate, about 5 minutes, then put it in  the kiln for
    annealing. 

    7) Continue until you get the size you want. 

    8) I probably go down to 20 gauge in about an hour and a half from
    start to finish. This is with using the annealing time to do
    something constructive. 

    The actual process may take all day, or several days if I'm not in a
    rush for the wire. When I have a free moment, like waiting for a
    pickle, I do a step in the wire process. 

Love and God Bless
-randy
http://www.rocksmyth.com

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