[Jewelry making - Article 00662] - Re: [Orchid] Uses for Goldfill Wire

[Emmaydesign]

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    I started out using gold fill wire in many of my pieces for the
    simple reason of keeping costs down for those who, like myself,
    prefer the color of gold but the price of sterling. I've cut it,
    hammered it, filed it, sanded it, soldered it to itself and to
    sterling, etc. I still have some of the pieces I made in this manner
    over a year ago - and they look fine - a little dull perhaps, bu t
    fine for the price, I think. When I began to sell these pieces
    though I became concerned about the parts where the base metal would
    inevitably come through the gold coating- any part that had been cut,
    soldered, filed, and so forth and what would happen over time. I
    continued to use the gold fill wire, but would send the pieces out to
    be overlaid with a thin (20 micron) layer of 18K. I've since gone
    over to working all in sterling and having some pieces vermeiled with
    100-micron layer of 18K over sterling. The end result is better in
    quality and appearance and it simplifies my production. 

    Another point on gold fill is that you can buy different grades - my
    understanding is that 14/20 is 14K with 20% gold content over a base
    metal (while 12/10 would be 12K with 10% content, etc.). 

    And no, people often don't know the difference between gold fill,
    vermeil, and gold plate - gold plate being just a very thin wash of
    gold over a base metal - but you can make it clear to them in your
    pitch. 

    Finally, I've found the people at Red Sky Plating to be very helpful
    with questions related to plating - they are in Albuquerque. 

Good luck,
Meredith
www.mamodern.com

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