[Jewelry making - Article 00198] - Re: [Orchid] Gold plating fine silver for enameling

[Colin Buckley]

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>     Why don't you try keum-bo? This will apply a thick enough layer of
>     gold and may survive the firing. 

    I can't speak for Justine, but my issue with fluxing and gold
    foiling or straight keum bo for the warm colors, is that I tend to
    create mostly basse-taille pieces and I'm concerned that I'd lose too
    much of the surface detail that I've so lovingly created. Also, I
    don't wish to apply clear flux under the red, because it kinda
    defeats the purpose of basse-taille, I won't get quite the same
    effect as the clear doesn't give me the same results as different
    thicknesses of colored enamel on the same piece does. 

    However, from the feedback I've gotten from Ganoksin, and the
    enamelist yahoo group (primarily from Alan Heywood of Heywood
    Enamels) it seems that plating is not the answer for a few key
    reasons. The primary reason, as it has been mentioned, is that the
    gold would diffuse into the silver at the temps that the enamels are
    fired at. Then when I suggested perhaps applying an under plate of
    nickel, I was told definitely no go. Not sure why, but perhaps
    there's an issue with the COE of nickel? 

    So, I'm back to finding a red that can be applied directly to fine
    silver without a significant color shift. This used to be the famous
    Aoki 105B, but that is no more-and I've had time to mourn over its
    tragic demise. I've already tried LT95, and that turned orange on the
    first coat and the second coat turned a completely uninteresting
    brown, with hints of red. I have one more red to try, a Ninomiya
    G704, which I'm hoping might work better. After that, I'll see if I
    have better luck with the Schauer reds ***sigh***. However, I suspect
    I might have to abandon this particular design, unless I find that
    elusive red. Anyone have thoughts on a red that can be fired directly
    onto silver without turning brown? 

    Now, if I worked in cloisonne, this wouldn't be nearly as big a
    deal-I'd simply flux it and be done with it... 

    -c 

    PS. Thackeray, I attended your PMC soldering seminar at the
    conference last year. It was very enlightening. I still hate
    soldering it, but I appreciated the effort that was put into the
    testing...
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