[Jewelry making - Article 00190] - Re: [Orchid] Using master alloys by themselves

[R . E . Rourke]

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    jeff, i' m afraid you'll be better off just buying sheet coper and
    nickel and using them rather than buying the alloys as they are just
    designed to turn fine/plumb gold and silver into karated,,and
    coloured gold..to acheive this one adds various proportions of
    copper and nickel, and some trace elements, and in the case of some
    golds, silver. ( unless you get specialized..) so get the book from a
    library "Jewelrs Bench Reference", by Harold O'Connor, and buy some
    sheet copper and nickel and if you like silicates, (but generally
    unneccessary for your purposes. ) and the book gives you the correct
    proportions to make the alloys that are pre-combined for you in Rio,
    or a host of other manufacturers master alloys.. 

    But Better yet, if you want the look, feel and non-tarnishing
    capabilities of a good working cheap alloy Hoover and Strong makes
    one called Tigold. It is generally used by sample makers as the
    colour is close to 18kt yellow, or some 14kt rich yellow colours, it
    doesn't tarnish for years if kept airtight, or semi-climate
    controlled (versatile stuff!) ands costs les than silver ( at least
    it did last time I bought any. ) it also requires the use of
    "additive b", which they recommend using far too much of to get
    colours closer to antique golds, and rich yellow or peach-y
    tones..use about half of their recomended amount unless you like the
    "rose/pink" gold look and the amount called for if you desire "red"
    gold as described by O'Connor.. Tigold costs something like 12 bucks
    an oz, and the additive is 8 bucks or so an oz but one oz goes into
    8oz's if used as recommended ( which for me is way too red and tends
    to tarnish in two years due to the copper content of the additive -
    which just has some deoxidants added for mechanized casting
    operations!)..so for the cost of an ounce and a half of fine silver
    you get a product that yields the look and characteristics of
    karated gold at a fraction of the cost, and is far superior to
    casting alloys on the market due to the Tigold formula sans additive
    B..in fact you could probably call Hoover and Strong and ask for
    Stewart Grice and ask if you can use the TiGold without the additive
    for the specific type casting you are doing. I know for steam,
    direct, cuttlefish,delft clay and centrifugal ( swing it over your
    head style) casting, it looks brilliant without the "..additive B".. 

R. E. R.
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