[Jewelry making - Article 00120] - Re: [Orchid] What do you charge for Rhodium plating?

[Neilthejeweler]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

This is how I figure it...

    From a pint you could plate literally hundreds of small items, if
    you take care to avoid waste. For this reason I use a plastic
    container so that I tap off as much solution from the piece as I can
    before rinse. Same thing for the anode. Don't you just love watching
    your rhodium bottle get lower and lower? 

    Most of the value (as I perceive it) is in the prep work. Be it
    repair or a new piece, careful and thorough polishing and stop-off
    (if needed) is what results in a great finish. 

    So typically I don't have a 'rhodium charge' per se. But if I were
    handed a bunch of prepped pieces (say from a jeweler friend) to
    rhodium I would probably charge $10 per. If rhodium became a regular
    line of business I would certainly look much more closely at the
    economics of it. But for now, the way I work, I get enough for
    repairs and/or new pieces to just absorb the cost of the
    solution.(ex. $100,000 worth of white gold work with a rhodium cost
    of $400, I could live with that) My equipment I've had for so long
    that its cost doesn't figure in anymore. 

    All that being said, I can see where someone who is setting up for
    rhodium should probably charge in the area of $25 retail plus
    polishing. I would shoot for recovering my investment within one
    year. So it really depends on the volume of pieces one does.
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________