[Jewelry making - Article 00036] - Re: [Orchid] Working with Tungsten in jewelry

[James Binnion]

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    While tungsten is quite a bit harder and stronger than titanium it is
    not really workable in any kind of fabrication or casting techniques
    that are available to a studio metalsmith. Its high hardness and
    strength make forming it very difficult. It can only be cast using
    very exotic techniques (electron beam melting, consumable electrode
    arc melting, etc.) in a hard vacuum or high purity argon atmosphere.
    It can be ground to shape using high hardness abrasives but short of
    diamond cutting tools it cannot be machined or cut. You can solder to
    it but not weld it with anything short of an electron beam or maybe a
    laser but its melting temp is 6170F which is very difficult to
    achieve and again it must be in a high purity argon atmosphere or
    vacuum to make the welds as it readily oxidizes and will burn up in
    air. It is also quite a bit more expensive than titanium a 6" x 6"
    x.020" sheet of tungsten is close to $600 a similar size piece of
    titanium is $15. A good deal of the cost is due to the difficulties
    in working it mentioned above as it is not particularly rare. If you
    would like to buy some to try out go to http://www.goodfellow.com. 

    OBTW The jewelry that is currently being marketed as being tungsten
    is actually tungsten carbide, a ceramic. It is a sintered product
    where tungsten carbide powder that contains some cobalt and nickel
    powders to act as a binder are heated under great pressure and high
    temperatures to form a bar or tube. It not workable at all and must
    be ground to shape. 

James Binnion
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
James Binnion Metal Arts
http://www.mokume-gane.com
360-756-6550
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