Theme Competition September 2016 - Back to School

[Dennis]

Congratulations Sue, enjoy your prize. Dennis.

[mizgeorge]

Good for you Sue! Have fun spending your prize

[joella]

I am beyond excited! I'm thinking of buying a teeny weeny bit of gold as I've always wanted to have a go with it, but just cant justify the enormous cost, especially as I'm not particularly skilled! Can anyone tell me anything about working with gold, particularly in respect of how it compares to silver, is red gold the same as rose gold, would 18c be easier to work with than 9c, and does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could feasibly make with £100 worth of gold, given my limited skills, and the cost of gold meaning it wont buy very much of it ?

This is a great opportunity to experiment with using gold, I cant believe my luck - so I must say thankyou so much to Cooksons, ... regardless of what I end up spending it on.

[Unhindered]

I would start with 9ct just because it's cheaper! Red & rose are the same, and they all act in a similar way. It's not too different to sterling silver, I would suggest making something in silver with a gold feature or a simple gold band? If you go for the gold band option you'll need a hard gold solder too


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[enigma]

Thanks Joella

Your win was well deserved though, it was a very unique piece, well made and totally in fitting with the theme

As for working in gold 18ct can be easier in some ways but its very expensive so I would agree with Charlotte- go for 9ct particularly as you will likely need to buy some gold solder too.
I like to add gold to silver, perhaps a design in gold wire on a silver ring or pendant? that would be inexpensive but adds a lovely touch.

[Dennis]

You have been given great advice by Charlotte and Sarah.

Could I just add that you can buy less gold solder if you buy it by the cm as wire?

Talking of wire, you get an awful lot of wire for your money and rolled or hammered flat it can be used as a decoration on silver. What is more, if sweated on, it can be soldered onto silver with silver solder.

That said, I took my last prize as 1mm 18ct yellow gold wire, as I prefer the colour, and got about 6 cm.
You can guess that I am working my way through it in a miserly fashion, as my next post later his month will show. Dennis.

[joella]

Thanks everyone, I had forgotten about needing gold solder if I want to make something gold, so thanks for the nudge. I've never used solder wire, I guess it would require a really steady hand and maybe a bit of practice. I think I need to price up and have a think. As you say, I could just embellish silver with gold wire and wouldn't need gold solder for that, or I could buy the gold foil for Keum boo, which I have done a little of before. I had been thinking of making a gold ring - but that was before I'd factored in solder. Hmmm, I will mull it over a bit. Thanks for your input.
Sue

[enigma]

If you were going to make a gold ring you could use solder wire, just cut a length or two and place it on the join