Working with gold

[nicks creative stuff]

Hi all hope you’re well and not too wind swept, A quick question for all you Goldsmiths … i’m just finishing a video about using charcoal and being a hobbyist I’ve never worked with gold. My question is … do you use a charcoal block in the same way for gold as it is used for silver…. Hopefully one day I get the chance to play with the yellow stuff…. Thanks … Nick

[Dennis]

I have worked with gold intermittently, but always using my normal bricks.

With the lower carats, the copper oxidises to an extent, and is then removed by pickle causing the gold to turn more yellow, so a charcoal block(which absorbs oxygen) might be helpful

With high carat golds, oxidation is minimal, so should be dealt with by the flux. Even so traditional goldsmiths still work on charcoal. Not sure why.

Natural charcoal blocks break up easily when heated, so it is usual to contain them in a box, or tie them with binding wire.
The alternative is to use compressed charcoal which survives better. Dennis

[china]

I work with Gold off and on always use the same insulating bricks I do with Silver or Platinum have not had any issues.

[nicks creative stuff]

Thanks for your comments Dennis and China, so I’ll leave the statement about charcoal being good for working with gold in my video…. Appreciate your expertise… Nick