Palladium

[sheepy]

I'm making a wedding band out of Palladium sheet & it will have an 18ct 1mm yellow wire inlaid into the sheet to represent contour lines of some peaks in Snowdonia.

I've been reading up on palladium both here, UKJC and my own books and am not sure on how to work or treat the metal, i think kindly for the latter & i've loads of questions for the former!

Oppi Unctracht Jewellery Concepts & Technology has just frightened me. I read that after using steel tools on the platinum family the precious metal should be pickled in hot hydrocholoric acid before annealing and what binding wire would be used if steel is an issue. what is the general practise or advice?

I use a propane sievert set up, will this be adequate to solder the band then the inlay?

Will the Auflux be suitable for all the soldering steps ( I am thinking of the palladium solder for the shank) including the gold wire or will I have to use Tenacity 125 Flux for both steps?

I used a graver to carve out a groove in the silver mock up for the contrasting wire, will this still be as easy to do in Palladium?

I've just received the brilliant 'Bench' magazine & after reading the article on Palladium I wondered how the inclusion of 18ct gold would affect the hall markabilty of the finished object?

and talking of brilliance what polishing compounds would you recommend?

I tried to upload an image but I'm not sure if I did it right

[Dennis]

You might find more information here, sheepy, particularly Ganoksin. Regards, Dennis.

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&gs_nf=1&cp=18&gs_id=vg&xhr=t&q=working+with+palladium&pf=p&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&oq

[Julian]

Had to check my facts hear, (it was as I remembered :) ). Because the gold is more valuable than he palladium and the gold is visible as non palladium you can hall mark as palladium.

Articles consisting of more than one precious metal can be hallmarked, subject to the following conditions:

• The item can only be marked if, in the opinion of the Assay Office, an ordinary person will be able to determine which part is which precious metal.
• Each precious metal component must be at least the minimum legal fineness for that metal i.e. Gold 375, Silver 800, Platinum 850, Palladium 500 (parts per thousand).
• The full Hallmark (Assay Office and fineness mark) struck will be that of the least precious metal, in order, silver, palladium, gold and platinum. This will normally be struck on the appropriate metal.

http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/images/pdfs/Hallmark%20guidance%20Notes%20FINAL.pdf

Regards

Julian

[sheepy]

Thanks Dennis, I got so bogged down with reading books I forgot Google & Ganoskin!!!!
Thanks Julian for the hall marking info

Sarah :)

[sheepy]

I've got more questions, has anyone inlaid gold into palladium?

Can a gold solder can be used for a successfull joint with palladium as I've read that cadmium free solders should not be used with gold & the lower temp palladium solders contain cadmium. I don't want to damage the gold by heating it to platinum solder temperature.

USA sites say to use welding glass when soldering palladium, does anyone practice this & have any advice about it?

I'm worried about the softness of 18ct compared to the palladium when I come to polish it but I thinks that is just a case of being careful I guess.

The brides rings are completed & I'll upload them asap. setting the stones was sweet, the gold was like butter.

sarah

[vernon]

can you try damascining (possibly spelt wrong) but this is a technique where you undercut the sides of graved lines and them hammer the gold into the grooves, the undercut holds the metal in and you can then file off the excess to leave a level surface. this is the technique used on shotguns to inlay gold into steel for decoration. Did some at college thirty years ago.

[sheepy]

Thanks Vernon, thats a good tip, it was difficult trying to get the wire in place as it just keep bouncing out & awkward trying to bind it all together. I'll go and try it & it should stay in place like you say if its got a bite.

Sarah

[Tabby66]

What a really good suggestion Vernon, I don't use palladium, but could see that method being useful in the future!!
Will be interested to hear how you get on sheepy :)

[vernon]

A future project for me is to use diamond tools and try to inset gold and silver wire into grooves ground into precious or semi precious stones, when I say future it's more of an inkling really!

[sheepy]

3613

The groove is cut & after shaping a graver to suit I have done the undercut too. I've annealed the gold wire -18ct hb yellow- to a good red but it feels very springy still, I've also left it to air cool & quenched it at black heat. I'm used to dealing with copper, guilding and silver wire & how soft they are after annealing, so am not sure if the gold should feel the same?

Sheepy

[Tabby66]

Not sure I can help with your query sheepy, but can I ask what you've got it held in please, looks very secure??!!

[Kwant]

looks like pitch being black but would make more sense if it was setters wax, which I know comes in black too. i use the red setters wax a lot, it is invaluable when it comes to holding stuff in place while you work on it.

[ps_bond]

I'd guess at pitch from the surface texture.
A bit late I'm afraid, but for inlay with gold wire, anything other than 24k is a bit of a headache - the alloys are much more prone to work hardening before you've got them locked in place and springing out again. Granted, if you want colours in your inlay there's no option but to use alloys. Don't start from the end - lock the wire in a little way from the end and work back to it.

[vernon]

i think if you start at one end and with a narrow hammer tap the gold into the groove, the gold needs to be as wide as the top of the groove and a little deeper than the groove depth, it should spread into the groove and hold in place. I dont think the annealed gold will be to much of a problem. Let us know how it goes.

[geti-titanium]

Sink the wire in slightly below the surface of the Palladium and hammer the edges over to retain the Gold wire. Make sure it's a tight joint and then send it out for a quick zap with a laser welder. (unless you have your own of course). Lasering the joint uses minimal localised heat and prevents loosening of the inlay due to expansion of the ring. It works in Titanium, Platinum, Palladium.

3614

You could tack the start of the inlay to the ring for extra security but it isn't necessary - they don't come out unless somebody tries to resize the ring by stretching it, which then usually splits the joint.