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Hi,
I'm new to the forum, a novice jeweller and starter business woman.
Most of the rings that I make are sterling silver and I have never had a problem.
The first 9ct white gold ring I make in 2mm, for a customer, after 6 months cracks and splits.
I think it is a one off so I remake it with fresh 9ct white gold wire and 9ct white gold solder..
Now 6 months later the same issue has happened.
Where am I going wrong?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
TIA
What type of ring is it P, does it have a setting for instance, or a band?, where is the split?....at a soldered seam? Hope to be able to help!!
Thanks for your reply Tabby :)
Its a plain band that has been hammered for texturing, 2mm width flat band.
It may be on the join but the crack runs diaganle from top to bottom.
Customer sent me a pic of it.
I would venture that it has cracks and fissures from over working. 9ct white gold work hardens very quickly.
Which ever way you set about making it, be prepared to anneal two to three times during the process. Dennis.
If it's not the seam, which it doesn't sound like with a diagonal split, I would agree with Dennis about potential overworking, particularly since you said that you hammered it to texture it.
Tabby x
This is the picture of the ring that the customer sent me.
Attachment 6646
I think it looks like a split at the seam.
Couple of questions. Did you texture before or after soldering the band closed? If the latter, did you anneal again before finishing?
I'd should also ask if you were completely happy with the join - gold generally needs a fair bit more heat than sterling, and what may appear good can fail later. I think this is one of the reason so many of us prefer to make slightly small and stretch to size - if a join's going to give, that's when it will happen!
Thanks Mizgeorge for your reply.
I textured after the band was closed.
And I have never annealed, I dont know how!
I think I was happy with the join but perhaps it wasnt good enough
Could anyone recommend how to best make a ring like this?
Do I texture before?
And how do I anneal?
Apologies for being a complete idiot :(|
Stop beating yourself over the head PJ, what you do not know you do not know and asking questions is the only way to get past that sort of hurdle. I know how to anneal silver and cannot wait to see the answer on how to do gold.
Frans
I don't think it matters how you make the ring, but working metal by bending, stretching, or hammering, or almost any physical activity will harden the metal. Further strain and it will start cracking at its most vulnerable point.
It can be re-softened by heating to a very dull red and (quoting Cookson) holding that for a minute or two (I loose patience after 30 seconds) and then allowing it to air cool before pickling.This is called annealing and will relieve stresses within the metal.
As George has advised, you can also test your join if you gently stretch to size at the end.
I can't find advice for annealing silver on Cookson, but most of us just heat as above 'til it just glows evenly all over and drop straight into pickle.
Dennis.