Best place to buy casting gold

[Niamh]

Hello,

Im trying to buy some gold to make my wedding ring (Preferably rose gold) but im under the impression if i make it using my method of casting with delft clay il need to buy at least 15g to make a 2g ring? obviously that's going to be pricey. Can anyone suggest somewhere with the lowest price per gram of gold to buy for melting and casting? thank you

[Dennis]

Casting grain is casting grain and Cookson won't be a lot different in price from anywhere else.

I am sorry to throw cold water on your plan but what you propose will be much more expensive than making it from wire which involves a simple soldering operation you can learn in an hour or so, practising with silver solder on copper.

You will then have funds in hand for professional engraving and hall marking.

Cheaper still, buy one ready made from Cookson and it will be perfect and seamless. Dennis.

[Niamh]

Thanks Dennis,
Iv just had a thought, but i would like to know your opinion on it please.
Rather then using both halfs of the delft flask to making a ring, could i simply fill one half with delft clay, push a band ring down full into the sand take it out to reveal the impression and then just pour 3g of metal into that ring impression?

[enigma]

Is there a reason you need to cast it Niamh rather than making it from wire ?

[Niamh]

Is there a reason you need to cast it Niamh rather than making it from wire ?

I had planned on trying to start up my own jewelry business if this ring is a success. I wanted to cast things because i used to make a lot of jewelry from wire and decided i wanted to expand on my skills and teach myself a bit more. My wedding ring i want to cast because i feel il like the final product more then i would when i use wire. x

[Niamh]

I also feel id have put a lot more effort in to making it because i would have used a new method id never used before. Its a bit of a learning curve for me! haha

[enigma]

Ok fair enough, but if you are going to cast it I would make it in such a way that it benefits from being cast, perhaps a deep texture on the outside or something.
I make a twig ring which I cast, may not be your thing but just to give an idea of something that benefits from casting.
I cast that as a flat piece and shape it into a ring afterwards as its easier to get it to flow that way and allows me to make any size.
Gold prices tend to be standard as they are based on the International gold price so unfortunately you won't find casting gold for much less if any than Cooksons sell it for.

Did you manage to get it to work in silver now? as that will give you a clearer idea exactly how much gold you will need.

[CJ57]

I just got a gram of red gold casting grain from Cookson which I use for decoration, they'd picked out 8 matching grain for me which I didn't ask for but was good of them. They are about 1mm each and cost me over £15 which seems quite shocking, a 2m x4mm piece of wire a couple o weeks ago was over £25 which seems better value

[handmadeblanks]

Thanks Dennis,
Iv just had a thought, but i would like to know your opinion on it please.
Rather then using both halfs of the delft flask to making a ring, could i simply fill one half with delft clay, push a band ring down full into the sand take it out to reveal the impression and then just pour 3g of metal into that ring impression?

My guess is the answer is 'no'. The reason, I figure, is that heat will dissipate so quickly from such a small quantity of metal that it will solidify before filling the entire impression. I personally think you need more volume so that it remains molten for longer.

I also doubt you can make a successful cast using only half the mould because as I said in the other thread, the delft clay process works by the metal being pushed around the impression by force of gravity rather than flowing around the impression. If you were to use a steel or cast iron mould you might be able to make it work because you can heat the mould with your torch so that the metal won’t cool as quickly therefore allowing it to flow around the impression.

The only caveat is that I am not much more experienced than you and often we learn through the process of trial and error. Maybe you can try a half-cast and let us know the result.

[enigma]

Aside from anything else I don't see how you would control the pour accurately enough that way?