Jewelry Metals and Manual Casting Workshop
Tags: alloys • casting • metallurgy • refining • southeastern LA • two day classes • workshops
A class in basic alloying of jewelry metals and simple casting methods will take place August 2008 in New Orleans LA.
Participants are limited to 12 students and the class is fee based. There is a materials fee attached to the students selection of metal(s).Topics covered will include alloying metals & karating, cuttlefish bone, delft clay and other manual casting methods excluding the lost wax and vacuum assisted processes.
Some housing is available for overnight guests needing nominally priced accommodations and we can assist you in making arrangements with nearby B&B's or hotels if necessary.The weather in New Orleans is hot in August but we wanted to offer it then to take advantage of students or teachers that are on break and those that have childcare assistance in summertime as children will not be allowed to accompany students in class.
Participation is first come first served.There are no prerequisites as anyone of any age above a mature 13 are welcomed. Children 10-17 must have parental consent and endorsement of their abilities to participate with a non-distracting demeanor and a waiver from parents signed to register for this class, however it is targeted to adult metalsmiths.
The two day event fee will include lunch and refreshments on site to maximize working time. Kits will be available to take home following the class to continue honing one's skills in a particular method for an additional fee.
For more information email: vieuxcarrejewelers@gmail.com and enter- class info - in the subject line so your query does not end up in the junk folder!
We will also be offering this again in October for those who prefer potentially cooler weather and weekday classes as this workshop is planed for the 2ed weekend in August - barring potentially threatening weather.
Our classes are taught by expert, experienced jewelry professionals at our school in New Orleans.We promise you will leave with a good working knowledge of tools, materials and processes involved in the manual casting and refining of metals.Please join us for an informative and fun workshop!
There are several reasons
Rich Waugh -
Sunday, July 18, 2010 - 8:44pm
There are several reasons for using alloys rather than pure metals.
Some pure metals, gold and silver for example, are really too soft for many purposes. For jewelry they are usually alloyed to make them harder, and also to develop particular colors. Pure gold is well, gold-colored. If you want rose gold, for example you add copper. For pale gold add silver and/or other white metals. For increased hardness add rhodium, for example. Pure platinum is so soft you can bend it with your fingers - add a tiny percentage of palladium and it is extremely hard.
Brass and bronze are both alloys of copper. Pewter is an alloy of tin. "Pot metal" is an alloy of zinc. Many of these alloys were developed mainly to attain a metal that desirable characteristics for casting. Adding just a bit of antimony to zinc makes it expand when it cools and solidifies, thus filling a mold better. Without the antimony it would shrink upon cooling and not yield as fine a detail nor be as accurately sized.
Those are just a few of the many reasons for alloying metals. I didn't even go into the alloying of iron to make steel, a topic that could literally fill volumes (and does).
It is important, when alloying, to know why you are creating the particular alloy, and how to do it. That seems to be one of the main thrusts of the class they are offering above. Gold, for instance, is graded by "karat" value, which is an expression of the percentage by weight of gold in the final alloy. It is expressed as the number of parts of gold out of a total of 24 parts, 24K being pure gold and 12K being 50% gold, etc. Trade regulations require that gold items that are stamped with a karat value actually meet the specification within very narrow limits so it is critical to alloy correctly.
That's a brief overview of alloying. You can do a Google search and learn volumes more, I'm sure.
Rich
casting alloys
i would like to know why you use alloy in casting. Do i need to or does it matter? i would like to learn some casting, but where i live no one knows how to so its hard to learn.