14k jewelry

[turtlesteve]

A question:

For confirmed 14k scrap, would I be better off making 14k casting grain to sell for use in jewelry or would I be better to sell to a refiner?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[goldsilverpro]

For confirmed 14k scrap, would I be better off making 14k casting grain to sell for use in jewelry or would I be better to sell to a refiner?

The alloy is slightly different in most every piece of 14K jewelry. There are many formulas and each manufacturer has his own idea of what the perfect color (alloy) is. Also, every time you melt it, you alter the alloy, due to oxidation of the base metals. If there is any lead in the solder used on some items, this will contaminate the alloy and make it brittle - it only takes about 5ppm lead to do this.

All in all, this is a very bad idea. Many jewelers won't even use their own scrap to make jewelry.

 

[Harold_V]

A question:

For confirmed 14k scrap, would I be better off making 14k casting grain to sell for use in jewelry or would I be better to sell to a refiner?

Thanks,
Steve

Re-melting existing jewelry to make shot, from which more jewelry would be created, is an open invitation to oxidized gold. You would have added two melts to gold that may not tolerate even one. As Chris has alluded, it's not only a bad idea, it's also a dishonest idea. Unless you perform extensive analysis on the material in question, you have no clue of its contents, nor do you have a clue about its quality. It is common practice to re-refine gold that has been melted a few times, if for no other reason, to avoid inclusions in the castings. It was quite common for me to receive sprues from my customers, sprues from gold used in casting, when it had been melted too many times and was starting to present problems in finishing.

You also would have to face the problem of white, yellow and rose gold being mixed, to say nothing of the chance that your product might include traces of Black Hills Gold jewelry. Some colors of gold are not malleable, such as purple and blue. Both of them would serve to contaminate your material. You also have the problem of solder joints, which are common to most types of jewelry, plus the additional problem of white crowns, which may be nickel/gold or palladium/gold (white gold). All in all, a terrible idea.

Harold

 

[turtlesteve]

OK, thanks for the replies.

The gold in question is all 14k yellow from the same manufacturer, without solder joints - but the oxidation would still pose a problem.

Steve

 

[shyknee]

plus it will not be 14k shot it will allways be less than 14k