Turning gold granules into sheet metal

[dorotheachism]

I am new to the forum. Pardon my ignorance. But I wanted to take gold granules and copper granules and make Rose gold sheet metal. I have a kiln and a rolling mill. I have an aceyletine torch. I know I need a crucible to melt the gold. I need to know what karat of granules and the right type of copper. I need to know safety precautions? What tempature to set the kiln. And how to turn the hot liquid into rose gold sheet? I am sure I am over simplifying this, but if you could answer these questions and point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

 

[jimdoc]

I am new to the forum. Pardon my ignorance. But I wanted to take gold granules and copper granules and make Rose gold sheet metal. I have a kiln and a rolling mill. I have an aceyletine torch. I know I need a crucible to melt the gold. I need to know what karat of granules and the right type of copper. I need to know safety precautions? What tempature to set the kiln. And how to turn the hot liquid into rose gold sheet? I am sure I am over simplifying this, but if you could answer these questions and point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

These sites may be of help to you;

http://www.ganoksin.com/index.htm

http://www.preciousmetalswest.com/dangling_a_karat.htm

http://www.preciousmetalswest.com/technical-article-index-page/

http://www.ganoksin.com/benchtube/video/31/Alloying-Gold-and-Silver

Another;
http://www.preciousmetalswest.com/Elemental%20Mysteries.htm

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Making a simple rose gold casting is fairly easy. Producing a quality rose gold sheet gets much more difficult.

You would want to start with pure gold (not karated) and pure copper. The copper is easy, as copper electrical wire is very pure. This forum provides all the information needed to refine gold to similarly high purity.

There is an entire section of the forum devoted to safety.

I don't think a kiln will be of much use. You would probably want a furnace to melt the gold and copper, and this is where things start getting complicated. To produce a quality product, the gold and copper must be intimately mixed, or you'll end up with some areas being higher in gold, and others being higher in copper. You can stir the melt in a gas furnace before pouring, but an induction melter does a much better job (at a much higher cost). As you heat the copper, it will begin to oxidize, and that will adversely affect your finished product. You would need a deoxidizer of some kind. Then, to get proper handling characteristics as you roll the sheet, you'd probably need some other minor additions. If you get the mixture right, you'd want to pour the molten metal into a book mold that would produce a fairly thin ingot which could then be rolled to the desired thickness. But as you roll it thinner and thinner, the alloy gets harder, so it has to be annealed to soften it. That means heating to a high temperature, then cooling. But doing so will again start to oxidize the copper in the alloy, so manufacturers use annealing equipment with a controlled atmosphere. Those are just a few things that come to mind. I'm sure there are others. It gets complicated.

If you're making a bit for personal use, you might get something you'd be satisfied with. Producing a saleable products is much more difficult.

Dave

 

[upcyclist]

I've cast my own rose gold, but used a rose gold master alloy (from Stuller if I recall correctly). A master alloy is basically everything but the gold, so for 14K rose gold you'd use 14 parts gold (by weight) to 10 parts master alloy. Especially if you're dealing with smaller quantities, it's just simpler to use the master alloys. They also tend to contain other additives, like grain refiners and deoxidizers, that will make your life easier. If you go that route, be sure to get a 'rolling alloy' for fabrication and not a casting alloy--it'll produce a more malleable product, whereas the main requirement for casting alloys is that they resist oxidization.

Similar to what Dave said, I'd first alloy the metals and shot the product (pour it into water) to make sure it's well mixed on the second go. Then melt your shot and pour it either into a sheet mold or even on a smooth, flat surface to get a flat "cast". Personally, I'd hammer it thinner before I even bothered putting it through the roller mill.

I just used a hand torch (acetylene/air) when I did mine. Note that some master alloys are formulated for different types of melting, too--open air, torch, induction, etc.

You will want to re-anneal your gold quite often. You'll feel it stiffen up after a few passes through the mill--that's when it's time to anneal again. If you dip your piece in boric acid before annealing, it'll resist oxidization and won't need to spend as much time in the pickle pot.

Final note: Red gold refers specifically to karated gold that only uses copper as the non-gold metal component. Rose and pink gold can contain other metals. For example, 18K red gold is very brittle, so 18K rose gold actually contains a bit of silver to soften the alloy.