Gold Jewelry Casting

Gold Jewelry Casting Services from International Mfg. Co.

Whether you would like to produce a customized jewelry item for a client, a reproduction of a heirloom jewelry article, or a new design idea, most times gold is the metal of choice,

Gold is a soft, yellow metal, and is also highly malleable and ductile. Moreover, gold is able to conduct both electricity and heat rather easily. Gold elemental abbreviation is Au, from the Latin 'aurum' meaning 'shining dawn'. Gold has an extremely high density at 19.3 g per cubic centimeter, slightly greater than lead. gold is malleable. However, it's much more easily pressed-out than most other metals. In fact, just one ounce of gold can be stretched to over 300 square feet. Some other properties of gold include its high resistance to oxidation. Typically, metals often form oxide later on their surface due to exposure to oxygen at room temperature and room conditions; gold doesn't form this layer easily. Additionally, gold is unaffected by most acids and bases. Gold is quite resilient!

Gold has been a favorite jewelry production metal due to its value, appearance and its metallurgic properties .

The gold casting services offered by the team of experts at international Mfg. Co. will assist you in creating exceptional quality jewelry on time and on budget.

Let us take a quick tour thru the casting process.

Gold Jewelry casting is an art form that has been in existence for thousands of years. Since the discovery that metals could be melted. Sometime before 3000 B.C., artisans have been pouring molten gold into cavities shaped in stone, sand, and plaster. Once solidified, the castings were then removed or broken free from the encasement into which they were poured. With the advent of technology, Gold jewelry casting is more dynamic than ever, and today it is a major part of the jewelry manufacturing process. Since the process of gold casting today uses such a wide range of karats and colors, the alloy combinations dictate that each has temperature cycles and processes that are unique to that metal combination. Jewelers and Designers have the option to cast their own gold jewelry, but the process is time-consuming and complicated since that so many variables are presented in the process. Using a gold casting company, like International Mfg. Co. eliminates these potential issues and challenges and ensures a repeated satisfactory results.

1.Wax model and casting preparation.

Using the design, a wax model is carved , printed using a 3D printer , Milled using a CNC mill , or in a case of production of multiples the wax is injected using a rubber or metal mold , the wax models are then connected to one another on a sprue or a gate and then attached to a central wax rod to form a tree-like configuration. The alignment of the models and size and placement of the sprues is extremely important, and it is designed to allow gold to flow through the “tree” with minimum turbulence or resistance and allowing the metal to solidify properly. The “tree” is then suspended inside a metal cylinder / flask which is filled with specialized plaster slurry mixed in a special mixer under vacuum, air bubbles and air pockets are removed from the slurry by exposing the flask during this process to high vacuum.

2. Model Burnout.

Once the investment hardened, the flasks containing invested models are placed in specialized ovens for up to 12 hours , where the wax is melted, and all carbon residue is evaporated at temperatures as high as 1350° F , the gradual burnout schedule is critical to the integrity of the investment and for a successful casting, A properly burned out flask will have no remaining residue of wax or resin, leaving behind a hollow cavity left by the wax models that were eliminated during the burnout process.

3.Casting.

Various techniques are used to ensure a higher-quality casting. Centrifugal casting, vacuum-assisted casting, or pressure over vacuum casting. At International Mfg. Co. most of our gold castings are produced on a POV ( pressure over vacuum ) casting machine which enable us to melt the metals under protective inert gas blanket, once the gold reaches its optimal casting temperature the metal is automatically poured into the cavity in the flask filling all the open impressions created by the elimination of the wax models while vacuum is applied to the outer surface of the flask pulling the molten metal through the pores of the investment and a few seconds later a strong inert gas pressure is applied to the base of the flask whereby the casting are extremely dense and the chance of porosity is eliminated .

4.Divesting.

Once the flasks are filled it is necessary to remove the precious metal castings. The flask, filled with glowing red gold castings, is lifted from the casting equipment . and depending on color, karat, the flask is quenched in water or left to air cool. When the flasks are cooled, the investment is removed from the flask by water blasting, leaving behind a metal “tree” containing models as branches. The models are then clipped from the “tree” and inspected to verify that no defects are present and depending on the level of finish required will be either sent to the customer to be finished or forwarded to our jewelers who will clean the castings, assemble, polish and stone set to transform the casting into fine jewelry.

Our Gold alloy and color offering:

We always been environmentally conscious in everything that we do and we strives to use 100% recycled metals when possible and available. We are committed to ensuring that all metals are conflict-free

Yellow Gold — Yellow gold is typically alloyed with copper, silver, and zinc, other trace metals and elements such as boron and silicon are presented in the alloy to improve it properties ,the gold will acquire more yellow or greenish tone depending on the proportion and the metals being used in the alloy, the gold will acquire a yellow or a green tone

White Gold — This color is achieved by mixing fine gold with white alloy, since the base color of gold is yellow, most times part of the finishing process require the items to be rhodium plated which is a metal from the platinum metal group this additional step will provide the white gold its final white brilliance . The plating process involves dipping the jewelry into a plating solution containing rhodium, then passing an electric current through the solution to bond the rhodium ions to the surface of the item. The plating process might need to be repeated periodically since the rhodium will wear off over time. White gold can also be achieved by alloying gold with palladium-based master alloy which due to the palladium content will be costly and in current market prices platinum casting might be a more viable option.

Rose Gold — The rose color of pink gold is the result of yellow gold being alloyed with different levels of copper and silver and depending on the silver, gold and copper ratios different shades can be achieved.

These are the three most popular colors but many other color combinations and hues are available, please ask.

Our personalized service in placing your order and matching you with the services you require assures you that will get your project done right, the first time.

Let us help you do what you do best by doing what we do best!. Contact us