The Jewellers Co. Facebook group is a thriving community of bench jewellers sharing advice, tips, tricks and friendship.
Here, member Ben Preston-Black shares a recent re-work of a client’s jewellery.
The client’s gold rings were melted into a bar that was cracking when it was rolled out. A tried and tested process to remedy this issue is to roll the cracking metal through the rollers to the minimum thickness possible, usually 0.3mm.
By doing this, impurities and contaminants are brought to the surface and can be removed by chemical means. An acid or hot pickle, usually for 24 hours, will clean the metal ready for re-melt.
Once remelted, it is best practice to forge the ingot on all surfaces before annealing and then rolling. Re-using a client’s metal takes
some extra care, however doing this and having images to show your clients goes a long way.
WRITTEN BY
Ben Preston-Black
Creations Jewellers
Manuka, Canberra