Hi All,

I'm new here and am just starting out in metalsmithing / jewellery making. 

My Soon to be Father in Law has been silver smithing and jewelery making for about 10 years now and most questions i can ask him, but i like forums and meeting other people too.  So i thought I would post a wee question here 1st.  What are you guys using for small Gold element's on sterling silver,  eg I see pieces like sterling rings, pendants etc and sometimes the artisan has soldered a tiny gold chip on to the item.  It sure seems like a nice way to highlight a piece using a small amount of gold.  Could you use a small bit of gold wire rather than trying to snip sheet? and would you use 9k 14 /18k etc etc.  It's something i have been wondering and pondering over.  With the high price of gold i can't see myself affording much gold anyway. !!  I have read up and seems that it is quite possible to solder it with silver solder.  Also there is the Keum Boo approach.  Anyone know how far a 3.5cm x 5cm piece of foil goes?? talking about £15 - 20 Pounds over here.  Anyway, i look forward to getting to know you all better over the next few months and I'm sorry if i ask any really stupid questions. 

Regards

Toby

 Hi Toby,

in the really good, but cheap book: "The Jeweler's Directory of Decorative Finishes" by Jinks McGrath you'll find a chapter: " Gold and Silver Foil". This will answer your question very well. The book is worth his price, because you find a lot of decorative finishes for jewellry.

Edmund

www.emailkunst.de

Toby,

Sometimes I'll simply take some of my leftover 14kt scrap and melt it so that it forms a ball.  I then will solder it on the silver as a highlight.  Also, one of the techniques that I like is laminated inlay.  I solder the various small pieces (wierd shape are good for this) onto my base sheet of silver and then send it through the rolling mill.  There are some examples on my site.

Have fun.

Chris

One tip I learned from an artist who does Keum boo a lot is to use a Sharpie marker in blue on the silver, it's the only color and brand that works, as soon as the mark turns clear the Keum Boo gold foil (specially made for Keum Boo) is ready to burnish to the silver. Check out Kim Cridlers work she attaches thin sheets of gold to iron.