Jean Lutz on sun 31 oct 99
Can anyone tell me at what temp gold melts?
I have a lot of old gold (mostly 14K) chains - treasures from garage sales.
I was wondering if I could put them onto decorative pieces and melt the
gold onto the clay. Am I nuts?
Jean Lutz
jlutz@azlink.com
Scottsdale, AZ
Mary V Smith on mon 1 nov 99
Hi Jean, I too have thought about doing that many times. 14KT Gold
melts at 1400-1500 degrees! Hope this helps you. Let me know what
results you get. Should be interesting.
Jean Lutz wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Can anyone tell me at what temp gold melts?
> I have a lot of old gold (mostly 14K) chains - treasures from garage sales.
> I was wondering if I could put them onto decorative pieces and melt the
> gold onto the clay. Am I nuts?
> Jean Lutz
> jlutz@azlink.com
> Scottsdale, AZ
John Rodgers on tue 2 nov 99
Jean, I haven't tried melting gold onto a ceramic surface but I have done some
gold casting in the past while woring with a goldsmith. The outcome of your
experiment will be very interesting.
My experience with gold on ceramic materials has been with gold paints that are
fired on. These paints are real gold and they are fired on at really low
temperatures. You buy the gold already dissolved in an organic solvent.
CAUTION!! organic solvents of this type are very hamrful. Keep well ventilated.
For a burnished gold appearance apply the gold directly to the ceramic surface
with a brush. For a shiny gold appearance, glaze, then apply the gold to the
fired glaze. The solvent burns out leaving the gold behind.
Good luck on your project.
John Rodgers
Jean Lutz wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Can anyone tell me at what temp gold melts?
> I have a lot of old gold (mostly 14K) chains - treasures from garage sales.
> I was wondering if I could put them onto decorative pieces and melt the
> gold onto the clay. Am I nuts?
> Jean Lutz
> jlutz@azlink.com
> Scottsdale, AZ
NakedClay@aol.com on wed 3 nov 99
Hi Jean!
If you plan to melt your gold to fuse a chain on a clay slab, fire slowly and
carefully to cone 06 or 08 (it is wise to experiment!). Gold melts freely,
and can run onto kiln shelves and other wares in the kiln, and create a mess.
So use old crusty kiln shelves, or be sure to use an extra coat of kiln wash
on your shelves. I suggest placing the pieces with gold chain on the bottom
shelf of your kiln, to prevent other wares from getting melted upon, if an
accident occurs. Use a small amount of gold, too--a little bit will melt a
long way.
Note, too, that your chains might not be pure gold. Often, gold is mixed with
other metals, to form an alloy. This will most likely increase the melting
temperature, and may prevent the chain from fusing on the clay. A trained
jeweler can help you assess the actual amount of gold in your chain.
The least "messy" method of attaching a gold chain is to make your clay
pendant (or whatever shape you use), pierce a hole twice as large as the
chain, and fire the clay normally. When the piece is fired to your
satisfaction, string the chain through the hole in the pendant.
I have used metal "melts" in my wares. I use copper wire, which melts above
cone 04, and silver wire bits, which melt above cone 08. I also used raw gold
bits, fired to cone 06. I usually place such metals inside a bowl, or on
sculpture which is designed to catch the "flow" of the melted metal, for the
bisque firing. I glaze the piece normally, so that the glaze, the clay, and
metal bits "marry" at the higher temperature. My usual glaze cone is C6.
If you need further info about this process, please contact me.
Best wishes!
Milton NakedClay@AOL.COM
Still flowing with the wind in the Mojave Desert!
John Rodgers on thu 4 nov 99
Maria, I have taken the liberty to respond to your question about this gold
luster because of it's poisonous nature.
The gold luster that I used came from Cooke-Matthey. When the bottle arrived it
had a very large skull and crossbones emblazoned on the label, with the words
Warning on it. In the printed material, it was described as gold dissolved in an
organic solvent that was hazardous to your health, and the fumes from the gold
bearing material should not be in haled during its use, nor should fumes be
inhaled during firing. The penalty for failing to ensure total ventalation was
severe liver damage, which of course could lead to death.
Our method was to paint the gold with a fan blowing directly over the work we
were doing, and toward an open door. This seemed to work for the painting
aspect.
This is a fume as opposed to dust, so most masks simply do not work.You would
almost need a gas mask to be safe around this stuff.
When firing we felt it safest to just vacate the building, period. When we
fired this gold, we always left a fan running to get an outside air exchange. We
usually would fire this stuff at night when the shop was empty. There was
virtually no odor when we came to work.
I think for safety sake, you should adopt a policy similar. I think even pets
would be subject to problems if left where they can breath the fumes.
I have no idea what the safe air dilution point is, but I wouldn't take any
chances.
It's simply not worth the risk.
John Rodgers
Maria Elaine Lanza wrote:
> Hello John,
>
> I hope you will take the time to read and possibly answer a question I have
> about gold overglaze.
>
> The liquid gold I'm using is made by Cookson-Matthey and has 12% gold in
> it... I'm very impressed with its brilliance... my concern right now is
> with the toxic nature of this beast... I apply the luster out-of-doors
> wearing a mask and surgical gloves (not wanting to have any odor in the
> studio which is attached to the house)... letting it dry here in the Florida
> sun before loading the items into my electric kiln which is the garage... I
> use an overhead hood fan during the firing in addition to keeping the car
> garage door as well as two other doors in the garage open... the fumes are
> very noticeable during the first few hours... I can smell them when I step
> outside... is this the organic material you were talking about in the
> attached clayart post?... tell me if you can smell this stuff burning off...
> is it then that it is most dangerous? vs the last couple of hours... hardly
> no odor can be detected. I have two older dogs in the house plus a parrot
> that I worry about... keeping a portable air filter on in the house in
> addition to the central air fan... I feel like I'm taking all the precaution
> I can, and yet am troubled if I can detect the slightest hint of an odor
> from those fumes in the garage (which is attached to the house) and what
> effect it may have on my precious pets.
>
> Appreciate your attention to this concern of mine and look forward to
> hearing from you, Marie Elaine
>
> > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > Jean, I haven't tried melting gold onto a ceramic surface but I have done
> some
> > gold casting in the past while woring with a goldsmith. The outcome of
> your
> > experiment will be very interesting.
> >
> > My experience with gold on ceramic materials has been with gold paints
> that are
> > fired on. These paints are real gold and they are fired on at really low
> > temperatures. You buy the gold already dissolved in an organic solvent.
> > CAUTION!! organic solvents of this type are very hamrful. Keep well
> ventilated.
> > For a burnished gold appearance apply the gold directly to the ceramic
> surface
> > with a brush. For a shiny gold appearance, glaze, then apply the gold to
> the
> > fired glaze. The solvent burns out leaving the gold behind.
> >
> > Good luck on your project.
> >
> > John Rodgers
> >
> > Jean Lutz wrote:
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