Palladium Prices up

Well it looks like palladium is pressing up against $500 per troy ounce. Ouch! But not to worry, all the metals are up. Platinum is well over $2100! But even today 950 palladium costs less than 14k gold. Sales people at retail stores should suggest palladium to anyone looking for an affordable fine white jewelry option!

Plumb Pd Solder Breakthrough

You know when you to the refining or foundry side of alloy work, you get very appreciative of those who test and assist at the bench. That bench work sits at the heart of our industry along with casting, stones and the rest. When I made some of the very first solders designed for 950 Palladium I was unable to test them properly at a bench. After all I am no bench jeweler! So I relied on my bench working friends, my beta test" crew. But they are not accomplished photographers.

Kudos to Mark B Mann who graciously tests all kinds of palladium products. he tested our "Plumb Palladium Hard" solder with good results as pictured. To me its old news that we have a great solder. It may be real news to you, the reader but the bigger news is this product he found called "Firescoff". Palladium does oxidize with torch heat. Sometimes you have areas that you can not re-polish

Mark not only tested the solders but took some of the cleanest soldering pictures of the process you will ever see. That my folks is not easy! Please remember these images were all done by Mark. if you have more questions contact Mark as per below.

My sincere thanks to

Mark B. Mann

Mann Design Group, Inc.

www.manndesigngroup.com

mmann@manndesigngroup.com

406-961-4426

Palladium Emerges

Some folks gave palladium a cold reception. Look whats happening now-Palladium is emerging as the hot jewelry to own.

Soldering Palladium

A video demonstrating the easy to use PD-xe solder from PMWest. You can see the mild oxidation that occurs which we remove easily with a rouge wheel. Shot at Artistry Of Gold, in Los Angeles.

Fun with palladium

Why not to cast Palladium with a torch

I shot this video when testing some pure palladium samples from different sources to see if one had more or less gas than another. The torch was a propane torch, the crucible was a fused silica that is typical for platinum work. This illustrates the exotic nature of palladfium beyond doubt. Palladium is the most exotic metal commonly used in fine jewelry.

I have this theory based on my experience and this video-The best way to get gas out of palladium alloys is to melt in a vacuum and allow to resolidify a at least twice.

Whats new?

I have some palladium news for you all. First, Thanks to Ganoksin.com for putting a nice spike in the visit rates here! All you orchidians please feel free to post, you are very welcome here.
We at PMWest have a new 950 palladium-casts a bit easier than most palladium alloys and is completely nickel free. like all our palladium alloys this blend age or work hardens really well. I have not named it yet.

Any suggestions?

Thank you JA ND/MN

Jewelers of America North Dakota/Minnesota flew me to Minneapolis Technical college to present the very latest on palladium. This was a great place to present, with excellent AV and a good bench to use. We went through it all casting, setting, video, power-point slides, you name it! We also chose this venue to officially debut the new 950Gold mentioned below when we committed to the development side.

Thanks Todd & Nancy & all who attended. You folks rock! What a wonderful friendly place you have.

Pd Video-Induction casting demonstration

Thanks to Don Briscoe at Artistry of Gold!

950 Gold for Palladium Two Tone

We at PM West have decided to develop a gold for use in two tone jewelry designs. This gold is 95% pure just like Palladium jewelry. This gold matches the hardness of palladium, with a very rich gold contrast. We are working with designer Lisa Krikawa on this project. I am proud to announce that Lisa will be one of our Kraftmasters at Kraftwerks in 2008. Two tone palladium is her topic. We will bi metal cast this gorgeous combination of metals. Testing is ongoing. wish us luck! the image you see is a Mark & Lanie Mann design on 24kt and 950 palladium.

Testing Palladium from Platinum from white gold

Hello,
Thanks to Mark Mann at PAI, we now know how to test these metals for identification. Iodine will blacken palladium, slightly darken white gold and will not effect platinum at all. I am wondering if iodine will do for palladium what liver of sulphur does for silver.... seems an opportunity to play with metals again. Boss?.... I need some palladium again...

Torch casting Success?

Many casters just do not have advanced induction equipment. One example is a retailer in the west who has a few stores. Each of these casts for the customers. They torch cast in small shop style. They refused to give up on torch casting Outcast, and have found success. Propane torches, Doc's investment, a flask temperature for casting of 1100 F. This very hot flask temperature combined with flawless sprue systems have brought 950Pd torch casting into practical reality. This is not what we suggest but, hey, only a fool argues with success. Congratulations to some very dedicated casters who found the way. Is that not how we get most of our successes? A tip of the hat to those guys!