Palladium die struck bands inlaid with 24K

[Jroettger]

I just finished these die struck palladium bands that I inlaid with 24K and engraved. I used .3mm through .55 millimeter diameter wire. I melted little balls on the ends of the wire here and there to make the end of the scroll dot. I had to use tiny ball burrs to cut undercuts on the tight curves. I bought an assortment of ball burs and used the same diameter as the wire to undercut the scrolls. Trying to undercut the tight curves just tears up the edge. I then graved small outline lines against the wire edge into the palladium to in a sense create little parallel bezels all along the edge. I figure this little bezel edge will actually crush against the inlay during wear and enhance it's durability and it is also needed to get the color to pop out from the white palladium base.

[JESSIE H]

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[Jeffrey]

I haven't gotten around to doing any 24 inlay work yet, but I'm surprised a metal as soft as palladium could be inlaid at all, unless it was more of a "setting" of the gold wire into the palladium. It's something I'll just have to try. thanks for the post.

[Jroettger]

Jeffery, the palladium actually does hold up against the hammer in process. After the 24k is hammered in I scrape it flush with a blade edge and then set the palladium over it a bit by hammering it everywhere along the edge. So it's both inlay compressed into the undercut and then set like a stone.

[gravalance]

Very nice Job!! Gonna be a happy marriage :-)
How is the hardness or behaviour of palladium compared to f.e. 750 yellow gold or platinum?
Best,
Hanne

[Jroettger]

thanks Graverlance, I did this same process with cast 900 platinum iridium bands (these were die struck palladium which I believe to be harder) and the platinum held it's edge just fine during the hammer in phase. On either metal I did not experience any distortion to the base metal as the 24K was plunged in. I guess I would only try this on white gold, platinum or palladium. Also the color can be hard to see with one lustrous metal next to another. These were made polished but I think they'll actually look better as they wear and the surface mattes up to better reveal the colors. I won't be trying this with a yellow metal base. I would try pure platinum wire hammered into a 14K die struck ring though. However I don't know how well pure platinum draws out to make the wire. It could be a breaking problem.

[Daniel Houwer]

Very different work from what I'd do, but very beautifull!!!

[Jroettger]

Thanks all for the thumbs up, here's another view.

[Carrie]

Really pretty! I have done just a bit of setting work in palladium and have combined it with 18K yellow gold. Have not engraved it yet. Looks lovely!

[gravalance]

Thanks for the info!
Looking forward to your next works :-)
Best,
Hanne

[okrabbit]

Love the details, what beader did you use on them?

[Jroettger]

To do the beading I used like a number 2 through 4 beading tool. The beading actually is slightly graduated from small to large but may be hard to see in the photo. My beading tools can be a little hard to determine size as I actually resharpen them frequently and the size tends to drift a bit. I use a broken diamond shard mounted in a pin vise. I then chuck up the beading tool in my Emco Unimat lathe and cut a new concave with the mounted diamond shard, steadying the tool on the cutter holder to keep it centered. I then finish the beading tool with a polished carbide graver tip cut to 90 V angle after I've shaped it with the diamond tool. If all goes well it leaves a nicely polished concave hole albeit somewhat cone shaped.

[khaile]

Hi everybody,

just wonder, wouldn't it be easier if you melt the 24k gold into the palladium, over fill it a little bit then file it off latter.

kl

[jack]

Very nice work. I am not a big fan of Palladium. I find that it is always coming back from the stores I do work for, to get polished again. It seems to turn quite gray in a short time. Maybe it is just me but I have a hard time hideing the sizing seam. I do a of work in Pall. but still not a fan. I do like your inlay work. Jack

[Jroettger]

KL and Jack, There are 2 reasons I prefer not to melt the 24K into the palladium. It would take a lot more 24K to melt it in because of the overfill. (However melting would allow the use of say 18K instead at a cheaper cost.) The second reason is I don't like heating palladium at all. If you melt it in you will create a dark layer on the surface just prior to melting which could show as a dark seam between the metals. Also my feeling is that palladium becomes more brittle each time it is heated, even at lower gold melt temperatures. If they become brittle I could have problems resizing them if needed.
Because these are die struck rings if I ever need to adjust the size (which is always a high probability with wedding jewelry) I can simply use my ring stretcher or compressor without cutting in a seam. In my observation palladium holds it color for life under normal wear but will matte up quickly the same as platinum. In fact to me other than it being light weight, it wears almost identically to platinum in durability. However I don't trust selling palladium on any ring which I might have to cut and splice to size such as a cast stone set ring as I fear the seams to be excessively brittle and prone to cracking in wear. With palladium I try to stick to die struck only which in my opinion is it's only suitable use.
Thanks for your kind words.