Palladium Experience

What Does Hypoallergenic even mean? An important repost

2011-06-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

In answer to some incorrect information-Despite what promoters of certain other metals may claim-Outcast 950 Palladium is appropriate to be called hypo allergenic. Some of you may wonder why I'm deleting posts about suspected palladium skin reactions. Hypoallergenic does not mean humanity in all it's billions have a guaranteed immunity to palladium allergic reactions. It does mean as shown below a decreased risk. In the case of palladium it is a dramatically decreased risk as compared to nickel based white gold or nickel based alloys in skin contact. Anyone with a confirmed positive reaction to palladium can certainly contact me and we will post the details if you wish. I'd like to quantify what kind of risk there actually is.

hypoallergenic definition - medical

hy·po·al·ler·gen·ic (hīˌpō-ălˌər-jĕnˈĭk)
adjective
Having a decreased tendency to provoke an allergic reaction.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

When we discuss terms, context is king. If you ask a chemist which metals are noble he will not include any metal that acts as a catalyst. If you ask a jeweler or a precious metals expert, they might include platinum, and palladium as "noble" because they will not tarnish in air. As we see above hypo allergenic means "decreased tendency" to create a reaction. To date white gold has reliably been implicated in nickel allergic reactions. Despite long searches on the internet, we have no evidence for any 950 Palladium causing any allergic reactions at all. In theory its possible. In fact it's yet to be proven. Every 950 Palladium is far and away less likely to cause any allergic reaction than any nickel white gold.

Palladium and platinum are both worn globally by countless numbers of people, and neither is any allergic threat of concern

Outcast Csting Grain

2010-01-31T21:49:00.000-08:00

This is "Outcast" the best palladium for casting.

Outcast 950 Palladium is Hypoallergenic.

2009-09-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

In answer to some incorrect information-Despite what promoters of certain other metals may claim-Outcast 950 Palladium is appropriate to be called hypo allergenic.

hypoallergenic definition - medical

hy·po·al·ler·gen·ic (hīˌpō-ălˌər-jĕnˈĭk)
adjective
Having a decreased tendency to provoke an allergic reaction.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

When we discuss terms, context is king. If you ask a chemist which metals are noble he will not include any metal that acts as a catalyst. If you ask a jeweler or a precious metals expert, they might include platinum, and palladium as "noble" because they will not tarnish in air. As we see above hypo allergenic means "decreased tendency" to create a reaction. To date white gold has reliably been implicated in nickel allergic reactions. Despite long searches on the internet, we have no evidence for any 950 Palladium causing any allergic reactions at all. In theory its possible. In fact it's yet to be proven. Every 950 Palladium is far and away less likely to cause any allergic reaction than any nickel white gold.

Palladium and platinum are both worn globally by countless numbers of people, and neither is any allergic threat of concern

Palladium Hallmark Regulations

2009-08-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

We have truly historic news for Palladium jewelry.The Assay Offices of Great Britain have issued their regulations for hallmarking Palladium. Voluntary now, and obligatory as of 2010- the approved marks are 999, 950, and surprisingly 500! That is something I'll be looking into and posting soonest. Our sincere thanks to The Assay Offices for this history making step. Keeping the Great in Great Britain.
Link to the document
http://www.assayofficescotland.com/Palladium_Guidance_Notes.pdf

Summer Relief For Bench Jewelers!

2009-07-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

Ever want to see the heart of a laser with the torch it replaced? Well the above picture is exactly that. We know how difficult being a bench jeweler for a retail store can be. Whether you work in house or from a central shop, we want to help. From now until labor day, any bench jeweler can try a sample of our plumb solder at no cost. Just contact us via email and Daniel will contact you to arrange a free sample of any cadmium free plumb solder, in Gold, Palladium, or Platinum. We have the lowest flow plumb gold in the business. We invented the famous patented plumb platinum solders. We had the very first 950 palladium solders. This offer ends labor day!

Short on cash or working gold? Send your useless scrap or filings for fast money, gold, or any product we offer at the best possible price.

What does palladium remind you of?

2009-03-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

The Palladium Alliance has fallen

2009-01-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

To my great regret the economy of the commodities crash has ended PAI. Very low prices for palladium , under $200per ounce in 2008 and 2009 were too much to overcome. I'd like to thank all who worked so hard. Now it will be up to us, those whom have brought the metal into fruition to continue. We have a great metal, and the public is buying into items of extra value. Hey, platinum family, naturally white and far less costly than 14k white gold.

Kraftwerks News

2008-11-25T11:37:00.000-08:00

We have some news about Kraftwerks-Its going online April 11th! Rather than make everyone fly in in these difficult times we update and adapt. We have a new gadget on the blog that shows the countdown to Kraftwerks New Media -The Release!

An Opportunity Lingers

2008-11-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Right now, you can get 950Pd for about $13 per dwt or about $8.36 per gram. 14k nickel white gold goes for nearly DOUBLE that amount of money at $25 per dwt or about $16 per gram. Of course 950 palladium is a bit lighter so theres even more benefit to the switch. Dazzle your customers with beautiful jewelry at price point guaranteed to appeal these days!

Get it while the price is good

2008-09-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

As I sit down this morning, Palladium is $237 per ounce. This means I can sell all the 950Palladium jewelry metals for $13.86 per dwt or about $278. That in itself is good news. But when you compare this to 14kt white gold?! 14kt for casting is $24.86 a dwt, or $497.20 an ounce. In fact 10kt is far more costly than palladium. 10kt is $17.61 a dwt or about $352 per ounce.

PAI web redesign and new blog

2008-09-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hi
PAI has done it again. The new discussion board looks good, and is easy to use.
Plus I like the new forum

Palladium degas flux

2008-09-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

We received the sample in mid September. It seems to drive out the gas to some extent, but unfortunately our sample had leaked in the mail. We have an order in for more for more complete testing. We hope to start getting the flux in by November.

The induction tests were more promising than the torch tests. But we will continue as the flux (hopefully) becomes available again.

Degassing Flux

2008-07-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

I have heard from a chemist who may have a solution to the gas in palladium. He says he has a flux that degasses palladium. I intend to test a sample ASAP!

JA NYC

2008-07-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

Daniel Ballard will speak about Palladium and more exotic precious metals at JA New York July 27th at the Javits center. He will include information and video on casting, assembly and design issues for exotic materials like mokume gane and more.

2008-06-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

Did anyone but yours truly catch the "product placement" of palladium in Iron Man? Not as jewelry (darn it) but as a high tech metal that was removed from the missiles and re-cast for the Iron Man suit. Not bad for a new metal. I wonder if DJS (the palladium marketeers) had anything to do with that...

What about those alloys

2008-06-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

It is being reported that some palladium rings are too brittle to size much. These reports coincide with Pd/Ru/Ge alloys that have been extruded. Beware platinum family alloys with palladium! They can be brittle. They are excellent for continuous cast like seamless bands, and they stamp really well.

But as we all know lost wax casting is different. Just like gold, the best fabrication alloys are not often the best casting alloys. To a lesser extent this is true of platinum. The traditional blend of 9o0%Pt and 10%Ir was the casting mix, and 95%Pt 5%Ru was the fabrication/stamping blend. It's no coincidence that Ru is the tricky one to cast overall.

The disclaimer here is that at least one caster, (TechForm){http://www.techformcasting.com/) swears by the Pd with Ru blend. Different casters use differing plasters and methods, so these are general rules that certainly have exceptions.

Palladium Panel at JCK Las Vegas

2008-06-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

The MJSA Education dept. and Luxurypalladium.com put on one heck of a panel for palladium. The panel included one of my favorite jewelry designers Lisa Krikawa, two very good casters, Linus Drogs of Au Enterprises and Teresa Freye' of TechForm. An excellent metallurgist and executive at Hoover & Strong was there, Mr. Stewart Grice. MJSA was kind enouch to include yours truly as well.

The news is we got questioned about how to better work with Palladium rather than "what is this stuff like?" In other words, the market is maturing, becoming aware of the material and how to best make use of it.

Dance

2008-03-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

Just a shot of one of our furnaces starting up.

Palladium Prices up

2008-02-19T10:53:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

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

Soldering Palladium

2008-01-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

Why not to cast Palladium with a torch

2007-12-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

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?

2007-12-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Don Briscoe at Artistry of Gold!

950 Gold for Palladium Two Tone

2007-10-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-08-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

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!

Daniel hits the road for palladium and JA!

2007-07-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all. The next palladium seminar is well in the planning stage. You can see and hear just aout everything you need at this event, put on by JA. The title is 950Palladium-The Beginning of the End Of White Gold. Saturday, October 27th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College, 1501 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis

Outcast degassing instructions for casting

2007-07-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Palladium is a strange element that present certain unique problems to the jewelry caster. Unlike gold, silver, copper, and platinum, palladium can absorb hydrogen for later release as porosity or other major casting flaws. Outcast does not contain volatile elements.

As a result, Outcast (or pure Pd) can be degassed by placing in a casting machine that has a vacuum pump. Pull full vacuum, then heat the metal to full flow temperature (usually indicated on a SEIT optical pyro at about 1380C). After the palladium is at full molten temperatures, shut off the heat and allow the palladium to freeze. Repeat once. This will also allow you to see how your pyrometer reads Outcast. Use your safety lens protected eyes to establish how your pyrometer reads Outcast. Each pyrometer is set for a different emissivity. So, palladium readings are only consistent on a given machine. After this process you may cast.

To cast-Flood the casting chamber with your neutral gas, (argon may be best) place the crucible, close up the machine, reheat to full flow temperature, and cast. We suggest full torque. We suggest substantial sprues. Experience in Los Angeles suggests a very good results after three casts without fresh metal. One caster says the second or third time around is the best. This might indicate the degassing process works.

A phenomenon we see is that the gases tend to move to the last part to freeze. So, sprueing is critical. Whatever is the last part to freeze happens to be, voids and shrinkage will often be found. It is not uncommon for large voids to show up in the button.

Questions? Call daniel

800-999-7582

More rhodium input from users-

2007-07-13T08:52:00.001-07:00

Thomas from Karen Jewelers in Tennessee called me and he described some issues about plating 950Pd.

I then spoke to Mark Mann (The official tech guy for PAI) and he mentioned good results with lower voltages, warm rhodium solution and extra care in the electro-cleaning stage. He may have worked out the oddities of rhodium plating 950palladium. This post has an important caveat-All 950palladium is not the same alloy. Only Outcast from PMWest was tested by Red Sky Plating successfully. I made no attempt to test TruPd or any other alloy. There are unknown variables here. The real answer as to why palladium is tricky to rhodium plate is not yet clear.
Thomas's note to Mark Mann used by permission-

"Dear Mark,
I surely appreciate your call to me today; real conversation beats email in every way except to convey an image. The conversation may be beneficial to both of us. I did contact TechForm and that was a helpful contact.

The attached images are smaller file sizes than I could have sent but do show how we duplicated the "orange peel" or erosion of the palladium when rhodium plating is attempted. Remember, originally we duplicated the results with water and table salt as the bath.

Richard Knight did the odd formed piece of metal today and shot those photos. We had to violate every rule of jewelry photography to get the defects to show properly. Difficult was this with our "studio" of one desktop fluorescent lamp. Oh my, what a set up.

Details: This test was to duplicate the damage. Since there are many variables, the only definite conclusion is that damage did occur. Both the odd formed piece and the Hoover stock were polished to remove any traces of surface defects similar to the results shown. The odd formed piece is unknown PD950 alloy. We had one ring cast from wax by Platina and another cast from an "in-house" design by Unique Settings. Both of the castings were quite workable and nicely done. Unique did an extra fine job with theirs. The metal for the test today was taken from scrap of one of the items but we do not know which. We have no clue as to the alloys used by either Platina or Unique.

Rhodium was warm from previous use and temp was right at 100f. The Hoover stock was in the bath for 15 secs. at 2 volts. The odd piece was in the bath for 1 minute at 4 volts, a common time and voltage when we want a heavier plate on white gold.

I emphasized shadow detail a slight bit in Photoshop to allow the damage to be more clearly viewed. To the eye, the surface is cloudy and the pitting is not openly obvious. There is an obvious dull appearance due to the surface irregularities, an unacceptable condition for any item leaving our shop. You may let anyone you choose view or have copies of these photos for in-house use.""

One picture is attached of a failed attempt. Tip of the hat to Thomas at Karen's Jewelers, Oak Ridge, Tennessee for taking the time to submit the pictures of their attempts. I am very reluctant to name names of pictures of failed processes. Particularly until we have real confirmed answers to the mystery. It seems to me

Rhodium Plating-The Mystery

2006-09-26T09:35:00.001-07:00

I just got off the phone with Neal Bell. No special problems were found or special procedures needed to plate the palladium ring. Very puzzling. Since we have not duplicated the problem, we can only guess at what it might be. One thing is for certain-Rhodium plating requires a very clean surface, and all normal procedures must be strictly adhered to. Please post what your results have been, successful or not. If you simply want to send out your plating work I highly recommend Red Sky Plating. You can contact Neil@redskyplating.com.

http://www.redskyplating.com/

Rhodium plating 950 palladium./Kraftwerks

2006-09-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Some reports have come in that 950palladium is proving difficult to rhodium plate. What happens is a sizing is done with solder that leaves a gray line. This is a good reason to get solders made for 950 palladium. Like our PD-E here at PMWest.

The reported problems have been a cloudy look to the rhodium. Not wanting to let something like this go unsolved, I called my best connection in the plating world-Neil Bell of Red Sky Plating. We spoke and he kindly agreed to try a sample I sent to him. This was a very busy time for him, as he was preparing for the Santa Fe Symposium.
I have received the sample ring back and it looks great.

Soon (today I hope) I will talk to Neil and get the details on what he does to get good results.

Kraftwerks is this weekend. its your best chance to get to see and work with 950 palladium.

How we can work this together...

2006-08-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

As the Palladium experience blog gets started, please keep in mind that the blog is set up as a place for users to send us reports of how it’s going out there. We hope to interview major players in the market for hints about what’s to come.

Of course to avoid blog spamming all posts go through me. I assure you posts will all be included short of way off topic or hostile. Later as we develop some regular contributors we will assign them passkeys.

I want to mention that one of the demonstrations at Kraftwerks is all about fabricating with palladium. Rob Fainberg, one of the early fans of Alabaster Pd will be working at the bench for us at Kraftwerks. The dates are September 30^th and October 1^st, 2006.

This is your best chance to see palladium be worked on and to have a chance to work with it yourself before the next shows. If you want to work it sooner, you'll have to buy some.

If you know of an event featuring palladium, just let me know.

How to Stamp Palladium Jewelry

2006-08-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

A common question-How should I stamp or "hallmark" palladium jewelry?

The FTC guidelines about palladium are intended for use with platinum, and might be out of context for use. However, Pd and Pall are commonly recognized abbreviations for palladium. There is no minimum palladium content guideline from the FTC. To my knowledge all the new palladium jewelry is 950Pd or more.

According to a recent article in the MJSA Journal PAI is working on a guideline from the FTC. What we suggest for now is to stamp all palladium jewelry either 950Pd or 950PALL.

This will avoid any confusion on the part of the jeweler or the consumer.

How white is white?

2006-08-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

When we talk about "whiteness" in a jewelry alloy, we should use a recognized scale. the CIE lab system works well. On a scale of zero being black and one hundred being white-Pure silver rates a 93. Platinum alloys run at about 87. 950 palladium alloys run at abour 84 or 85, while most white golds run from 78 to 83.

The human eye is different than a labratory. that's why we have them. With a very high polish palladium and platinum look very similar or perhaps the same. Not identical to my eye, but very close. To another persons eye the palladium may look better.

Better, not "whiter" is what sells jewelry now isn't it?

Daniel Ballard

Announcing Palladium Experience

2006-08-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

The blog for users of palladium for making jewelry. we provide a place where jewelers can post their questions and answers to one another. In conjunction with 950pd.com (and more alliances to follow later) we hope to help jewelers know what they need to as palladium jewelry begins to sell through the American market. we will publish technical specifications for alloys such as suggested casting temperatures and annealing instructions.