Developing
Plumb Platinum Solders
Precious
Metals West is a Los Angeles based manufacturer of solders in gold silver
and of course.. platinum. The corporation is owned by Keith Weinstein, a
second generation member of our trade. Keith brings a professional lifetime
of experience to the trade. PMWest has been in business about 19 years.
Keith
and I worked closely together to research and develop this unique new solder.
He did the background reading, and I worked out things like how many kinds
we needed and marketing implications.
An
odd fact came to light about the latest casting platinum. "S+" was said
to have a flow temperature well below 1700C. Given that odd little fact
I was asking Keith to commit
a lot of effort into a project that many would have scoffed at. Why scoff? Because
it hadn't been done of course! No
one yet had succeeded in producing a viable "plumb platinum" solder
before. In response to my request, and sensing an opportunity, he ran with
it. The attitude that represents bears mention. How many busy company owners
have the willingness to take an apparent long shot?
The
hands on effort came from Robert Lumabao, a trusted employee of 13 years.
Robert runs our rolling department
and did nearly all the smelting, rolling and annealing for the new solder. All
that work was done at the Fine Gold / Kraftwerks facility in Ontario, Ca.
That's the factory for PMWest.
I
need to set some perspective
here compared to gold solders. Way back many years ago, there were very
few gold solders, nothing like the huge range of flows available today.
In the past many jewelers had to resort to using very low karat gold content.
Have you ever been forced to use very low karat gold solder in a repair?
You will notice the color problems, to say nothing of tarnishing over time
or brittleness. In gold solders we see the gold content as high as 19kt
or about 79% gold, leaving 21% (about one fifth!) available for alloys
to adjust properties. To a large degree the more alloy percentage you have
to work with the more you can change the properties of a metal. That is
an important point. Platinum jewelry is 90% to 95% Platinum. That is the
equivalent of about 21kt at 90% Pt and 23kt for 95% Pt! Gold solders still
top out at about 80% gold. Above
that figure we see only welding products.
Our
trade needs platinum solder that matches the platinum content of the jewelry.
Our
trade is well accustomed to both "repair" and "plumb" grade gold solders.
In what we call "repair solder", or "regular solder" gold solders
are marked with their intended use karat. If it is stamped 14ye
it is a lower karat intended to be used on 14kt. If it is stamped 14kye
it is
"plumb" solder. So, many jewelers readily accept the lesser gold content and
enjoy a lower flow temperature, and lower cost for the solders.
In
"plumb" solders, they are marked with the actual karat content, as well as
flow and color. The repair solders are necessary because they historically
achieve lower flow temperatures than "plumb" type solders and are less expensive.
The lowest gold % we see used in "14 repair" solder is at least 25% and
usually much higher like 41.66%. Or course, with low gold content in solders,
repair quality becomes an issue. The lower the gold content the bigger the
quality issue.
As
we know 58.5% is the amount
for plumb gold, so the solder matches the content of the jewelry.
Very few jewelers are actually aware of the Pt content in most Pt solders.
With
Platinum solders the situation is even worse than gold. In fact, many
conventional Platinum solders contain no platinum at all. Which explains
why solders act so oddly compared to platinum. Again
the quality issue will raise its head! For
quality purposes, precious metal solders should closely match the precious
metal content in any jewelry.
When
asked, bench jewelers report
the reason they use "1700"degree flow Pt
solder is to avoid a seam line or pits in the joint , and they believe these
solders have more platinum in them. Or, they say that lower flow solders
"polish out" leaving a seam. To an extent they are correct. However, even
1700 degree solders contain very little Pt. They often are really palladium
based, with some exceptions.
What
is wrong with conventional platinum solders
To
get the flow temperature down the obvious trick is to reduce the platinum,
and replace it with other white metals that melt at a lower temp. Those of us in the Jewelry solder trade use varying substitute
metals for flow and or color. In recent years cadmium has fallen from common
use due to toxic exposure concerns. Bench
jewelers must be very careful about what brand of solder they order to
avoid problems and re work. One gets accustomed to a particular brand of
solder, and any change requires adjustments along the way. That's because
different makers use very different formulas to make solders, platinum
or anything else. Some times expensive errors happen like this. Many jewelers
tell me of how they learned to weld rather than solder platinum due to
quality concerns. I admire the attitude but
some jobs just can not be welded. Besides, ease of use is a great thing
to have in any product.
The
following list some typical ingredients in "conventional" or "repair"
grade platinum solders.
1.Nickel
Remember all the trouble cause by nickel in white gold? We usually work
to keep nickel out of jewelry where it is practical to do so. Europe prefers
nearly no nickel at all in jewelry, with tough standards that are strictly
enforced.
2.Silver This
is hardly a metal commonly associated with platinum jewelry, but it provides
important properties to conventional platinum solders.
3.Palladium
Too high a melt temperature to help much at all, but it is the very common
element found in higher temperature solders. This metal does swing quite
a bit in price, complicating the pricing equation from time to time. Oddly
enough from palladium
has been more costly than any other element used. So, those who shied away
from palladium in their own solder formulas had a price advantage in the
marketplace. Things
sure change between $100 Toz and $380 Toz.!
4.Gold
- A
good metal to use with platinum in solders, but the percentage must remain
low. The obvious color problem would come up above a certain fraction of
the mix.
Cadmium
is not suited for platinum use for a variety of reasons, including exposure
risks.
These
metals do cause problems.
Poor
color, porosity and some very visible seams. This is often fixed with rhodium
plating, but that is another unneeded expense, and it will wear off with
time, which can disappoint the customer. Due
to the unique nature of platinum, we all always had to compromise the platinum
content of the solders. Perhaps
the conventional solders should be called "Semi" platinum solders.
Solder
manufacturers do not ordinarily disclose the complete elemental content in
their product. When asked, all reputable solder makers will readily disclose
precious metal content. The rest is rightly considered to be proprietary, within the
bounds of MSDS publication requirements. When you next use any solder, ask
your supplier to inform you how much precious metal content is in there.
This
chart shows some typical platinum solders, as compared to plumb platinum.
It is not all inclusive, but is a good generalization of the state of the
art.
The
lowest Pt % we see in
Platinum Solders is
0%, unheard of in gold, and rightly so.
14kt
Gold is easy to adjust for temperature, after all we have 41%+ of alloy
to work with! Even 18kt gold leaves 25% alloy to use. Here in platinum
we have the noble white metal, assembled or repaired with a solder that
has little to no common elements with the jewelry
we are working on. This was
always necessary because of the temperatures and elemental properties involved,
for us at PMWest just like the rest of the solder makers.
As
you can see, only the new plumb platinum solders (the blue back row) and
1
"welding only" (1775 degree, nearly the same as 90/10 platinum) material have
much platinum in them at all. Many more have none at all. Please note one of
the "other" formulas is one used by PMWest. As I seem critical of the old formulas,
I'm being critical of our own previous products as well.
This
situation now comes to a close. Our "real world" tests show the new solder
is applicable for any job where the indicated temperature is appropriate.
1300 centigrade to 1500 centigrade. Sizing,
assembly and many repairs can be done with the new solder. Even platinum
findings and settings can be assembled with this stuff! From now on you all
have the option of your platinum solder containing 90% platinum or more to
match your platinum jewelry casting or fabricating alloys. Retipping is NOT
recommended, as 1300 Centigrade is too hot.
You
can stop thinking about using solders perilously close to the flow temperature
of the jewelry. The new plumb platinum solders flow at 1500 or lower.
How
the Platinum guild helped us all..
This
is how we approached the need for a plumb platinum solder
.
Johnson Matthey technical publications
These
are excellent reference materials year in and year out. These materials
help us all the time, not merely for the platinum plumb solder work.
.
PGI encouraged innovation
With
events like platinum day west, and all the published information from
the guild, the pieces are in place for any innovator to try to improve
their product. At the same time we must realize that some knowledge spreads
of its own accord, and the state of the art advances. Patents protect
the more focused efforts. Realistically I believe that once it is known
that something can be done at all, like heat treatable Pt alloys, or
lower flow alloys multiple ways of accomplishing this can and will be
found. Hence, patents provide only limited protection.
.
Pt day technical papers
A
wealth of help for ordinary production problems can be found in the publications
of PGI and JM. Implications for future new products can be discerned as
well.
.
Lessons from recent sales of "heat treatable" Pt alloys
Again,
once the simple facts about a new metal are known, the innovators will jump
onto an opportunity to produce newer or more competitive product. This is
good for the trade and the consumer. It's also quite a thrill to participate
in a real breakthrough.
Much
credit is due to previous platinum innovators.
No
one innovates in a vacuum. We all learn from our teachers, employers, customers,
and predecessors most of all. The only way we can realistically test new
metals is in the real world of manufacturing and repairing. We owe thanks
to many clients who tested the plumb solder product early on-
Christian
Tse-Helped with extensive testing at his shop. Really took time for photography
and test after test.
Steven
Kretchmer- The first commercial casting grain with the lower flow temperature
and heat treatable. Really, in common experience there were no platinum
alloys with low flow temperatures at all. Once the fact that this could
be done at all was commonly known, many possibilities emerged and will
continue to do so. As soon as I saw and heard of the casting temperature's
of Stevens platinum casting grain, the light went on in my head. That
is the fact I pointed out , the very simple fact that 95%
Platinum could be made to flow at lower temperatures at all! It was not
just myself of course, Jurgen and others had discussed the numbers and
oddities of the new metal. I'm lucky we were in a position to jump on
this. Steven
and I had discussed his collaborating on this product early on. Unfortunately,
due to time constraints Steven was unable to work with us on this directly.
.
Greg Normandeau-Imperial-Shared much technical data with the trade in general
at this event last year. This gave wide attention to previously unknown
properties of new Pt alloys. It also showed what to be careful of in
solder properties. Check out his paper from last year, I sure did.
.
Jurgen Maerz-PGI -Always an encouraging voice with ready experience in platinum.
Past
experience is applied for success
.
Lessons learned from mfg. Gold and other Solders
PMWest
has always searched for alternative flow enhancing elements. "Cadmium Free"
is a primary requirement in all our formulas for solders or anything else.
As a result, our experience with very low flow elements is more extensive than
many other firms, putting us in a unique position to develop this product.
Other innovators could use our method to develop other new PT products.
.
Small scale tests Our ability to create and test small amounts made it possible
to try many ideas. Lower expense equates to more effort to
benefit from.
.
Our highly Experienced mill operator Robert Lumabao did a fine job of finding
all the details to anneal and roll this product with very high quality.
Finding the correct annealing and rolling details for solders is a difficult
job at best. Even though this stuff gets melted it must be attractive for
sale or resale. Imagine how odd it is to anneal a metal designed to melt
rather than anything else!
Difficulties
we overcame
At
first we made a bar or ingot of this solder, but it was so brittle, it
was beyond rolling and annealing. Also we tried a small pour to begin with.
New product development is not for the timid or the impatient. We spent
a lot of time with trial and error. A lot of metal got ruined, then refined
and reformulated before we had a working solder. Thank goodness we are
a refiner! Experience
tells us that persistence is a required skill. For those in charge of a
company, I suggest you be patient with your people.
Trade
marking and patents
We
took a low budget approach to everything we did to start. We read AJM magazine
articles about patenting.. AJM, MJSA's flagship publication is an ongoing
informative guide to the mfg trade. Countless times we at PMWest use the
articles to help ourselves and our customers.
Web
search was very helpful. In recent months, we have saved thousands of dollars
by using the web to its fullest, buying and selling. Try this address to
begin WWW.USPTO.gov
Patents-
With the web search we were able to find all the old references and patents
and trademarks that our attorneys needed to clear out of the way. We were
able to do a lot of this ourselves allowing us to save hundreds of dollars
in expenses. Then once the basics are taken care of the pro's go to work
for us like getting that great trademark we now enjoy-Plumb platinum solders.
Be careful with this part of the process. Part of having a patent means
your recipe for your product becomes public knowledge! Some do not patent,
if they think it will take anyone else 20 years to duplicate their product.
Old
Trademarks get researched. We now have Plumb Platinum solder and platinum
plumb solders as trademarks of PreciousMetalsWest.
Johnson
Matthey Their patents go back far enough to have expired in some instances.
Steven Kretchmer is current holder of many patents in our field.
Foreign
Patents- A search shows we are far from alone in the platinum field, Japanese
companies hold many patents involving platinum.
What
we found to work best.
.
Materials "X" "Y" & "Z" "Secret"
ingredients for now.
We
are using materials that have proven themselves in other applications.
While we pass through patent issues, (the preliminary work is all in) we
are not yet divulging the elements involved in these new solders. Please
remember that this is a very new solder, and be patient with our R&D.
.
A consistent "solder" alloy
After
much trial and error, we were able to develop an alloy that allowed us
to vary the Pt% to vary the flow to achieve 3 flows of solder Easy, Medium,
and Hard. This is an old trick we learned while making lower karat gold
solders. Lower the precious metals content and you lower the melt temperature.
Ironic that a low karat gold solder trick would point the way to a high
karat platinum solder!
.
Vary the Pt % to vary the flow temp
.
90%Pt is "Easy" 1300
.
92.5%Pt is "Medium" 1400
95%Pt
is "Hard" 1500
What
this means is that you can step assemble with this solder. It
also means that you can use the 90% solder on the newest 95% Pt heat treatable
casting grains from Hoover or Imperial or anyone else. An important note-
PMWest is NOT in the production of any "heat treatable" platinum alloys.
Initial
performance reports from the field..
.No
reports of dark color or other color problems in 95% Pt jewelry
.No
problems with "polishing out" at
all. This solder approximates the hardness of most common alloys.
.95%
may be too white for 90/10
.Some
minor "ridging" is reported. In certain circumstances the solder can harden
up, but is easily fixed with conventional sanding and polishing.
.Wire
form may be made available at a later date
This
solder works just fine on all conventional platinum's and on cobalt platinum
alloys.
Retipping
is NOT recommended, as 1300 Centigrade is still too hot.
Safety
Issues
.
Eye protection is needed just like any Pt solder
Always
protect your eyes, do not allow the day to day routine to dull your safety
awareness.
.
Always use good respiration or ventilation when melting solders.
Our
lungs are not tolerant of vaporized metals. While the ingredients of our
solder may not be particularly hazardous when used as directed, jewelry
solders can not be researched like common consumer products. Ventilate
as appropriate to your shop.
.
Like all PMWest products-This solder is cadmium free. Our
experience with alternatives teaches us to be careful regardless of the ingredients
used. But, many solders do include cadmium, with its well documented hazards.
What the Future Holds for Us
.
More available flows-Push the Pt% lower to get below 1200 for Cobalt Pt's
and oven assembly
.
Increase the Pt% for special extra hard applications
.
We are only the first manufacturer to develop "plumb Platinum" solders. We
have trademarked the name and we are pursuing our options under patent law.
The state of the art advanced today, through our combined efforts with those
others who speak at the Guilds invitation. Thank you all for listening and
taking the time to advance your own skills.
.More
available flows.
Push
the pt% lower to get below 1200 for cobalt pt's
.Increase
the pt% for special extra hard applications
It is exciting to be involved with an advance like this, and in the coming
years I hope to see the need to use non platinum solders on platinum jewelry
diminish to nothing. I encourage all of you to push the limit in platinum and
gold product development . New alloys, new investments, new solders, and new
marketing methods have come together in just the last year or so! Opportunities
abound for the daring. By daring I mean innovators who are in for the long
haul. Dare to research, then produce and market your product. The bottom line to my paper is really just to glean all you
can from all the available trade sources, use your own strengths in your sense
of direction,.. Then persevere. Patience pays.
