Plat. casted prongs versus plat. soldered prongs?

[ccuheartnurse]

I had a discussion yesterday with a jeweler who said that casted prongs on a shared prong setting **could* be a problem with porosity as is anything casted. He said the best & most secure way to ensure safety to shared prongs was to solder them with platinum & that way the prongs would be solid plat. wire with no porosity. He was talking about hand fabrication, so is this how its done when a ring is made in this fashion?

Does anyone have any opinions on this or have you heard the same or contractory information? Seems reasonable, but what happens where the joints are soldered? I would gather they would be buffed & no one would be the wiser, but will they discolour, will they weaken? Is it in fact BETTER to have the entire ring casted?

We hear so much information sometimes its almost better to stick your head in the sand & not come out.

Any thoughts??

Judy

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Judy, I just want to agree with your last statement.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

DS,
I''ve been following your saga & I know YOU understand.

Judy

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 9/9/2006 12:13:35 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Judy, I just want to agree with your last statement.

Yeah me too! Now that I have my stone I think I should just lose this link LOL

 

[JulieN]

die struck

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 9/9/2006 2:27:19 PM
Author: JulieN
die struck

I did see some diestruck solitaires last week and found them to be excellent quality. I''m not sure if the solitaires I am looking at now are, but I''d certainly prefer it if they are available.

As far as shared prong bands go, I am now looking at Memoire, and they surely do seem excellent. The site tells a little about their constuction which is called hot extrusion process.

http://www.memoire.com/metal.html#

 

[strmrdr]

die struck wire is the strongest prong material.
cast prongs can be weaker and there isnt really anyway to tell if they are until they fail.
He speaks true.

Does he have a laser welder?

While a very skilled platinumsmith with a torch can match a laser welder the welder makes it easier to get very high quality joins.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

Hello,
Thank you for the information. It made sense about the solid wire versus cast, but just wasnt sure what kind of hidden issues a welding seam might present in future & I see it wont, if done right. LOL That makes me comfortable knowing this guy wasnt just pulling my leg, but was genuinely concerned about making a top quality product and not some stamped out mass produced item. Sometimes custom is a great option.

Judy

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 9/10/2006 12:34:20 PM
Author: ccuheartnurse
Hello,
Thank you for the information. It made sense about the solid wire versus cast, but just wasnt sure what kind of hidden issues a welding seam might present in future & I see it wont, if done right. LOL That makes me comfortable knowing this guy wasnt just pulling my leg, but was genuinely concerned about making a top quality product and not some stamped out mass produced item. Sometimes custom is a great option.

Judy

If the design lends itself to it a die struck band as a base with die struck wire prongs properly done will be as strong as you can get and it is custom.
It sounds like to me your on the right path with this guy.