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In this video I take the exciting challenge of crafting my very own gold wedding bands.
The decision to make these myself was a meaningful choice. It’s not just about the potential savings from recycling old and broken family gold but about the joy of wearing something I made.
While working with gold is something new for me, my previous experience with lost wax casting came in handy.
And I have to admit, gold is truly a beautiful material to work with. My setup is simple, utilizing tools I’ve made for other tasks.
Moreover I think wedding bands are often crafted differently, involving the soldering of metal strips rather than employing the lost wax casting technique. Anyway, after a first failed attempt due to insufficient metal and an overly thick sprue tree, I tried again and the subsequent attempt was successful, resulting in perfectly-sized right out of the plaster.
The resulting rings weigh in at 5g and 7.2g respectively. After remelting the filings and sprues, a total of 10.85g of gold remains. This accounts for a slight weight loss (1 gram) compared to the chains I melted, possibly due to other metals dissipating like solder. All the old chains and materials I repurposed were made of 18-carat gold (750 or 75% gold), the ideal alloy for wearable adornments.
At the end, I’m thrilled with the outcome. However, there’s a joy that surpasses all of this. I’m over the moon to be marrying my wonderful girlfriend on the very day this video is published!❤️
