where do i get gold??

[CAW]

HI I have been reading a book on liner locking knives.
the author says that gold and silver can add a lot of value to a knife. He also says it can be done for surprisingly little cost.
Does anyone know where to get gold or silver cheap?
I won't be getting any of it any time soon on my budget , but just curious.


thanks,


CAW

[Paul3]

Try looking here. Only one of many. Look under Mill Products

http://www.hooverandstrong.com

[Mike Hull]

Originally posted by CAW
Does anyone know where to get gold or silver cheap?
CAW

I think we'd all like to know that.

[Shakudo]

i know a stream in oregon that was good to me 25 years ago for gold.personally i don't consider $300+ an ounce for gold cheap.silver is a totally different story,milled stock goes for around $9 an ounce,pure silver in coin or ingot form can be as low as $5 an ounce on ebay or a local coin dealer.take a look in a search engine for Rio Grande or Crazy Crow Trading CO. or a multitude of other suppliers.

[stoneman]

Rio Grande has a pretty good selection, but gold isn't cheap.
If you check your yellow pages under lapidary or jewelry supplies, you might find a local source. It will be more expensive, but possibly more convenient.
Good Luck

[Paul3]

Maybe platteing would be better:

http://www.caswellplating.com/index....d741989c33b3e3

[Don Robinson]

As someone suggested, Rio Grande Jewelry Supply is the source I usually use for silver and gold.

http://www.riogrande.com/

I've used quite a bit of sterling silver on several knives.

Here's an example. This one has sterling silver bolsters, a silver lining between the handle scales and the frame scales, and a sterling inset into the handle outlining the shamrock. Made for a left handed, red headed Irish woman.





Silver isn't too expensive to use, but it adds weight to the knife. The knife is shown on my web site here:

http://home.rgv.rr.com/donrob/index.htm

[Geno]

Pawn shop.

[Otha]

I bought a gold plater. love it. Adds nice touches to folders.

Otha

[Exude]

In bedrock Seriously though if your looking to buy try ebay.

[Frank J Warner]

Some of the suggestions are pretty good. Rio Grande is probably the best source. They'll send you one hell of a catalog with your first order.

A pawn shop or a jeweler is not a good idea. The markup for finished gold goods is way too high, even from a pawn broker. From a pawn broker, you can't be sure of what you're getting.

Some jewelers do repair work on premises. You might be able to coax a little raw gold from one of them, although most of them I've tried won't even give you the time of day for something like that. If you've got a forge or HT oven that reaches 1900? F, you might be able to melt down a few gold chains from Wal-Mart. Believe it or not, I've actually done this a couple of times. I just pour the molten gold into tiny ingots I carved out of refractory brick.

For studs and other embellishments that are machined to shape, you'll want to stay with 14k or 18k gold. 24k is way too soft. And be sure to save all the grinding dust and swarf. Stuff's too expensive to end up in the dustbin!

-Frank J Warner