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Gems is always at the leading edge of design and technology. To do this we have made a great investment in a new laser system to allow great fexiblity in jewellery manufacture, design and repair.
We are the first in the Durham Region to offer Laser Mirco Welding on location in our shop. Have something complex, sensitive stones, such as emeralds well we can now repair them on location while you wait by appointment.
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Laser welding differs greatly from traditional electronic resistance welding, which requires electrodes (probes) to make contact with the parts to be welded and passes extremely high electric currents through alloys to melt and fuse the metal together. The resistance welding process takes time, leaves scars or blemishes at the weld point and requires specially shaped electrodes to weld hard to-reach areas. In some cases, size and shape limitations prevent resistance welding from being used at all.
Sharp, focused laser light beams allow for rapid melting and cooling of similar or dissimilar alloys. The welding process can be performed extremely quickly (normally in milliseconds) and does pot scar or blemish the welding surface, hence eliminating the need for acid baths that can damage some gemstones. In fact, by adjusting the laser's beam diameter, a smooth, near polished finish can be achieved with the laser. Since very little heat is generated at the weld point, Gems can easily weld .25 to 2.0 mm away from the most complicated and intricate jewelry pieces, and because no electrodes or contact points are required, the laser's light beam offers precise welding of complex and difficult-to-reach jewelry pieces.
The laser also enables Gems to add additional alloy to jewelry pieces where needed. "Filler materials" of similar alloys, such as platinum, can be welded to castings, a technique commonly used to fill porosity holes. Filler materials are also used to increase the support structure of a complex assembly, mount settings to shanks, or resize rings. The weld resulting from this laser operation is considerably stronger than a solder joint.
Laser welding leaves no seams or markings after cleaning or finishing processes. Laser welding reconfigure the molecular structure of either similar or dissimilar metals at the point of welding, allowing the two separate alloys to become one. Hence, there are no markings once the pieces have been filed, polished or treated with finishing techniques. Eliminating the solder material from the welding process maintains the integrity of the alloy and provides superior strength characteristics when evaluated under most bend test stress evaluations. Also, the cosmetic appearance of the finished jewelry piece is generally superior to soldering.
Jewellery manufacturers such as Gems are currently using laser welders for a wide range of applications. For example, porosity cavities can be easily identified with the 20x stereo-microscope, cleaned out with the laser beam, and filled with a filler rod of the same alloy within minutes - and the user never has to remove stones or complex inlay settings. Lasers can also be used to re-tip prong settings, repair bezel settings, resize rings, and repair bracelets without removing stones. Sponge-type porosity, normally identified in the final polishing process, can be filled and repaired by using a laser. And lasers are indispensable in today's popular stone-in-place casting methods, permitting castings to be rapidly assembled and porosity to be filled while posing very little hazard to the stones.
With this Laser system Gems offers our customers a great new service. Come into today and see how we can help you. |
