United News

Brass and Bronze

Brass and bronze jewelry have become more popular these days due to the higher metal markets.  United offers a wide range of brass and bronze alloys, precisely to meet the demand caused by these escalating markets.

Our yellow bronze alloy #342 is commonly used for making sample lines, models and jewelry.  The #342 provides a bright yellow color and offers high re-usability.

Alloy #341 is our Antique Bronze version specifically made to provide an antique (aged) look to the jewelry.

We also recommend our #347 for fabrication purposes as well as #332 (red brass), #350 (green brass), and #373 (white brass).

If you are contemplating doing more with brass and bronze, consider contacting our sales department or technical staff to obtain additional information on our specially formulated lines of brass & bronze alloys.

Small Coffee Pot Style Electric Resistance Melting Furnaces  (Handi-Melt Type)

The small electric resistance melting furnaces are often used for casting gold and silver jewelry in small shops.  The temperature read–outs are somewhat erroneous due to the thermocouple location under the bottom of the crucible.  The temperature read–out is actually the crucible temperature and not the actual metal temperature as many think.  Pouring "too cold"  causes most of the problems associated with these melting furnaces.  This may result in non-fills, poor detail or rough surfaces on the castings.  The actual metal temperature is usually 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit less than the read-out temperature displayed on the unit.  The best rule of thumb with this type of furnace is to set the temperature at 70 to 100 degrees F above the suggested casting temperature.  This will normally solve the cold casting problems and result in good quality castings.

One final note: Be sure to stir the molten metal well with a stirring rod before casting to assure a homogeneous mix.  Add flux to clean the molten metal surface as needed.

United Continues Committed to the Pawn Industry

Over the past few years, United has expanded its capabilities to better serve the refining needs of the Pawn Industry.  Understanding the restrictions pawnbrokers face with extended hold times and the market fluctuations that can jeopardize profits, United has grown its capacity to provide a faster turnaround time for scrap gold and silver lots.  We are now able to process and analyze your scrap gold lots in 24 hours with triplicate fire assays.

Looking to recover diamonds and precious stones in your scrap?  United now offers frosting which not only recovers your stones without the risk of damage caused by prongs and other tools, but we also processes all your stones through a chemical treatment which glazes all stones except your diamonds.  This frosting process, at a nominal fee, saves customers from hours of testing stones thus allowing pawnbrokers to turn over the diamonds much more quickly!  Contact your sales rep for more information and pricing.

United is a proud member of the NPA!

Things to Consider

• As a courtesy to our customers, United offers free shipping on incoming freight via FedEx. We can also schedule the pickup and email/fax labels for gold shipments, so that the customer has one less thing to worry about. We find this service helps ease the customer's mind, allowing them to focus on their business. We also offer in-service Refining Pickups in many areas across our continent. We have found that directly dealing with our customers builds strong working relationships. Many of our customers have come to look forward to our visits. Please contact our sales team for more information if you have any questions on any of our offerings.
   
• Did you know that we now have a Conversion Calculator on our Website? Click on Technical Support and click on the Calculator icon.  This tool provides conversions for Karat Gold, Sterling Silver, Casting Weights and Temperatures.