Hello!
Today we will tell you how Cuban gold chains do.
The Cuban chain is essentially a type of standard chain, but having oval links that intersect
in the form of a rope.
The links of the chain are twisted and filled, have polishing and galvanic coating.
The link pattern can stretch to longer or oval shapes, which completely change its appearance,
which makes the chain more thick and attractive.
Cuban chains became extremely popular among the Cuban community living in Miami in the
1970s and 1980s, from where the name “Miami Cuban Link” came from.
The Cuban chains first became known at the hip-hop stage of the 1970s.
As the hip-hop music grew and gained cultural popularity, the Cuban chains became a symbol
of luxury, wealth and success.
And today, chains are still popular among rappers, for example, such artists as Jay-Z,
which in 2019 became the world's first rapper-billionaire.
In this video, we will show how two masters-jewelers make Cuban gold chains.
One of them is large and the other smaller for the bracelet.
Although the manufacturing process is almost the same.
A large chain of yellow gold will be worth more than $ 100,000 and weigh about 2 kg.
Work in all cases begins with weighing, to determine the amount of pure 24-carat gold.
Since the chain should be 14-punishable quality, that is, 585 sample corresponds to the gold,
zinc, and silver, is added to the gold.
Gold is cut off from the ingot, and small balls are made of copper alloy.
Thus, a mixture of 14 parts of gold and 10 parts of other metals is obtained.
A very large part of jewelry in the world is usually made of 14 caratic gold.
Due to the huge size of a large chain, it was decided to divide gold into two parties
for him.
The total initial weight of the large chain is about 3450 grams of 14-carat gold.
It costs about 115,000 dollars only in terms of gold.
The reason that so much gold is required is that in the production process it is necessary
to reduce weight so that the chain looks more flat.
Then it comes time to melt all this in a ceramic crucible that can withstand temperatures up
to 1370 degrees Celsius, which is higher than the melting point of gold!
To heating, you need a large propane burner.
A drill is also poured into the tiger.
Usually it is used as a flux for soldering metals.
With its help, the surface of the metal is cleaned so that the connection is strong.
Here it will help clean the gold mixture and facilitate melting.
The burner will use a combination of natural gas and oxygen to melt the alloy.
When the metal is completely melted, the gold is ready for the spill.
The molten gold is poured into a cast -iron shape to get the first ingot.
It is poured with sequential bulk, not too fast and not too slowly.
The same process is repeated for the second batch of gold, as a result, two large 14-carat
gold bar are obtained.
At the next stage, each gold ingot begins to stretch on a rolling mill.
A rolling mill is a tool for processing metals with pressure.
It is used for the manufacture of metal sheets or wire.
The principle of its work is that metal is passed through it several times, squeezing
it every time more and more.
With each passage through rotating rolls, the gold ingot stretches more and more and
becomes longer and longer.
This process continues until the diameter of the rod corresponds to the size of the
manufactured circuit.
Since the metal is stretched, it must be heated to a certain temperature in order to soften
it.
This is necessary so that he does not crack in the process of hood.
In many fragments of the video, you will see how gold first heats up, and then cools.
This process is called anneal and is used to reduce the hardness of the metal and facilitate
working with it.
Then, with the help of a strip machine, the wire is handed out and rounded.
The wire passes through the supply tray enough times until the rounding process is completed.
A thinner wire is stretched through a traction plate.
It turns the wire from the square into round and sets it the necessary diameter.
The next process will require great physical effort.
It is necessary to wind the gold wire onto a copper rod of a suitable size to form a
coil.
For the manufacture of a gold chain of smaller diameter, an electric drill is best suited.
It allows you to quickly wrap a gold wire, much faster than manually.
But for a large chain, two people will be required to perform this work manually using
four sets of fixing pliers.
Then, on a desktop turning machine, two sets of coils are cut to get individual links,
which will further be woven into the Cuban chain.
A small spiral wire is sawn with a firmware saw.
One ring is sealed.
The next ring with the help of two pliers is extended to insert it into the sealed ring.
Gradually, all the blanks are soldered until you get a chain of the desired length.
Golden links are cleaned several times, immersing them in hot sodium bisulfate - acid salt formed
with partial neutralization of sulfuric acid.
This acidic solution is used several times throughout the entire manufacturing process
to clean the surface of the gold.
Separate links of a large chain are clamped.
They open and are connected together using a divorced wrench.
To melt each link, a gold solder is used.
If in the process of soldering the chain heating is too strong, then the gold may melt, and
the chain will collapse.
On the contrary, if the heat is not enough, then the solder will not melt properly, and
tears will appear in the chain.
The process of soldering continues until the black version of the chain is ready.
After some annealing, the chain is subjected to another bath with a hot acid solution.
Then the chain is attached to the industrial steep machine, which creates a torque at both
ends in different directions.
The thin chain is twisted manually, holding it in a vice and at the same time using dragging
pliers.
Such twisting requires great effort.
With sufficient twisting, individual links are ultimately aligned in one plane.
Any minor adjustments necessary for aligning links during manufacture are made manually
using a wrench.
The process of leveling the links ends by repeatedly passing the chain through the rolling
mill, which will finally align the links and make the chain hang completely directly.
At this stage, there was a large Cuban chain about 71 centimeters long and weighing about
2700 grams.
Some additional links were previously postponed in case some of them were damaged during production
and they will need to be replaced.
In order to fix the chain for its further processing, it is laid out on top of a wooden
board, and then fixed with a special molten resin-shellac.
Then the board is tightly fixed with a vice, and one of the most time -consuming parts
of the process of manufacturing Cuban chains is the alignment of links with a file.
This procedure allows you to create a round surface, as it should be in the Cuban chains.
The product acquires a large surface and a cleaner look.
Golden chips and dust, which is sprinkled during processing, is collected and used for
the manufacture of other jewelry that will be made later.
Further, the passion of the jeweler enters the game, since the well -performed work can
add the correct amount of symmetry and beauty with the finished chain.
Finally, for even more smoothing the surface of the gold, sandpaper is used with granularity
of 220 and 320.
After that, the chain is removed from the board, and the process is repeated, on the
other side.
Then go to the polishing stage.
It begins with inspection and pre -polishing with a rotating tool.
Polishing ends on a lathe with a grinding circle.
This is another tedious and laborious process, but it is necessary to create a beautiful
and high -quality chain.
After the chain passes the final cleaning using ultrasound and steam, it is time to
work on a special fastener.
The fastener also casts separately from a mixture of 14 karatic gold and a alloy of
metals so that it corresponds to the chain.
The molten gold is poured into a gypsum form containing a wax form of various parts of
the fastener.
Hot gold melts the wax inside the cast, and when gypsum is washed off, only cast pieces
of gold remain.
After the preparation and preliminary polishing of the main parts of the fastener, the time
of the manufacture of a gold pin occurs, a pin that fixes the lid in place and allows
it to open and close.
This process is similar to the one that was used at the beginning with two gold ingots.
But since the pin requires a wire of much smaller size, you need to use a smaller rolling
mill and a drag machine.
Before attaching the fastener to the chain, it is necessary to cut off a piece from both
end links at the middle point.
The cuts should be made at right angles, otherwise the fastener will not be correctly combined
with the actual chain after it welding.
Then they begin to weld two interconnected sections of the fastener to end links.
The addition of tiny diamonds to the fastener of such a large chain is made by the desired
last touch to such a product.
Stones on the edge of the clasp, revive overall design.
The last few more strokes, light polishing, and the clasp and chain are ready.
Thus, a gold chain weighing about 2086 grams and a 72 and a half centimeter long, including
a diamond clasp.
The width of the chain was about 25 millimeters, and the thickness of about 18 millimeters.
For a small chain, the fastener is printed on a 3D printer made of wax, and then cast
from metal.
After casting, the clasp has a rough surface, so it has to be filled out and polished.
The castle has a mechanism that should work flawlessly.
It grinds in order to be convenient to put on and shoot it.
In order to insert the diamonds into the clasp, it is placed in a special putty
that hardens hard.
Precious stones have a size of 1.8 millimeters, and to install them, you have to use a microscope
correctly.
Each stone is pressed with
a copper stick.
When the stones are installed in place, the master uses a beadwork tool to press metal
captures to the stones.
The most difficult thing in fixing the stones is to install them all directly to get a flat
and clean fixing.
Enhanced concentration gives the desired result.
Then the details are soldered to the bracelet.
Before soldering, the entire castle is almost ready.
Emeralds are installed on the edges of the castle.
At the last stage, the bracelet is polished.
This is necessary to give the gloss to the metal and eliminate possible scratches.
For this, a polishing machine is used.
After polishing, the bracelet is placed in a bath for ultrasonic cleaning.
This machine sends ultrasonic waves into water with a cleaning solution that removes all
the dirt.
The result is a unique gold bracelet.
Each jeweler has its own individual approach to
the manufacture of chains, which distinguishes their chain from others.
In this case, a bracelet was obtained, where emeralds and diamonds in the castle, forming
a Nigerian flag made of pink gold, give it a unique appearance and design.
That's all.
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Until new meetings.