Crafting jewelry out
of fine metals is more art than business, but you can’t successfully sell your
art without a little business acumen. Besides marketing and shipping logistics,
one of the most important things on your to-do list is to acquire quality
materials at an affordable price. Hiring professionals to do metal refining is
your best option — and you may be surprised to find quality metal in unexpected
sources.
1. Aircraft Parts
The experts in palladium
refining have been able to refine the metal from sources such as
aircraft parts for use in jewelry making. See if there are any aircraft parts
for sale in your area or salvage some at a junk yard. You don’t even need to
purchase a complete working aircraft, as the parts alone are bound to be
cheaper. If you don’t want to deal with the large purchase yourself, ask the
experts to sell you what they’ve refined from their materials.
2. Circuit Boards
Computers are hardly
the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about jewelry making, but the
circuit boards in particular have metal parts that can be refined if you know
what you’re doing. People are constantly upgrading their computers and have no
use for their older models. There’s a surplus of computers headed to recycling
centers, so see if you can get your hands on some of the parts.
3. Shavings
Professionals refine
metal from old jewelry, coins, and even things like circuit boards and airplane
parts. However, if you’re not carefully collecting the shavings that result
from the refining process, you’re missing out on a source of metal that adds up
fast. Rely on experts to use vacuuming and careful cleaning procedures to
acquire all of the shavings that fall off during processing.
Speak to the experts
about refining metal for your jewelry business. Whether you provide your own
materials or purchase what the refiner has to offer, you’ll be satisfied with the
quality of your investment.
