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[ About Tantalum ]

Tantalum is a pure, rare metal—an element—it is not an alloy or trade name.

These are a few of its properties:

  • It's extremely dense; similar to 18k gold in terms of weight.
  • It's malleable.
  • One of its most interesting properties is its color: a blue to lavender gray.
  • It's incredibly inert, and is thought to be non-toxic and non-allergenic when it is a pure metal.
  • It has one of the highest melting points of any metal (ca.5400˚F), which partially contributes to making it uncastable for jewelers; this limits its use to designs derived from sheet and wire (fabrication).
  • It can't be soldered or welded by conventional means (TIG welds with difficulty). Joints must be rivets, screws, etc.
• Making a Tantalum Inlay Ring •
Wax tubing. The starting point for making a track band. The wax tube is cut on a precision lathe. Finished wax ring.
Wax model sprued and ready for casting. Casting After Casting with sprue
Lathe finishing. Hallmarking. Stamping our manu-facture's mark and karat of gold. Finished platinum rivets ready to be set into ring.
Tantalum sheet. A strip will be cut from it and held by rivets in the ring. The strip must be very accurately cut and fit—this is one of the most time consuming parts of making the ring. Finished ring (rivet side). Finished ring.
Jewelers bench and tools.
Joseph Hall
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