I'd like to know too :o)

If you don't get a definitive answer, Sacrifice a piece of scrap! Seems to me if the core is of the same melting temp or higher it would work. If it's lower you would end up with a two toned head pin - which could be cool in itself :o) Then you could let us all know!

I'd do it but I don't have any gf laying around :( can say I tried it with craft wire lol ended up with a silver pin with a copper ball! Was a fun experiment!

Dana

No. Let me first explain what gold fill is. It is a base metal(copper or brass) with a coating of 14k gold over it. Most gold fill is 20% 14k gold by weight.

Gold plated has a covering of 14K gold that is very very thin. Often not more than 1 or 2 molecules thick.

If you melt the end of the wire of either one of these, the resulting metal would not be 14K, and would not match the color of the rest of the piece.

You can not melt the tip and get anything that will blend in.

Thanks Dana! Tomorrow (Thurs) is my only day off this week, and I have a bracelet tute that HAS TO be finished before I can play, but I think I will give this a bash.
Thanks gloflyer, I do know what GF is and how its made, but was still curious if it could be done. I've used the method you posted in your tip, but with 30g wire its a little overpowering and not quite the look I want.
I did stop by some friends shop, a Father/Son team with combined jewelry experience 60 plus years. They don't see why it wouldn't work, even if the ball is a slightly different color. They said that depending on what the core material is, it would melt off, before the gold did (which is how refining plants recycle GF scrap). That coupled with the fact that most of my wire is what they refer to as double-clad, they think I might have some very satisfactory results. I'll keep ya posted.....

I have melted GF into balled headpins. You can get nice little balls, but they discolor over time. Mine have ended up the color of aged copper, sort of dark brown. They were nice shiny gold colored to start with. So it sorta depends on what look you are going for. I put mine on soft peachy pearls, they looked good at first, but I'm not so thrilled with it now. I used 24g wire. I did that in 2004. They stayed shiny for awhile, and have got darker and darker over time.
Carol

I Haven't tried making headpins with old filled but it looks like you are getting some good advice on that.

Now I need to clarify on what gloflyer said gold filled is. She made a common mistake saying gold filled is %20 karat gold. Gold filled is more like %5 or 1/20th of the weight of base metal used. I’ll quote a good definition here.

"Gold filled is a hollow tube of usually 14K gold (sometimes 10K is used) that is filled with another metal. The exterior of the gold filled jewelry is solid karated gold and everything you can see or touch is a solid layer of karated gold.
This tube of karated gold is approximately 100 times thicker than gold plate. It is made by bonding with heat and pressure - with normal wear and tear the karated gold will never tarnish, chip or wear off. By law this layer of karated gold has to be at least 1/20 of the total weight of the metal portion of the piece of jewelry.
In the USA this process is referred to as ‘gold filled’. In Europe the same process will be called ‘rolled gold’. Both terms are synonymous with each other. Many jewelry purchasers outside the jewelry trade mistakenly think 'gold filled' is the same as 'gold-plate'. 'Gold filled is a much higher quality product.

Read more: "Karated Gold versus Gold Filled: Find out what the difference is between karated gold and gold filled" -http://jewelry.suite101.com/article.cfm/karated_gold_versus_gold_filled#ixzz091cHiQMS "

I hope that clears things up and good luck with your headpins I look forward to seeing some results.

Not and answer, just a comment. This has been a very interesting subject and I feel like I learned a lot from everyones answers. Thanks for sharing your different experiences.