Help! With Soldering.

[emroyjewels]

Dennis - excellent post, and highly likely to help some beginners.

Just one minor comment:

The whole process may take 5-30 seconds according to mass of silver, but if nothing happens by then it is likely that the torch is too small , or that there is some contamination.

This definitely depends on the size of the item - an earring or small pendant may take around 30 seconds, but if you are heating say a large bangle you'll be looking to circle with your torch for 2-3 minutes before it gets hot enough for the solder to flow. It doesn't mean your torch isn't hot enough provided you are using something like the go-system torch - just that because of the weight of the silver it needs more time to get it to a nice temperature.

Just thought I'd point this out, as a beginner might start to worry if they see nothing is happening after 30 seconds!

[mizgeorge]

Em, if it's taking you two to three minutes to get a bangle up to temperature, your torch isn't hot enough!! I'd also say you're opening yourself up to a real firescale opportunity.

[emroyjewels]

George I use the go system which is mega powerful, inside a handmade "kiln" and it definitely takes around 2 minutes to heat up the back of the bangle before I head round to the point where the solder starts to flow - but polishes up fine with no firescale.

Just to clarify I'm talking about a weighty bangle - 2-3mm thick wire, rather than something thinner.

Update: I just went and heated one of mine up to prove I'm not going nuts - and timed myself - 1.42 seconds before it got hot enough to where I would move around to the front.

Perhaps you should ignore my advice. Everyone has their own technique, but I would be amazed if you could solder a heavy bangle in 30 seconds flat. My technique works for me and I'm sticking to it!

[swageblock]

Why do people avoid medium?
1;The top end of its melt range overlaps the lower end of hard grade and the low end of medium melt range overlaps the top end of easy solders .
therefore there is a good[bad]chance of melting existing joins.
2;a personal point is that I never found it to flow as cleanly as either hard or easy.I still have a strip from Johnson Matthey purchased about 30 years agoand only 10% used.
Thats giving the game away!!

[Dennis]

Dear Emma,
I've just come back from a trip, and could not resist logging on. With anything like your bangle, the problem is not just that it is very large. It is also that it is quite thin for its size, so while you are busy heating one part, the rest is beginning to cool again. It simply does not have the mass to hold the heat you are putting in. My remedy is to use two torches to give a more even application of heat, but did not say that in my post above, to try and keep things simple. Building up a box with soldering blocks helps too, of course.
George mentioned firescale, which is another problem with prolonged heating. Some writers have a motto, 'in and out quickly', but I find that if I try to go too quickly the molten solder runs away in unpredictable directions.
Kind regards, Dennis.

[wheely]

Why do people avoid medium?
1;The top end of its melt range overlaps the lower end of hard grade and the low end of medium melt range overlaps the top end of easy solders . therefore there is a good[bad]chance of melting existing joins

I guess I should have been able to come up with that myself. Looks so simple now

[abyjem]

I am really a novice compared to most on this thread. When I first started soldering I found the paste easiest to work with because it seemed to melt so much easier and quicker and didnt jump about like paillons. However, just lately I have been leaning towards easy solid solder with borax and am finding it actually seems to work better for me. It tends to flow better, especially when soldering bezel wire onto backing plate. It just seems to draw through the joint better.

I still use the easy paste for some jobs but I dont really like the medium paste.
I've yet to try medium or hard strip solder but must do so soon.

I didnt realise just how small the paillons need to be to work well. Too thick and they dont melt properly -

[Joe]

Ah, you should try the hard solder... soooo liquidy!

Hey, anyone up for contributing to a jewellery wiki-pedia? I'm up for doing the web stuff if you experts will do the articles...?