The art of soldering brings about many different questions. Which metal to use? Which types of jewellery are appropriate? What tools are needed? In this blog, we’ll be focusing on soldering gold jewellery. Discover how to solder gold jewellery and each step involved, as well as all the different tools and equipment that are required for the job. What’s more, we’ll also shed light on some of the most frequently asked questions about soldering gold jewellery, from the differences between using each alloy and what gold solder is made of.
The art of soldering brings about many different questions. Which metal to use? Which types of jewellery are appropriate? What tools are needed? In this blog, we’ll be focusing on soldering gold jewellery. Discover how to solder gold jewellery and each step involved, as well as all the different tools and equipment that are required for the job. What’s more, we’ll also shed light on some of the most frequently asked questions about soldering gold jewellery, from the differences between using each alloy and what gold solder is made of.
Find out everything you need to know so you can get started with your soldering projects below.
What is the difference between soldering gold jewellery and silver jewellery?
First things first, we’ll establish the difference between soldering silver and soldering gold jewellery. One of the key differentiating factors is temperature. Both gold and silver solder come in a range of flow temperatures. Silver can be found in four different types, easy (E), soft (S), medium (M) and hard (H), each with different flow temperatures. On the other hand, gold can be found in many more forms. You’ll have to consider the carat, ranging from 8 up to 22 and also the colour, white gold, yellow gold and red gold. Here’s a breakdown of the melting points for soldering gold jewellery:
- Low-carat, easy – 650-720°C
- High-carat, easy – 700-715°C
- Low-carat, hard – 755-795°C
- High-carat, hard – 790-830°C
What is gold solder made of?
Most gold solders are made up of a variety of components, with the most significant addition being the low melting point metals. These include cadmium, indium, zinc and tin. However, they have a tendency to whiten the soldering alloy – which requires the further addition of copper.
Tools needed for soldering gold jewellery
Before we move onto how to solder gold jewellery, you’ll need to gather a few tools and pieces of equipment. Here’s what you’ll need to pick up:
- Soldering block
- Gold solder
- Hand torch
- Flux for gold soldering
- Soldering tweezers
- Copper tongs
- Safety goggles
- Pickling solution
Here’s how to solder gold jewellery – step by step
Let’s dive into our step by step guide on how to solder gold jewellery.
- Clean the gold. This is the first step when learning how to make gold solder and how to solder gold jewellery. This allows the metal to properly bond together, so to do this, simply soak the piece of jewellery in the pickling solution, using your tweezers to manoeuvre. Then rinse with water to remove the acid.
- Secure the piece in tweezers or clamp. Place the jewellery you’ll be working on onto a soldering block and hold in place with either your tweezers or a clamp. Ensure that the gold pieces fit together as tightly as possible. Otherwise, if the gap is too large, the solder may fail.
- Add flux for gold soldering. This only needs to be applied to the areas of solder that will be joined together, to help make sure that all impurities have been removed and to prevent any discolouration of the surface.
- Heat the flux. Grab your hand torch and gently heat the flux until you see the water boil off, leaving the protective solids on the piece.
- Apply gold solder and heat. Add a small chip of gold solder to the join, then heat the surrounding metal with your hand torch. Top tip! Slowly move the flame back and forth to ensure the entire length of the join is heated. Stop once the solder starts to melt and flow across the seam, and you should see the sides bonding together.
- Cool and treat the piece. Once the piece has cooled, add it to a water bath. Next, using the copper tongs, gently lower the piece into a pickle bath and leave until the fire-scale has been removed from the surface.
- Finalise the piece. After the piece has been removed from the pickling solution, rinse in a water bath and inspect for any discolouration. If needed, simply polish off any stubborn fire-scale and you’re good to go!
And that is how to solder gold jewellery. Feel like giving it a go yourself? Pick up all the jewellery tools you need and head to the equipment and technique focus section of our blog for more.
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