blistering silver

[pedromorgan]

Hello folks. I am having some problems with my soldering. About 1 in 5 of my joints seems to go horribly wrong, suddenly the silver seems to blister and the finished part is very ugly and about half the thickness.

I dont think its the materials as there seems to be no pattern to it other than me doing something wrong.

It happens both when i use a paste solder and when i use a strip solder.

I only solder silver.

Any suggestions would be greatly apreciated.

Peter

[Kwant]

It sounds like you are over heating and melting the piece.

Try to do things more slowly till you see how the solder flows when the two parts to be joined are brought up to heat rather than trying to blast the solder into submission.

[Dennis]

Hi Peter-Pedro,
I think Kwant has the answer for you. Blistering, or reticulation, occurs when you concentrate the heat. This happens when you use that part of the flame very near the blue cone and also when you keep it steady instead of systematically moving it about.

I would suggest you work in semi-darkness so that you are immediately alerted of this and if you have not done so, have a look here: http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/hot-metal-gold-silver-metal-working/3127-help-soldering.html#post39487

Kind regards, Dennis.