which gold solder?

[neekee]

I'm a quite experienced hobbyist with silver and stones but want to try some gold work.
I'm unsure about soldering... in some places I hear you should use solder of the same carat type as the gold, and in other places, that you should use solder of a lower carat type.
Which is true?
Thanks for any help.
Nick

[Dennis]

I'm a quite experienced hobbyist with silver and stones but want to try some gold work.
I'm unsure about soldering... in some places I hear you should use solder of the same carat type as the gold, and in other places, that you should use solder of a lower carat type.Which is true Thanks for any help.Nick

Dear (another)Nick.

The bullion dealers have invested a lot of time and money in researching just the right solders to use with their various golds, both for colour and melting range. Unless you are a born rebel, I would suggest that you trust them.

My all time favourite after silver, is 9ct white, which is attractive in colour and more tarnish resistant. You will note that Cookson only offer one grade of solder for this as it can suddenly collapse if overheated. Welcome to the forum. Dennis.

[enigma]

Thats good to know, I did wonder why there was only one grade for it.
You can actually get white gold solder paste for 9ct too if you do need a lower temperature one aswell.
I haven't tried it yet but shall be using it for soldering a jump ring on today as already have 2 joints with the panel.
Wish me luck please lol

[Vos]

Good luck Enigma :D

[enigma]

Good luck Enigma :D

Thanks Vos :D

I don't know if its just me but I hate white gold solder, it doesn't seem to flow well and almost always refuses to go where I want.
I outdid myself tonight though and discovered what Dennis meant when he said it had a tendency to collapse :-"
`i overheated the metal trying to get the solder to go where I wanted it and it collapsed.
Thankfully I was able to file off that section and rescue the piece.
The solder paste went surprisingly well thankfully although I was only using it to solder a couple of jump rings so I don't know what it would be like doing a bigger join or something.
Personally I love the look of white gold, especially the 9ct but I find the red and yellow (9ct) easier to work with.