Soldering rose gold?

[Smousie]

I made a 9ct red gold ring, which has been ruined by using Cookson's red gold solder paste. The solder is yellow, not red! So my lovely red ring now has an ugly yellow joint which is clearly visible.

I could use some advice on how to solder red gold invisibly. Is there another product I can use instead? Clearly it IS possible to solder red gold invisibly because the red gold rings in the high street shops don't have these ugly yellow joints!

[Goldsmith]

I made a 9ct red gold ring, which has been totally ruined by using Cookson's red gold solder paste. The solder is yellow, not red! So my lovely red ring now has an ugly yellow joint which is clearly visible.

Firstly I don't see why Cookson's is bothering to sell a red gold solder that can't be used with red gold because the colour doesn't match! And secondly I could use some advice on how to solder red gold invisibly. Is there another product I can use instead? Clearly it IS possible to solder red gold invisibly because the red gold rings in the high street shops don't have these ugly yellow joints!

First answer is that most rings sold in shops are either castings or machine made from tube so do not have solder joints. Second was you solder paste easy or hard solder as the low melting point easy solders are always paler than the higher melting point solders. The best red gold solder is 18ct red, but even this solder can leave a solder line so you have to make your solder joints as tight as possible. Finally a lot of rings offered for sale have been plated to hide imperfections like solder seams.

James

[enigma]

All the 9ct red solder sold by both Cooksons and Betts is yellow rather than red, tbh I don't bother buying it anymore I just use yellow as there is no discernible difference.
I might try the 18ct now you have said that though James.
If you make the seam as tight as possible as James says there will at least only be a very fine line.

I did wonder if it was possible to fuse it though, James?

[Goldsmith]

All the 9ct red solder sold by both Cooksons and Betts is yellow rather than red, tbh I don't bother buying it anymore I just use yellow as there is no discernible difference.
I might try the 18ct now you have said that though James.
If you make the seam as tight as possible as James says there will at least only be a very fine line.

I did wonder if it was possible to fuse it though, James?

I have never done any fusing in my time Sarah so I wouldn't know about that. For most of my work I used 18ct. golds and hard solders. I used to use an 18ct. alloy called French Red, which was a lovely rich colour but Cookson don't seem to stock it these days. I used French red for my flower stems as it gave a nice contrast to yellow gold leaves.

9253 9254

James

[enigma]

Thanks James, beautiful work!

[joella]

I've just noticed that Samuel findings sell 18ct red gold solder, if that's any help.

[Dennis]

As everyone has said, a really close joint will hardly show solder. This is tested by holding the joint upto a light and if necessary cutting through the joint with a saw blade again.

Here is where your trouble can really start, because if you go slightly askew and you need to correct that, you can find yourself loosing a mm or so and this is equivalent to one size.

Sometimes if the edges are already perfectly flat they can be made to meet just by pushing with fingers, and not sawing at all.

Lastly paste solder makes more of a spill than palliions, particularly if you place them on the inside where any surplus is easily removed. Dennis.

[enigma]

I did find an old thread on here about fusing which links to a tutorial by Hans Meevis.
I haven't downloaded it yet but there were good comments about it.
Such a shame Hans left the forum as I did enjoy his input and seeing his beautiful work.
Anyway heres the link again for anybody considering fusing:
http://www.meevis.com/jewelry-making-class-making-a-fused-ring.htm