Making brass balls

[paulat]

Hi im a beginner jeweller and would like some advice on how to make small brass balls. ..i can ball them up on a wire when i flux it but then i have the problem of grinding off the cut section which is impossible with such tiny balls...when i try heating a bit of wire on charcoal block it just goes into a fudgy lump. Ive been using a small butane torch.Any ideas? Thanks

[enigma]

You could try drilling small holes into your soldering block with a round burr? Ive done that with silver.

[paulat]

Tried that already but the wire still doesn't melt into a ball

[Dennis]

Dear Paulat,
The reason you are having trouble is that for brass your mini torch is not hot enough.

Make holes in your block as suggested by Sarah. Clean the brass wire with an abrasive, snip into equal pieces, use borax as a flux and a larger torch will easily ball the pieces.

They can also be tumbled afterwards, with shot and tumbling medium, in a mall plastic box inside a normal tumbler empty of other contents. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

The zinc content in the brass isn't going to help the situation either.

[paulat]

Very helpful i do have a larger butane torch will try that thanks everyone

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[paulat]

Still didnt ball up even with a bigger torch:-(

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[Dennis]

In response to your question, I balled up a snip of wire in a shallow dip in this piece of charcoal, using a Campingaz hand held torch and plenty of borax.
The ball measures 1.75mm. perhaps your brass is a high melting variety, or even steel wire, brass coated? Dennis.

[paulat]

Thanks dennis ive got it to work now with a bigger torch 😊

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