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Ok so in my soldering class I learnt a new technique, soldering directly from the soldering strip. I kinda enjoy the really clean seam you get & the fact that it eliminates any chance of the pallions pooling a little at the site where they are placed. Was just wondering who uses this technique & if you use it frequently?
I use it a lot for long joins (boxes and large clasps for example) and also if I'm using copper solder, which is tiresome to cut!
I use it if I have a big piece to do too or if I haven't cut enough pallions and I take it along the seam
I may give this a try as when I place pallions, quite often they will jump off and seem to be almost repelled by the main item almost like magnetic in reverse. Then I have to spend time placing either new pallions or finding the old ones so everything cools down again. Do you have to hammer the solder first or cut it in thin strips or use just as it comes.
Pat, that will be the flux bubbling up, if you apply the heat more slowly to start with you should be able to avoid it :)
Also flux your pallions, warm the piece slowly, they may move but it's possible to keep the heat going gently and just use the tweezers to push them back in line. If they are jumping off completely the it's as sarah says and it's too hot too quickly. I'm going back to using a borax cone instead of auflux, I think everything was more stable with borax as it wasn't so liquidQuote:
Originally Posted by Patstone
With the hard solder, I always cut down the width of it maybe 5 or 6 times, I do this to cut pallions anyway, fold the rest back which will give you a hand hold on the solder strip and leave one for soldering with. Rub it down with the file, flux and off you go. It will take a bit of practise to get rhythm going on big pieces and to judge when it's hot enough to put the solder to the work. I don't really use it on small soldering jobs.
Dont you hammer the solder to tissue paper thin first, so the first puff of breath and it almost floats away, let alone heat.
I never have Pat, it's not how I was taught. I know a lot of people put it though the rolling mill and although I have one now I still do it the way I always have and it works for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patstone
If you still want to do that, the easiest way would be to warm up the piece to tack off your flux, then add your fluxed pallions to the piece and the 2 will sort of glue together with the heat already there and stay in place. I've never known any other way of soldering so not sure if Tasha is being taught to roll hers down before stick soldering.
Yep I was taught to roll down before stick soldering & also to use an easy solder. Pat a couple of good tips I learnt re pallions is to cut them into the flux (i use a borax cone & dish) get yourself a really decent pair of tweezers to place the pallions, when you pick the pallion out place it on the edge of the dish (this absorbs some of the liquid so the pallion doesn't stick to the tweezers) then warm gently heat using a really bushy flame that curves up at the end before adjusting the flame & going in to solder properly. I was also told not to panic & if the pallion moves & the piece cools that's ok, just move it back & start again, spend time setting up the job & getting it right as it takes a long time to clean up mistakes.
Thanks, sounds a good idea, save them jumping all over the floor.
Just read your post again about soldering, you mention bushy flame, I can't alter the flame as its either lit or not. No way of adjusting. Perhaps try holding it further away.Quote:
Originally Posted by cathleen
Pat, I have been brooding about your description of hammering out solder to be paper thin. Actually I think it needs to be at least say 0.4mm thick, so that when you cut up pallions, the sides can be gripped with fine tweezers.
Also for most situations, I would struggle to fill a joint with solder, using paper thin pallions. Dennis.
You would definitely need to place them alongside each other rather than at intervals to provide you with enough solder on a seam. They need to be thick enough to pick up and place tight into the seam, much easier to manoeuvre and control if there is any movementQuote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
I can cut them with ordinary scissors thats how thin they are. Teacher said that solder doesnt fill a joint, it "glues" the two bits together. My joins are quite tight normally, no daylight.......... Teacher was at a craft fair that we were attending (in the same tent too) and looking at some of her work that we were drooling over three years ago, looked fairly shoddy in comparison, but this time she was actually selling knits etc, but she still teaches beginners basic jewellery making. I find that taking photos with my phone helps my finish as it shows up all the scratches, plus of course it gives me a record of what I have made.
The solder shouldn't be filling a joint as such as your surfaces should be flat but say you are soldering a setting or an upright wall ( at right angles to the base sheet) to a base sheet, the solder should look the same on the inside of the joint as well as the outside that way the pieces are solidly bonded together.
I have very rarely had a solder joint come apart, so I think it works. Just thought it may be less noisy for my neighbours if I don't hammer it so thin!!!!!!!!!
Neighbours can be a damn nuisance when you get the urge to hit things with a hammer at 2 am as I do :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Patstone