Soldering gold wire onto a silver oval

Hi,

My new attempt for the weekend is to learn how to solder gold to silver. My teacher says I shouldn't attempt it on my own as it's more tricky than it looks, but she hasn't accounted for the expert and generous tips you guys give on here, nor my "it can't be that hard" ignorant bliss.

I'm making a simple ring for my daughter. On top of a silver shank will be a curved silver oval (about 15mm long) which will be matt on one half, and slightly textured on the other half and separated by a 1mm piece of 9ct gold wire. How do I attach the wire without mucking it up?

In my head I would just pop some tiny pallions of silver solder underneath the wire and heat it from underneath. Is that wrong? Are the challenges I should be aware of?

Thanks so much
Emmy

Yes, that would work, but you dont need much solder, or there'll be too much cleaning up. You could try it with copper sheet and wire first, for a test run. Dennis.

I've attached an image that shows how you may setup for soldering a wire to a backing plate. Holding the wire secure while you solder is a subject that has been debated recently so I won't go into the virtues of any particular method ;-)

If you apply the solder pellet/pallion to the end of the plate underneath the wire where the arrow on the photo is pointing(once the item is hot, the solder can be held in place by stickiness of the flux) the solder can then be flushed along the wire( solder flows to the hottest part when its molten) the solder can be applied from each end if you can't flush it far enough. This will ensure that cleanup of the ends is simple and quick. Placing the backing plate on something to lift it off the solder block allows for heat to be applied underneath I've used an open split pin in this instance.

As Dennis has said do a test run with a copper sheet and wire first.

Attachment 12366

Alastair

I solder gold wire to silver quite often and have never thought about it tbh. I would usually wire in place but if I can get away with it I rely on the flux to keep the wire in place and you can check that it still is before getting it up to solder melting stage. Your design makes it easier to remove any excess without too much bother but always best to use less than more, a tiny bit more can always be added if required

Thankyou for the advice! I'll give it a go :)