Silver, Nickel & Stainless steel..

[china]

There is some debate as to wether or not Nickel Silver is banned in Australia, Nickle itself is controlled under the dangerous goods act as a poison, therefore you need permits to deal with it, however Nickel Silver is available in many places as sheet and wire.
There are more and more incidents each year of people succumbing to a Nickel Allergy I would not use use nickel Silver in Jewellery or any item that may contact the skin, if you decide to go with the Nickel Silver I would use the the 'Tinning" method i.e. apply solder the back of the bezel, then apply Solder to the pins, place the pins in position and reheat until the solder flows, effectively you are just reheating the solder.

[pearlescence]

There is some debate as to wether or not Nickel Silver is banned in Australia, Nickle itself is controlled under the dangerous goods act as a poison, therefore you need permits to deal with it, however Nickel Silver is available in many places as sheet and wire.
There are more and more incidents each year of people succumbing to a Nickel Allergy I would not use use nickel Silver in Jewellery or any item that may contact the skin, if you decide to go with the Nickel Silver I would use the the 'Tinning" method i.e. apply solder the back of the bezel, then apply Solder to the pins, place the pins in position and reheat until the solder flows, effectively you are jus reheating the solder.

Most Chinese findings etc manufacturers now make most of their findings without nickel. Complying generally with the EU rule is easier than having two standards. America doesn't worry about nickel legally but a lot of findings suppliers carry EU compliant alloys anyway.
It really is that the high consumer standards of the EU spread around the world.

[Dennis]

When soldering stainless steel, consider using hallmarking extra easy solder, with Easyflux (preferred), or borax as flux.
The much lower flow temperature avoids the chance of warping. and the joint is strong.

Apart from jewellery repairs, I have even re-attached a rung of a domestic oven shelf doing this, and repaired a hole appearing in the corner of an enamelled grill pan. Five years on they are still holding.

That said what you are doing might be better welded, or lasered. Dennis.

[Rotsco]

Well if this hasn't been an eye opener I don't know what would be.
After reading through the information and listening to the knowledge here I'm ditching this plan, and the Nickel.
I don't want anything to do with irritations or poisoning.

My next plan of attack is to use Sterling for the bezel and base, Stainless Steel pins, the tinning method China described and the extra easy solder Dennis mentioned.
Plus having my fingers, toes and eyeballs crossed

From the bottom of my sanity, my genuine thanks.

[china]

Good to hear that we have been of some assistance, please let us know how it all ends up.

[Rotsco]

Progress report - It all worked, and so much smoother than I first thought it would be.

I still need to work on how to keep the pre-melted solder somewhat respectable instead of flowing everywhere, but I've got a couple of ideas for that.
Also surprised that the stainless rod is such a bad heat conductor that I could hold it in place by hand (the other end of the rod) while soldering.

Thank you all so much. This has been a real learning experience.

[Dennis]

Thank you for you feed back. If needed, the stain on your pins due to heating can quickly be removed with a yellow radial disk on your hand held motor run slowly.

https://www.google.com/search?client...+for+jewellers Dennis