Gold on Silver

[orestruck]

Get some easy silver solder paste, put a tiny blob of it on the back of the gold piece, the pop it in place on the silver. Gently heat the piece up until you see the solder flash out (you will know it when it happens!) take the heat away, then pickle and finish.

Sarah

[mizgeorge]

Get some easy silver solder paste, put a tiny blob of it on the back of the gold piece, the pop it in place on the silver. Gently heat the piece up until you see the solder flash out (you will know it when it happens!) take the heat away, then pickle and finish.

Sarah

without offending the purists, this is how I do it too. It's one of the applications where paste is infinitely easier to use than traditional solder chips. I do lots of things using this technique, like this:

silver and gold bumpies by mizgeorge, on Flickr

[orestruck]

I am self taught George - so if I find a method that works and is invisible, I just go with it!
Lovin' your bumpies !

Sarah
X

[Dennis]

Not so much a purist George , as trying to give cast iron advice to a beginner. As always, I am full of admiration for your work, with knobs on .
Kind regards, Dennis.

[leemorris]

Thought i would have a play around with the solder today and i couldn't get it to melt , how long do i need to heat it for?
I had a go with some silver wire and it melted within seconds.
Lee

[stu_clouds]

Thought i would have a play around with the solder today and i couldn't get it to melt , how long do i need to heat it for?
I had a go with some silver wire and it melted within seconds.
Lee

Soldering is not about heating the piece of solder up directly, u need to get the two pieces of metal you are joining upto the temperature so the heat they conduct melts the solder. A piece of silver wire will melt quickly because it has a small surface area.

Someone with a better way of putting it will be along shortly im sure.

Stu

[Joe]

Ah, hmm, yes...

Those who know me will cringe now as I launch into my standard moan about soldering.

The jewellery community have got it into their head that they are "soldering" with silver - or indeed gold. The whole of the rest of the metal-smithing community have decided that if the temperature is above 400C then it isn't soldering - it's either brazing or welding.

The difference between the melting point of silver solder and the melting point of silver is.... not very much. The number of degrees is not so important, suffice that it is a few seconds longer with the torch. Somehow you have to aim to get the solder to melt before the silver and, by moving a flame to and fro, control the temperature in this critical range.

It is an art rather than a science.

You must prepare yourself for dozens of failures until you get a feel for this tiny spot between melting the solder and the silver.

If you are not wealthy, I recommend learning to solder on copper wire with "hard" silver solder; if you are of good means, just be ready to throw your first attempts into the recycling basket. Get a feel for the melting points of each material; watch how it shimmers then slumps and finally melts away. Learn from your mistakes but do not expect any sort if instant success - this is not that sort of exercise!