Solder line - can I fix it?

[Animalnutty]

Hi,

In need of a bit of guidance please. I am in the process of making this piece and it is a memento/keepsake piece (I will start again if needs be) it's 4 layers sweat soldered - have made these little robins before usually just 2 layers but same principal, and always struggled with getting the breast to fit perfectly but always managed to get a neat seam though a couple of times as needed a little wiggling. Managed to find a better way to get a neat fit and this one seem to fit together very neatly but I ended up with a gap right at the bottom of the breast. It was about 1/6th of a mm wide by 1 or maybe 1.5mm long, managed to scrape a bit of silver off with my saw blade and fit it in and solder and fill the gap but it then opened up a bit of the seam further up as in the picture, I guess because it was a tiny wedge it put pressure on. The little gap is less than a hairline, I need my magnifiers to see it so no chance of fitting anything in there - is there anyway to fix this please? Thank you.

Karen

[china]

Can you remelt the solder and apply pressure with some pliers on similar while it solidifies

[Animalnutty]

Thank you - will have a think. Not ideal for someone making jewellery I know but have terribly shaky hands, will have a think to see if I might be able to fashion something to apply a little pressure.

[Dennis]

If the gap is really very small it could be closed using the tip of a burnisher,
If I need to press, I usually have a piece if soldering block handy, because it is less likely to leave a mark, or take up heat.
Mostly though I use a tiny cutting of swarf, made by drilling silver, which can be cut up with small scissors and placed with a brush.
Dennis.

[CJ57]

If it’s the bottom edge I’d probably try bringing it back up to temp and taking the strip solder along the edge then if necessary you can clean off any excess. I don’t often sweat solder but had done a couple of big pieces recently and have to admit they weren’t achieving perfect results and it all got a bit tense. If I wasn’t shaking before I definitely was during and I had to pickle it and go back and put pressure on different areas

[Animalnutty]

If the gap is really very small it could be closed using the tip of a burnisher,
If I need to press, I usually have a piece if soldering block handy, because it is less likely to leave a mark, or take up heat.
Mostly though I use a tiny cutting of swarf, made by drilling silver, which can be cut up with small scissors and placed with a brush.
Dennis.

Thank you Dennis, have never used a burnisher that way before, it is a very small gap, it's on the left hand side between the copper and the silver in the picture - not sure if that is small enough to close that way. Only trouble is, it has a little hollow in the middle of the piece so worry that applying pressure to burnish might dent, though there is a fair thickness over the hollow.

If it’s the bottom edge I’d probably try bringing it back up to temp and taking the strip solder along the edge then if necessary you can clean off any excess. I don’t often sweat solder but had done a couple of big pieces recently and have to admit they weren’t achieving perfect results and it all got a bit tense. If I wasn’t shaking before I definitely was during and I had to pickle it and go back and put pressure on different areas

Thank you. I did wonder if I could flood it with a little solder and then clean up. Unfortunately not on the bottom though - all the edges have joined quite neatly - would probably have been easier around the edge. It's on the left hand side, where the copper breast joins the silver, not sure if that is a viable option or not with the position and though very tiny still a little gap, if I run my nail over it I can barely feel it but it's there?

Thanks,

Karen