Ear posts

[wheely]

Any tips for soldeing these thin things? I've not done this and don't really want to melt my work.

[Shaun750]

There's no fool proof way to stop you melting stuff???Well maybe if you had a torch that had a temperature setting.

The way I do it,is drill a little dimple where I want the wire to be soldered,heat the earring and then only flux a tiny area just wider than the dimple. Heat the post and then,just flux the tip.Melt a tiny ball of flux to the end of your wire.
Your more likely to melt your wire than the earring,but I've done both.
The stress of not wanting to melt something you took hours to make is a good thing really.If you wasn't bothered,you'd be much more likely to mess it up.Just feel the fear and go for it.
If you don't already the tecnique is to move your flame on,and off the work,to control the temp.When you just see the solder melting,then go back on until you see it run,and once it has run,then it's done.Don't give it anymore.Waste of time.
I recently started using an optovisor when soldering,it's very interesting seeing what's actually happening more closely.

[Dennis]

Dear Wheely,
Here is my contribution. Because of the stress mentioned by Shaun, I like to grip the end of the post with reverse action tweezers . Then balance the tweezers on the edge of the soldering brick with the other end of the post resting in the dimple, also described by Shaun. This leaves you free to concentrate on the flame.

Using a mini torch with the air hole closed slightly to reduce the heat, play the flame on the surrounding brick until the flux dries. Then creep up on the ear stud to heat it more directly. The post will heat by conduction and when the solder has flowed, stop. I always use easy solder and easy flux for this and have never had anything melt, but I imagine you could use easy paste.
Kind regards, Dennis.

[Goldsmith]

I use a small clamp made of stainless steel for holding pins straight, they also serve the purpose of protecting the wire tips from melting while you solder. I pierce out and make my own clamps from 1mm. thick stainless sheet. I would use a T shaped clamp for this purpose.
The clamps are also useful for many other soldering jobs. Remember to heat the thickest section of your job and the heat will travel to the wire and run the solder when the correct temperature is reached.
This is the shape of the clamp I mean.

[wheely]

Thanks all for your tips!