Soldering Nightmare

[leemorris]

Hi All
This soldering will be the death of me.
Sometimes it melts straight away and other times i'm there for ages and it just doesn't melt it burns up black, and also looks like the silver is burning yellow/black
sure its all down to practise but it driving me mad,
Any help?
Thanks
Lee

[Goldsmith]

Lee, To help we need to know what are you soldering, what grade solder are you using, what flux do you use and what is your soldering equipment?
Some basic tips are to scrape or file clean the areas to be soldered and to also scrape clean the solder, then flux the solder joint, I use a simple borax cone and water as flux. Heat the item gently to harden the flux then apply a fluxed solder pallion to the joint area and heat the whole item until it reaches the solder's melting point temperature. Try not aim the torch flame directly at the solder joint until the surrounding metal is close to the melting point of the solder, you do not actually just melt the solder, the idea is to get the item you are soldering hot enough to melt the solder.
James

[Joe]

Soldering is difficult... until one day it's not!

Discolouration of both solder and silver during soldering is quite normal, but if excessive might indicate that the heating is going on too long.

Reading between the lines, the solder doesn't seem to be flowing for you. This can be either because the silver you're attempting to join isn't hot enough or because some element isn't clean enough.

If you apply the flame to the solder - especially easy solder - it tends to melt but essentially keep it's shape until it burns. The flame needs to be applied to the pieces being joined and they conduct the heat to the solder and melt it.

The two pieces being joined need to be impeccably clean and fluxed - and so does the solder!

If you haven't seen them yet, Andrew Berry has some excellent YouTube videos on soldering, well worth a few minutes looking at all the details.

You don't say what you're using, but consider using the mis-named "Hard" solder rather than "Easy" ( I think if we renamed "Easy solder" as "Sullen Solder" fewer people would be tempted to use it at first and it better describes is flow properties!).

PS: Sorry James - overlapped your clearer advice!

[leemorris]

Thanks for the comments.
I want to solder a earing bar onto the a silver square but before doing it on the item i have been trying on another piece.
I have a flat piece of silver which i heat up with solder in the middle then i heat the silver waiting until the solder melts then i will put the bar into solder, but the solder just isn't melting. It is easy solder wire.
thanks
Lee

[Goldsmith]

Try soldering the other way around, melt the solder on the end of the earwire so that it is just a blob and then position the wire on the siver plate and then heat the plate until the solder runs again. I hope you are soldering on a block, like charcoal or such like. I would actually use a T shaped clamp the hold the wire in place, I make my own clamps from stainless steel, here is a selection of them that I photographed for another forum. They are just bent with pliers from 1mm. stainless steel sheet strips. and they are very useful for many soldering jobs, the T shaped clamp allows you to position the ear wire upright on the piece, if you are confident at soldering you could actually stand the ear wire onto a small pallion of solder on top of the earplate and solder in one go.
James

[abyjem]

sounds like the above replies have it covered but I totally agree with what Joe said "soldering is difficult until one day its not!" thats it exactly. I struggled at first, nearly drove me to distraction and then it happened -
and I've just discovered the delight of hard solder - its brilliant and runs so much easier and more freely than easy

I find that if the piece starts going too dark and tarnished, its because its either taken too long to heat or I've gone in a bit too fierce with the flame too quickly -

when I'm doing earring posts, I tend to use paste as its easier to get a really small amount. I hold the post in my tweezers about an inch above where I want it attached, put a blob of solder on the earring, flick the flame around the earring until the solder starts to "go" and then place the post onto the earring, hold the flame there for a couple of seconds and then remove the flame -

you will get the hang of it and when you get it, you wont look back! good luck

[Dennis]

Dear lee,
Soldering is never completely without it's surprises, but if I have unexpected problems I re-clean everything, get some fresh solder and flux and start again. If you have not done so already, have a look at http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/hot...html#post39487.
Kind regards, Dennis.

Might I just mention that easy solder will flow like a dream if you use Easy-flo Flux, which becomes active at a lower temperature than borax and other fluxes. This is particularly useful on large pieces which would otherwise require a great deal of heat for soldering. It also reduces the incidence of firescale.

[leemorris]

Thanks for the replies
the flux i have is normal solder flux, is there any other to use the easy flo seems expensive at £20 for a small tub.

Lee

[Goldsmith]

Lee, Click on my "Goldsmith" tag and look in my profile at my photo album "Some of my Creations" everything shown that I made had been fluxed by means of a flux made with a Borax Cone and water in a Borax Dish. Just keep the borax dish clean mix the flux to resemble milk and this system will serve you well. The most common problem with solder flow problems is caused by unclean surfaces and solder or perhaps the wrong torch flame. Another tip is to thin down your solder strip before cutting any pallions, this can be achieved by just using a hammer and a steel block, just remember to clean the solder after hammering. Thinner solders will melt easy.
James

[Melanie De Castro Pugh]

... just remember to clean the solder after hammering. Thinner solders will melt easy.
James

Hi, by cleaning the solder, do you mean pickle it until it's shiny again? Just another of my stupid questions...