Art Clay earrings & sterling silver post

[ps_bond]

Does this help?

http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/earpost.htm

[mizgeorge]

Give the surface of the metal clay a really good burnish before you start - it helps compact the silver before soldering. With metal clay, it's worth neutralising in a solution of bicarb after pickling to be sure there's none left in the piece. As Kwant says, though, you can often get away without pickling at all.

I usually notch my earwires with a pair of slightly modified round nosed pliers. You need to use far less pressure than you might think as you are looking to just create a tiny groove without weakening a fairly thin piece of wire.

[Melanie De Castro Pugh]

Even after burnishing, it will still soak up solder like a sponge, I usually use two or three times what the job looks like it will need...

[Dennis]

Even after burnishing, it will still soak up solder like a sponge, I usually use two or three times what the job looks like it will need...

Sweat soldering, no more soaking up.
If you melt a small blob of solder onto the end of the ear post first, Then put it in place and re-melt, you will succeed without the solder vanishing. However you will need a little extra flux for the second stage. Dennis.

[Charley261]

Thanks very much to you all, I'll give it a go although I think I may buy the earpins from cooksons, I hadn't realised they were so cheap and making them does look a bit complicated!

Cheers, Charlotte