Hi James,
I have just read your note to Sophie about cleanliness. I cut a little pile of solder and keep it in a small jamjar like the ones that hold about a teaspoonful or so. The solder does tend to oxidise a little but not much, should I put a small amount of pickle in with it to keep it clean, and should you sand or file the bit to be soldered if it comes out from the pickle, or can you just solder it straight from the pickle. Like Sophie I have made some gold balls for decoration on things and soldered them without a problem.
Regards, Pat