When did soldering start?

[Didi]

Hi there
Just a thought, was thinking about the history of jewellery the other day and I wondered when soldering began to be used. Presumably it needed torches and controlled flames, not to.mention the development of solder itself. Anyone know?
Didi

[ps_bond]

IIRC the book "On Divers Arts" covers the technique of soldering using a mouth-blown tube and hot coals - you lay the piece on the coal (chancoal) and by blowing on it you raise the temperature in that area to the mp of the solder.

That was published around 1100ish... Pretty sure off the top of my head the technique was used by the Egyptians but I don't know how much further back it goes.

[MeadMoon]

Carol Andrew's book "Ancient Egyptian Jewellery" says this:

"At first the Egyptian goldsmith probably joined gold to gold by using as solder the compound of gold and silver called electrum; the silver would have had the effect of lowering the melting point of the compound. However, Egyptian gold naturally contains a proportion of silver (often quite high - up to 20%), so whether the solder would actually have melted before the pieces it was meant to join would have been a very hit or miss affair. Moreover, even if the join were successful, the solder was liable to be noticeably paler in colour. If copper was used in the solder though, its melting point would not only be lowered quite drastically but the solder itself would be less pale in colour and consequently less conspicuous. By the Middle Kingdom Egyptian goldsmiths were producing solders of different colours and melting points to meet their requirements by mixing copper with gold or silver. If a flux were needed to improve the fusion of the metals then use was almost certainly made of natron, a naturally occurring sodium compound."

The book then goes on to discuss colloidal hard soldering, granulation and so on. It also mentions some New Kingdom tombs where "there cannot be much doubt that" the process of soldering is depicted.

[Dennis]

For a heat source all you need is a flame and a curved tube to blow through, mentioned by Peter, or for larger items bellows. Dennis.

[MeadMoon]

Like this (18th Dyn; Tomb of Rekhmire; Thebes):

[nammie]

It is good to see the ancient Egyptians had extractor fans, very important!
unfortunate he'd singed all his hair off but drawing back in the eyebrows was a good move, they frame the face etc.
And I must get myself a workshop hedgehog! All I've got is a cat and it has a terrible work ethic!

Sorry, Elaine, I can never resist the 'extras' in those pictures. fascinating to think about how long man has been worrying about making shiny things though

Nammie

[ps_bond]

Carol Andrew's book "Ancient Egyptian Jewellery" says this:

Oh dear, another one for the wishlist

[Didi]

Thank you so much. You guys are awesome. I'm guessing that the Anglo Saxons and Vikings used the same kind of methods for their fabulous enameled jewellery. It must have been really tricky to fire everything and not melt it.
Didi.

[MeadMoon]

Peter,

I also have Alix Wilkinson's "Ancient Egyptian Jewellery", but both books are out of print and can be difficult to obtain at a reasonable price. I got Carol's book from Abe's Books in the US and a friend found the other one in a second-hand book shop. I am still hoping that British Museum Press might re-issue Carol's two books on Jewellery and Amulets at some time, especially since I haven't got a copy of the Amulets book.