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Thread: have not thought this through at all

  1. #21
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    Ok so it's basically sweat soldering, can you allow the leaf (or whatever) to cool sufficiently enough to pick it up with your fingers to position it? Been practicing with tweezers positioning the bits to clamp together (without soldering) and its sooooo fiddly i just can't do it
    Tasha
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  2. #22
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    yes of course, best way if you want to keep your fingers in tact too. lol

    Cool set them together, clamp or bind and reheat - should warm up but they will still act independently and heat at different rates, make sure you heat the bigger piece first. When you get a nice orange glow, you might see them 'sigh' into each other as the solder spreads through.

    try on some scrap first. Even if it is copper, it will help. Practice will lead to getting it right as you will learn as you are applying what you do.

  3. #23
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    Thanks Wallace! had a practice, sounds silly but i get all panicky when i see the oxidization happening and keep thinking I've over heated it all and it's going to go brittle and snap and then i would cry and cry and throw a big tantrum, chuck my bench out the window and squash a pedestrian. Then i would get arrested and have to go to prison and never ever ever see daylight again! argh!............................................. .................... ummmm think i went a little over the top there PANIC PANTS!!!! lol X
    Tasha
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  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Truffle & Podge View Post
    Thanks Wallace! had a practice, sounds silly but i get all panicky when i see the oxidization happening and keep thinking I've over heated it all and it's going to go brittle and snap and then i would cry and cry and throw a big tantrum, chuck my bench out the window and squash a pedestrian. Then i would get arrested and have to go to prison and never ever ever see daylight again! argh!............................................. .................... ummmm think i went a little over the top there PANIC PANTS!!!! lol X
    the first piece I ever heated, I thought I had ruined as it turned black and I didn't know what to do! I had to find an amazing book by Carls Codena to put me on the straight and narrow. I have since purchased many more books by an amazing amount of artists, I dream to have 1/100 of their skill!! Tried and failed, laughed and cried, nearly lost my left and right finger tips (ambidextrous is twice as risky, trust me!) lol

    Panic Pants works for me! I ended up throwing a hissy fit after I melted all my pieces once, as I was trying to short cut without using any sort of heat resist. (rouge, as Jim mentioned is the bees knees, well not really bees, otherwise the rouge wouldn't be red and we might get done for cruelty to the humble bumble)

    It is practice. Off cuts make for the best tests on solders, shapes that match, trial hinges - and sometimes that unique piece of metal art from all that experimentation.

    to reduce oxidization, you can use another flux. Prips solution (I did a little write up sometime ago on it - solved the issue with crystallisation - old school trick of syphoning... if you get to read it) Only heat what you must and if it takes too long or has too many heating sessions it will start to grey up. You can also do some surface 'depletion' a method favoured by Jenson. Polishing needs to be minimal if you do that.

    Depletion is bringing the pure silver to the top without it reticulating.... oh, I can see circles here.... Depletion happens when you see that nice shiny bit of silver when you heat your metal. It happens in a flash, and you need to do it four or five times (ish).

    Reticulation is bringing the silver to the surface with attitude! The silver makes ripples and texture. Les won a comp this year with his lovely reticulated pendant. Worth a look-see.

    essentially, don't beat yourself up - refreshing skills will take its time and you need to get your brain to learn new things and new results. It will work and you will restore your former skills. I have only been at this very part time over the last 8 or nine years as I do this after my day job, parent and dutiful daughter roles. (Notice I didn't say housekeeping role... pah, who needs to clean the house when the mess is at the bench!).

    sorry have rambled on. Love your experiments, enjoy your challenges and if it isn't quite right, turn it into something else, if you can. You will get there.
    Last edited by Wallace; 15-05-2013 at 08:38 PM. Reason: spelling, 'tis always the spellingz

  5. #25
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    Thank you Wallace that was a beautiful post, you are very kind and don't worry about rambling it's great! it's really good to hear about all these different things you can try, gonna have a look through see if i can find that write up you did.
    just had a quick check on a very small double ended solder practice that was black and yellow and looked like hell IT'S SHINY!!!! cept the solder seems to still be yellowy coloured ? i'm sure it's silver solder can that be right????
    Tasha
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  6. #26
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    oh forgot to mention i "liked" ur FB page couple weeks back
    Tasha
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    LOVE LIKE YOU WANT TO BE LOVED

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Truffle & Podge View Post
    Thank you Wallace that was a beautiful post, you are very kind and don't worry about rambling it's great! it's really good to hear about all these different things you can try, gonna have a look through see if i can find that write up you did.
    just had a quick check on a very small double ended solder practice that was black and yellow and looked like hell IT'S SHINY!!!! cept the solder seems to still be yellowy coloured ? i'm sure it's silver solder can that be right????
    thank you , I should come here a little more often, but work has had me worried for a couple of months and nobody really wants to hear me grizzle. Even the cat gives up and walks out!

    Can I ask, was it solder paste? That has a tendency to spontaneously add an unusual colour when heated to particular temperatures? Yellow coloured does sound more on the need to pickle to get the oxides off. Sometimes the flux will give a pretty colour to the solder. If it is still yellow after that, best check your supply. Oooo, errrr.

    Quote Originally Posted by Truffle & Podge View Post
    oh forgot to mention i "liked" ur FB page couple weeks back
    thank you - love to chat there, do stop and ask questions or just come for a giggle - love to challenge the grey matter, goes with the grey hair and laughing is great medicine for the soul.

    (G knows that one)

  8. #28
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    no it was strip solder and it's just fallen apart so don't know if i've got some bits mixed up? or if the reverse tweezers are getting hot and adding some chemical into the mix that i dont know of, tbh i was given the solder by the father in law to be and he swears its silver it's quite old i think and so hard to cut even when hammered right down which takes a lot of pounding but other practice joins are fine X
    Tasha
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  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Truffle & Podge View Post
    no it was strip solder and it's just fallen apart so don't know if i've got some bits mixed up? or if the reverse tweezers are getting hot and adding some chemical into the mix that i dont know of, tbh i was given the solder by the father in law to be and he swears its silver it's quite old i think and so hard to cut even when hammered right down which takes a lot of pounding but other practice joins are fine X
    hmm, I would take a risky shot and say that it might be old nickel silver solder. May be best to get some fresh stock. I can send a little bit to you if you are adding the leaves, some soft solder would be best as you won't need to over heat or make it heat up too long.

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallace View Post
    hmm, I would take a risky shot and say that it might be old nickel silver solder. May be best to get some fresh stock. I can send a little bit to you if you are adding the leaves, some soft solder would be best as you won't need to over heat or make it heat up too long.
    that would be fab but i'm soldering 4 pieces to the headband and was told to use hard (do you know the cheapest seller other than cookies? palmers is good for pricing but they take several days to ship X
    Tasha
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    LOVE LIKE YOU WANT TO BE LOVED

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