Hello all, I bought some of this lovely beaded wire from Cookson http://www.cooksongold.com/Strip-Bez...prcode-NVZ-001. I would like to attach it as a final decoration on a pendant. (The pendant itself is quite large and pushing the limits of my micro torch). But looking at the fineness of the beaded wire, I can't decide the best way to attach it without melting it or ruining it with solder flow. Maybe super easy solder and heating from underneath? I'm sure I don't have the heat needed in my micro torch for this approach so I may just order a second hand torch from Cookson's right away to carry me over until I finally upgrade to a proper torch.
On this same pendant I used a few bits of brass from brass sheet I purchased through Cookson. After soldering (which took an extremely long time and the solder join doesn't look very nice) the brass now looks copper instead of brass, even after pickling and polishing. I'm assuming this is copper within the brass that rose to the surface? I don't think I will ever attempt working with brass again.
I find brass/gilding metal that has turned too coppery can be easily restored with a solution of 2 parts hydrogen peroxide, 3 parts white vinegar. Doesn't seem to affect any silver involved.
You can also use a peroxide/sodium bisulphate mixture (just a few grains is enough), but I've always got the first two to hand so it's my go-to solution.
You have had your answer to one question from Peter and George. Generally the copper effect is quite mottled and I leave it alone as if it was intentional.
As for attaching the wire decoration, what I generally do is make a ring (using hard solder) to be a fraction too tight and then stretch it on a mandrel using just my fingers until it fits well around the bezel of my stone, or whatever.
If it needs to be oval and you only have a round mandrel, you can still manage, by changing the wire ring from round to oval with your fingers. Once it fits, it can have a few tiny snippets of solder arranged around the top crevice (very easy if you are scared, but easy will do) and then heated from any where that does not heat the wire directly.
By doing this in a darkened area you can see if the wire ever gets red before the main piece. Hope it goes well, Dennis.
Thanks everyone. Well I just had to continue and tried attaching one piece of my beaded wire. I'm attaching it as a long wavy piece, not rounded. I used easy solder (I have to order super easy solder as I don't have any) and tried heating from the bottom but after a lot of time and nothing happening I moved the flame to the top instead, trying to avoid the wire. It never worked, couldn't get the solder to flow. I ended up frying parts of the beaded wire to the point of no return and left with a few splotches of half melted solder. I haven't had such a complete fail in a long time so I guess I was due. Thanks so much for the tips of restoring brass George, that's great to know as the location of my brass pieces are difficult to polish completely.
And back to the brass, I snipped small pieces and tried melting them into little balls, same way I do for silver and copper. I could NOT get it to work so gave up on that too. Is it that brass doesn't behave the same way or that it requires more heat???
Well it's late, but just for a quick try I dipped the end of this 0.8mm wire in Auflux and balled it, so it can be done, Sandra. Check that your torch is full of fuel and the air hole open for a hot flame. Dennis.
Yes torch was freshly filled with air hole open. it wasn't wire though but a small bit of brass sheet. It turned red hot and disfigured a bit but never balled. I tried it several times using different bits of brass, even made a little kiln using charcoal block pieces but no luck. I then tried similar size bits of copper sheet and it balled up without a problem.
My torch is identical to the one you have pictured.
You know it just occurred to me, I need to make sure I am using the brass sheet I bought from Cookson and not the stuff I bought on ebay which was rubbish. I thought I'd thrown it out though - will double check in the morning. There are far too many spiders in my workshop this time of night.....
Brass problem solved - thanks Dennis if you hadn't told me it should be working I wouldn't have thought of checking this. I had previously thrown away a piece of inferior brass purchased from ebay. But I had forgotten I'd thrown a few bits in my scrap container which is where I go to to make things like decorative balls. I clipped a few fresh pieces of brass from the sheet purchased from Cookson's and they balled up without a problem.
As for the beaded wire, I think it's just too fine for solder but I'll give it another try when I get some super easy solder. The larger size beaded wire might be an option if that doesn't work.
Sandra, I solder very fine pearl wire (half the thickness you're looking at) to large base pieces all the time without any problems - I use cotter pins to hold it in place and these act as a bit of a heat sink, which probably helps. If you're soldering to silver, you shouldn't have any difficulty - and even hard solder should flow long before the wire melts.
However, if your base plate is copper/brass, you may struggle a little to get it up to heat, in which case it might be worth pre-heating and then adding the decoration at the last minute.
Well I'll give the beaded wire another try, it's the fine bits between the beads that are the main problem. They are so fine I actually broke a couple pieces accidentally just by bending it into a curve with my fingers. I am soldering on silver but the piece is becoming quite large and difficult to heat to temperature with my little torch.
Beaded Wire
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks