Soldering Problem

[Sandra]

Hello wise ones,
I am finishing up a pendant by soldering a jump ring. The jump ring attaches a pendant to a closed bail. I've tried soldering this twice but failed so in the meantime I've put it aside so I don't ruin it tonite. I've tried to move the pendant and bail out of the way as much as I could and focus on the jump ring, but for some reason I can't seem to get the solder to flow. I started with hard solder and then switched to easy but neither have worked. I suspect the pendant and bail are drawing the heat and I am worried about this as they both contain very small detailed elements I don't want to get melted and ruined. Of all the work I've done on this pendant, it seems this should be the most simple task but yet it's giving me the most trouble. What can I do???? It's a Christmas present so it's very important to me to get it right.

[Patstone]

I am not the most experienced on here but I would plaster the pendant and the bail with Technoflux heat stop or something similar. I think I would probably pickle the jump ring just to make sure and perhaps lightly file the ends again, make sure the heat stop doesnt contaminate the jumpring ends tho. Put it away for tonight and have another go at it tomorrow.

[Sandra]

Thanks Patstone, though I don't happen to have any such product as Technoflux heat stop, is there something else that might work? I'm not sure I'd have the time to order a product right now. I cut the jumpring off as it was gunked up with half melted solder so I'll start over again with a fresh jumpring tomorrow.

[Patstone]

Sorry Sandra not sure what else would work, I suppose a trip up to London would be out of the question, failing that, Cookies are pretty prompt with their posting. I dont know if holding the pendant part with tongs would disperse the heat buildup. Is it strong enough without soldering it.

[Aurarius]

Hello wise ones,
I am finishing up a pendant by soldering a jump ring. The jump ring attaches a pendant to a closed bail. I've tried soldering this twice but failed so in the meantime I've put it aside so I don't ruin it tonite. I've tried to move the pendant and bail out of the way as much as I could and focus on the jump ring, but for some reason I can't seem to get the solder to flow. I started with hard solder and then switched to easy but neither have worked. I suspect the pendant and bail are drawing the heat and I am worried about this as they both contain very small detailed elements I don't want to get melted and ruined. Of all the work I've done on this pendant, it seems this should be the most simple task but yet it's giving me the most trouble. What can I do???? It's a Christmas present so it's very important to me to get it right.

I may not have an accurate picture of what you're trying to achieve here, but there are things in your account that suggest you're trying to do the impossible. From the sound of it you're trying to solder the jump ring to either the bail or the pendant itself. If this is the case, then like it or not you're going to have to get at least part of the thing you're soldering the jump ring to up to solder-flowing heat as well as the jump ring. You say you've tried to "focus on the jump ring". That's never going to work; all you'll end up doing is melting the jump ring.

[enigma]

Maybe post a pic?
As Aurarius said, you will never get the solder to flow without heating both items though.

[Patstone]

I must have misinterpreted. What I thought you meant was two separate items joined with a free flowing jump ring.

[CJ57]

I must have misinterpreted. What I thought you meant was two separate items joined with a free flowing jump ring.

That's what I thought too but to understand why a ring is needed and a bail a photo would be a help. I would have soldered a ring to the pendant and opened up the bail or soldered the bail to the pendant but we don't know what the pendant looks like

[emsterv]

Hey Sandra, I've interpreted it also as a jump ring that connects two separate parts (instead of the jump ring being soldered to the bail/pendant directly) so if this isn't the case ignore my reply. You said you had to scrap the jump ring b/c of melted solder so I can assume that the jump ring is getting hot enough for the solder to at least partially melt?

If it were me, I would grasp the bail/pendant in tweezers/3rd hand as a heat sink keeping them also as far away from the jump ring joint as possible. Then I'd make sure my jump ring is clean/ready for soldering, and then pick solder right at the joint with a flame concentrating on the jump ring.

Sometimes merely putting it down and coming back later is the solution to the problem!

Good luck

[Wallace]

I imagined you are trying to close a jump ring to a bale.

if you have some bent nose cross-locking tweezers, you should be able to use that as a way of reducing heat affecting the bale and pendant.

place your jump ring in the cross-locking tweezers with the joint at the top. Gently heat the tweezers then move to the jump ring. Placing your pallion on the top of the jump ring, (I also keep the soldering pick touching is it increases the heat again) it should become hot enough to join. I do this a lot with many different things including fine chains and do not have a problem with them soldering together. Pictures to help, in case I don't make any sense. I have used a pendant with some patina, as you can see, it was not affected by the process. The bale has a little colouring, which will be easy enough to clean up.

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