Solder - newbie question!

[Crackle33]

Hi all!
I am just starting out in learning to make silver jewellery and have a quick (possibly silly) question about solder.

I have some hard silver solder which is looking a little oxidised. Is there anything I can do to bring this back, or is it a case of once its oxidised its no good to use anymore?

Thanks!!

[ps_bond]

Just scrub it with some emery paper, scotchbrite or similar.

[Crackle33]

Thank you!!

[Dennis]

In fact most of us do that each time we use solder strip. The same with any parts that are to be soldered.
A good little thing to have is a retractable glass brush. It is used dry and will brighten anything that might not be clean enough.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fibre-Glas...75.c100623.m-1 Dennis.

[Goldsmith]

I use a scraper to clean solder strip, I scrape the end clean everytime I cut fresh solder pieces, this photo shows some hard solder with the end scraped and pallions cut ready for use.



James

[ps_bond]

Do you thin your solder before cutting, James?

[Goldsmith]

I have thinned down strips in the past, but I prefer piercing down the strip to make narrower pallions that I can pick up easy with tweezers, as I get older my hands and fingers are not so steady as they used to be, Peter.



James

[Wallace]

just going to add my way, hope you don't mind? Seems a great way to add to the convo. At the moment, for silver solder, I roll mine down. It is a thick strip. I use tin snips to cut up the wide strip - seems to work as well as a blade (of which, I love using, but not on the solder). Probably, because I do cut a lot in one go (to last usually a week) and store them in a small condiments jar I acquired from a b&b some years ago.

Gold comes as a very thin strip already, or sometimes I get the wire then roll it flat, and again I use snips for both.

[CJ57]

It would appear to be variations on a theme. I've never rolled mine but have always cut along especially hard solder strips to make them narrower with the snips to then cut off pallions. None of that woosy rolling down nonsense in my dept, Big D wouldn't have had any of that. It's a wonder I don't have the fag in the corner of my mouth as well

[Wallace]

It would appear to be variations on a theme. I've never rolled mine but have always cut along especially hard solder strips to make them narrower with the snips to then cut off pallions. None of that woosy rolling down nonsense in my dept, Big D wouldn't have had any of that. It's a wonder I don't have the fag in the corner of my mouth as well

totally, but always good to have a few options. Moving forward to utilise what you have and adapt for use can't always be a bad thing, otherwise we wouldn't modify our tools.