soldering a backed bezel

[eekoh]

Start on a learning curve for making bezels today in preparation for a design idea I want to try out...
I've used one of the copper rings I soldered yesterday for the bezel wall and attached it to a backing plate. Its been successful in that the wall is tightly stuck on and I haven't melted the first join in the band, but there were a few things I need to work on.

The solder went in pretty much the opposite direction to intended. Enough has flowed under the wall to stick it securely, but mostly its oozed across the middle of the backing plate - clearly a problematic lumpy surface if I wanted to set a gem, but also not a neat seal around the outside of the wall.
Copying the tutorials I'd seen I put the solder on the inside and I think there should have been sufficient solder if it had ended up in the right place. Following advice on another thread, for next time i'll put it outside of the wall as I think that would fix some of this but I still have a couple of questions:
1. I fluxed the whole of the plate - should I have just marked the position of the wall and fluxed around that? Would that have limited how far the solder flowed?
2. I heated from the top, would I get a better result from rigging up something to suspend the work and heat from below?

[Sheen]

Hi eekoh i don't know if this'll help but this is a very good article explaining how solder flows (i hope i'm allowed to post links to other sites) https://www.ganoksin.com/article/tip...ter-soldering/

[enigma]

I heat mine on a mesh grill on a tripod from below.
The trick is to get the solder to flow evenly all around the rim, for which you will need to heat the whole piece from below to start and then just as the solder starts to flow I run the torch around the outside from the top where I want it to go.
I do put my solder inside the rim right up against it.
I hope that makes some sense, it does take practise and even then it doesn't always go smoothly but you do need a full seam all the way around or it will look messy with gaps when you polish it up.

[eekoh]

Thanks Sheen, that's a really useful article and has answered at least some of the questions I've been pondering from my first experiment.
One thing I'm starting to realise is I'm going to have to upgrade my cheap torch pretty soon - its adequate for the things I'm trying at the moment but it isn't as fine as I'd hoped and its becoming clear from these few projects that I'll need something with much more precision before too long. Also its a pain in the ass to light and so far the only way I've managed is to hold it over the gas hob in my kitchen, which at the moment means I'm soldering on the kitchen floor instead of my workbench because I don't want to carry the lit torch through the house!

[eekoh]

Thanks Enigma, all useful advice - I'll keep practicing.

[JewelleryByMandy]

Thanks Sheen, that's a really useful article and has answered at least some of the questions I've been pondering from my first experiment.
One thing I'm starting to realise is I'm going to have to upgrade my cheap torch pretty soon - its adequate for the things I'm trying at the moment but it isn't as fine as I'd hoped and its becoming clear from these few projects that I'll need something with much more precision before too long. Also its a pain in the ass to light and so far the only way I've managed is to hold it over the gas hob in my kitchen, which at the moment means I'm soldering on the kitchen floor instead of my workbench because I don't want to carry the lit torch through the house!

that would really peev me off! I just bought a new torch the other week. Got an orca and really like it. Like you, upgraded and i now dont have flutters in case it blows out mid way or sounds like a train blasting through my shed!!!


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[Goldsmith]

I lay my solder around the outer edge of bezels in small pallions, I also use titanium soldering clamps to secure the bezel and at the same time they lift the backing plate off the solder block.



James

[eekoh]

Those clamps look like a really good idea, the bezel wall moving a little when I was trying to encourage the solder under the join certainly won't have helped to get a neat finish.