How to solder a hole in 700 silver stauette

[kakebotoke]

Hi all, first post
I have a 70% silver , remainder bronze, statuette with a 6mm or so hole that needs patching, covering, soldering. What would you call it? I assume to clean the area front and back , paint flux on the edges, Maybe rest the statuette in sand or on firebrick, heat the area, then lay on a slightly larger than hole size piece of 70% silver , heat and pray. Oh my torch is not a pinpoint type. Am I close? Any and all comments welcome! Thank you much, John.

[Dennis]

The patch of metal should be thin and burnished down at the edges to conform to the shape of the base.
Make several locating marks with a waterproof pen, so that it fits well when soldered.
It will still be a raised patch, but there is no easy way to deal with that.

Line the inside of the patch with melted solder, apply to the figure and reheat to attach (sweat soldering).

Solder to use: extra easy silver solder with borax, or lead free soft solder with soldering fluid.
Yes support the figure as you suggest, but also gently tie on the patch with cross pieces of binding wire, to keep it from moving.
Slightly bevel the lower edge of the patch to discourage solder from creeping out.
No you should not use a needle flame but a large soft flame applied all over the area, until you just see a silvery flow of solder at the edges.
Leave it to air cool, because immersing it will possibly crack the metal and fill the object with liquid.

Hopefully you can re-polish with metal polish. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

As an alternative, is it possible to inlay a piece of metal into the hole? No heat required, just a mechanical fit.

[kakebotoke]

The patch of metal should be thin and burnished down at the edges to conform to the shape of the base.
Make several locating marks with a waterproof pen, so that it fits well when soldered.
It will still be a raised patch, but there is no easy way to deal with that.

Line the inside of the patch with melted solder, apply to the figure and reheat to attach (sweat soldering).

Solder to use: extra easy silver solder with borax, or lead free soft solder with soldering fluid.
Yes support the figure as you suggest, but also gently tie on the patch with cross pieces of binding wire, to keep it from moving.
Slightly bevel the lower edge of the patch to discourage solder from creeping out.
No you should not use a needle flame but a large soft flame applied all over the area, until you just see a silvery flow of solder at the edges.
Leave it to air cool, because immersing it will possibly crack the metal and fill the object with liquid.

Hopefully you can re-polish with metal polish. Dennis.

Thank you so much for the detailed tutorial Dennis. It is greatly appreciated. I have to order some extra easy silver solder, have been meaning to order a set of the 3 types of solder. Hopefully I can show some successful patching pics in the near future.

ps_bond, thats what i was thinking originally. If a two piece patch could be fitted from inside, one piece being an exact fit of the hole, the other piece as a backing plate to the first, then solder the whole thing in? No raised patch on the outside?

[ps_bond]

Actually, I was thinking of a shaped rivet - similar to sekigane on tsuba. Would need scraping & levelling to the original piece. Needs to be backed while being worked - matsu yani should work.

[kakebotoke]

I’ve got matsu yani coming out the beams of the house, could use that
I’ll try the mechanical way first then, if it doesnt go then Dennis’ way

[kakebotoke]

So I followed Dennis’ instructions but skipped on the wire because the patch seemed steady enough. During heating it seemed to go well but I must have overdone it and a gap appeared in the patch. So I put another piece of solder on and reheated it and it seemed to go smoothly. Upon filing down the patch a pocket of flux appeaed trapped in the solder. So theres a tiny hole still and the gap from the flux. But for my purposes it went well for my first attempt and am pleased with the results. There isnt a gaping hole any longer and the small gap is on the bottom anyway , and only as noticible as some other small imperfections in the statuette. Thanks again for the help! A question though, was the original idea of the patch - for it to retain its shape and appear as a bump on the surface , or is it supposed to melt down like it did?

[Dennis]

No only the solder is supposed to melt. A risky strategy to melt the patch, for fear of the whole thing collapsing.
However, well done for getting there.
I hope you will now have a taste for other silversmithing adventures. Dennis

[kakebotoke]

No only the solder is supposed to melt. A risky strategy to melt the patch, for fear of the whole thing collapsing.
However, well done for getting there.
I hope you will now have a taste for other silversmithing adventures. Dennis

I took your good adviced and muffed it up pretty well so not much strategy on my part, just some luck and thickness of the patch maybe. Thank you again for helping me. Definitely hooked on silversmithing