Top Jewellery Making Tips for Silver
Soldering
Learning how to silver solder is an
essential skill in making good quality
jewellery. The application of silver
soldering is one that should be
approached with a little caution at
first, as you are using high temperature
blowtorches to melt the solder onto the
metal. It can be very easy to make
mistakes, so a simple guide to the
basics should help you to minimise the
mistakes and prevent you from wasting
too many resources.
Types of solder
There are four basic grades of silver
solder and they are classified according
to their melting points as ex-easy,
easy, medium and hard. Ex-easy and easy
silver solders melt at a lower
temperature and are best used for repair
work or when a lower temperature is
required. If solder is required at two
or three joints near each other, it is
best to start with Hard moving down to
Easy to prevent melting the previous
soldered joint.
Preparation
Before silver soldering, ensure that the
surface youre working on is thoroughly
cleaned. Any grease (even from a
fingerprint) can affect how well the
solder takes to the metal, so clean
the piece carefully before beginning.
You can then soften the silver to be
joined by a process know as annealing by
applying the flame of a blowtorch to the
area that needs to be soldered until the
metal heats up to a dull pink colour.
Check that there are no gaps between the
two pieces of metal that you want to
solder. Silver solder acts in a
capillary motion when heated, meaning
that it flows along the path of least
resistance. Any gaps will allow the
solder to run down on one side of the
seam and the resulting finish will be
poor.
Flux
Flux is a chemical cleaning agent that
removes any remaining silver oxide from
the surface of the finding and the
solder itself and allows the silver
solder to flow freely, preventing
blobbing. The best flux is a borax
paste, which is directly applied to the
joint.. Silver soldering without the use
of flux is not advised, as the resulting
finish will be poor and the solder will
have a tendency to pit, leaving an
uneven and rather unsightly bond.
Applying the heat
Once the joint is coated on both
surfaces with flux, you can then apply
heat to the joint. Torch soldering is
probably one of the most common methods,
Choose a torch with an adjustable flame
size. This ensures that you do not
overheat and scorch the metal, dulling
the surface and even potentially
buckling the metal. The flame shouldnt
rest over one area for any length of
time rather the torch should be moved
constantly to prevent the metal
overheating. Once the correct
temperature has been reached, the solder
should change form from a solid square
to a liquid and flow evenly into the
joint. Alternatively, if the silver
solder is in wire form, the tip is fed
carefully onto the metal where it should
melt on contact and once again, flow
smoothly into the seam.
Finishing
Once the silver soldering has been
completed and the piece has cooled, it
can be cleaned to remove any residual
flux by soaking it in hot water. If this
proves difficult, a weak solution
(5-10%PRCTG%) of sulphuric acid can be used
followed by rinsing the piece in hot
water. This process is known as
pickling However, if you are
incorporating gemstones into your work,
be aware that even a weak acid solution
can damage the surface of more porous
stones.
Safety
Even small gas torches operate at
extremely high temperatures, so ensure
that your workbench is suitably
protected and that you have the correct
safety equipment such as goggles and
thick gloves to work with. A small fire
extinguisher is also a useful addition
to any working environment where any
naked flames may be used to prevent
small fires from spreading. Your
workroom should be well ventilated.
Adam Hunter – E-commerce Marketing
Manager of cooksongold.com. Cookson
Precious Metals offer a choice of
jewellery making supplies from over
10,000 products including gold and
silver solder, tools, precious metal
clay and gold and silver sheet - gold,
silver, platinum and palladium plus
technical information for jewellers,
jobbers, designer, craftsmen, artisans
and students.
Contacts Adam Hunter E-commerce
Marketing Manager Tel(DDI): +44 (0) 121
212 6491 E-mail:
adam.hunter@cooksongold.com
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Learning how to silver solder is an essential skill in
making good quality jewellery. The application of silver
soldering is one that should be approached with a little
caution at first, as you are using high temperature
blowtorches to melt the solder onto the metal. It can be
very easy to make mistakes, so a simple guide to the basics
should help you to minimise the mistakes and prevent you
from wasting too many resources.