I have made a bezel which I want to attach to a chain. In the past I
have used loops on each end of the bezel that extend onto the back
of the bezel. For this one I would like to attach the loops to the
bezel using a butt joint. The cabochon is about 3/4" by 1", not very
heavy, and the piece will be used as a bracelet. Assuming that my
solder joint will be well fitted and done correctly, will the butt
joint be strong enough for a bracelet?
The joints will be strong enough IF you follow the golden rules of
soldering (clean, well fitted, fluxed, heat quickly, don’t overheat,
remove heat when you see solder flow, etc, etc).
Make sure your bezel is not made of metal which is too thin, and that
the jump ring is also not too thin. I would personally use hard
solder and file a little bit out of the jump ring to correspond to
the curvature (if any) of the bezel setting. That way, there will be
a longer and stronger solder joint.
I would be concerned with the strength of such an arrangement.
Bracelets probably have to put up with more abuse than any other form
of jewellery with rings coming a close second. They get caught and
snagged and constantly moving and flexing as we use our hands. The
sort of joint you propose, even given that your soldering or fusing
was perfect is likely to flex sufficiently to make metal fatigue
cracking and failure a distinct possibility. Perhaps you could
consider curving short tails of the open loop around the bezel. These
could be filed and/or forged to provide a larger bearing surface for
the soldered joint and blended into the bezel strip after soldering.
My experience with bracelets has been that you need to carefully
consider the strength of the joints and jump rings. If the bracelet
components have any significant weight or are of such a design that
they are likely to snag at times I use a minimum 1mm thickness of
wire.