dave - read your warming procedure for paste solder & from experience
i know it works - another ‘pragmatic shortcut’ i have resorted to
using: keep some toothpicks in a closed container in soldering area.
when the paste solder gets balky - like now in the frigid 50s & 60s
here in florida - i pull out a toothpick, dip it in flux, scoop a bit
of the chunky stuff from the syringe (when you pull the plunger back
there’s always some on the wrong side of it) & ‘mold’ it to the
fluxed solder point on the piece. i can get a good solder from doing
this - must be a holdover from the cookie decorating days! ive ps: as
an opal cutter i am wondering if we are going to have a thread
(rope?) on the ethics of treating opals to darken them with the
sugar/acid, burnt brown paper bag, etc. methods?