Before soldering, how do experienced jewelers get both edges to meet
without any space. I’ve been soldering for past year and while I am
able to solder, getting the two edges to meet without difficulty is a
problem. Is it experience or are there some sanding techinques that
might be helpful to beginners. thanx Miki Franklin Lakes, N.J. USA
Great tip for getting both ends of a ring to fit perfectly:
Fit the ends together as well as you can and then saw through the join
with a 2/0 sawblade. The ends should spring together perfectly for
soldering.
Yours aye,
Dauvit Alexander,
Glasgow, Scotland.
getting the two edges to meet without difficulty is a problem.
Join the club. If I am doing something like a ring, I over-bend it and
“sproing” it back like a jump ring. Then I put a small flat file between
the two edges. My micro files have teeth on both sides and I sand both
edges at once knowing that the saw itself is flat and will create
parallel, flat edges. --kathi parker, MoonScape Designs
For making a ring from wire stock, I shape the metal around a mandrel and
overlap the ends slightly. Then I remove the piece and saw through both
layers together. This helps me to cut both sides of the joint at the same
angle. I get a much better fit. BTW, I wasn’t born knowing this. After
much cussing and frustration, I complained to my friend Kathleen, who gave
me the tip.
Allyson
Miki,
On what type of joints are you having the most problems? For small
joints such as ring sizing, I like to use a sanding disc on my flex shaft.
This eliminates the error margin in filing. If you are just starting out,
you probably need lots of practice filing and I would recommend that you
learn to file flush joints before using lots of shortcuts (sort of like
learning long division before getting used to a calculator)
Wendy Newman
Dear Miki
A common mistake I observe in my classes is that a student will frequently
hold both the piece and the file up in the air while working. By
supporting the hand and or object being filed against the bench top you
will gain more control. And yes, a lot of improvement will come from
experience. A suggestion: if you can find someone, maybe an instructor or
more experienced jeweler, to observe you, they can probably give you more
pointed advise.
Best of luck, Tom Tietze
Artisan Workshop
Fresno,CA
Before soldering, how do experienced jewelers get both edges to meet
without any space. I’ve been soldering for past year and while I am
able to solder, getting the two edges to meet without difficulty is a
problem. Is it experience or are there some sanding techinques that
might be helpful to beginners.
I usually cut one piece larger than the other, solder and then cut off the
excess edge . . . then I file until no seam shows! REMEMBER . . . you
have to get your solder to flow EVERYWHER, if not, your two pieces may not
stay together!
What I find annoying are the darned air bubbles which look like unmelted
solder which may show up when soldering two flat pieces (1’“x 1” or larger
. . .)
Before soldering, how do experienced jewelers get both edges to meet
without any space. I’ve been soldering for past year and while I am
able to solder, getting the two edges to meet without difficulty is a
problem. Is it experience or are there some sanding techinques that
might be helpful to beginners.
If the piece happens to be a ring that is being sized down, I usually take
a final cut with a sawblade before setting it up for soldering. Other
pieces need to be carefully filed or sanded to shape. It takes time,
patience, and careful fitting. I remember 8th grade wood shop: planing one
edge of a short board straight, square, and smooth.
Rick Hamilton
Richard D. Hamilton
A goldsmith on Martha’s Vineyard
USA
Fabricated 14k, 18k, 22k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography,
and sailing whenever I can…
http://www.rick-hamilton.com
getting the two edges to meet without difficulty is a problem.
Hi
This will be hard to explain by words but I will try. First, close your
ring the best you can with pliers. Then, put the ring with the seam up in
a 90 degrees wood corner (may be the border of your bench). There is a
hollow triangular space under the ring, put the little first end of your
ring mandrel on the inside of the ring over the space and hit the mandrel
with your skin mallet and it is done. Just saw in the seam the make it
accurate and do the same process if it need more. Very easy. I hope it is
understandable. Vincent Guy Audette
getting the two edges to meet without difficulty is a problem.
Join the club. If I am doing something like a ring, I over-bend it and
“sproing” it back like a jump ring.
I’ve seen too many people try to keep the ring round to solder. That’s
the biggest mistake. The ring’s edges have to meet to solder correctly
(nicely) . . . so I take the ring, form a “U” kind of shape and then bring
the top parts of the “U” together until they are flat so it looks like _ U
(Imagine the entire thing being connected with the solder seam at the flat
upper part.
For making a ring from wire stock, I shape the metal around a mandrel
and overlap the ends slightly. Then I remove the piece and saw through
both layers together. This helps me to cut both sides of the joint at
the same angle. I get a much better fit. BTW, I wasn’t born knowing
this. After much cussing and frustration, I complained to my friend
Kathleen, who gave me the tip.
I tried that and found it very difficult, especially with the half dome
kind of wire which is quite thick. What I’ve ended up doing is cutting up
the tops from margarine tubs . . . into strips of about 1/4" wide. I
wrapped these around the mandrel . . .at each size and cut where the edges
met - I also labled each of these strips with the exact size. Now I have
a pattern to use each time I have to cut a size. One thing I had to
learn though, was I have to place the pattern on the flat side of half
round for measurement. When measuring round, I have to add a bit (usually
use the 1/2 size larger) to get the correct sizing. Not being a
mathmatician (nor spelling whiz) I always seek the easiest way to get
things done.
Hi Fishbre
You can also do it like this: (Take the diameter of your ring mandrel at
the good size + the thickness of the material you will use x by 3.1416)
and you will have the exact lengh you need to do your ring. Of course you
have to work in millimeter to do this. Vincent Guy Audette
FYI-I took a class with Carrie Adelle and she gave me this tip… There
are two kinds of sanding disc made - one that is on paper, and one on
plastic. The plastic ones are used by dentists- and you can SEE thru them
while you are sanding… No gouging, because you can see directly where
the grit is hitting the metal - It really is wonderful when leveling
surfaces and taking off glitches… The paper ones are sold to jewelers…
Myself… I will never go back to the paper!!!
My 2 cents
Joan
You can do the same thing using a sanding disk, just becareful it will
cut you! and then you need to steam it off before you solder it!! Alittle
tension on the two ends also makes it easy to solder, or just put a small
peice of solder inbetween the two ends and heat, when the solder runs
oyu’ll know it and then make sure you heat it evenly.
Just do it!! Ha!!!
Matt the Cat!
I can’t wait to get to my dentist on Monday and see if she has those
disks… Wonderful Thanks for talking about them… she gave me lots of
picks and they are great for getting out stones… but the disks I haven’t
seen of course she is doing this behind my head but as I said I can’t
wait… and that is the biggest "can’t wait "I’ve ever said… Never try to
get to the dentist at all… right!!! thanks calgang