what is the best way to retip
thank you
guy r
I retip by using a piece of the same material as the prong , making
a small ball of the desired material adding a small amount of the
solder of your choice (the hardest solder you feel safe with)
flatten the ball into a thick disc. Then file a flat spot on top of
the prong lay the disc in place flux and heat .
Best of luck Sam - HVJ inc
Guy,
Your question, “what’s the best way to retip?” Is a very short query
requiring , if it is to be complete,a very long answer, which I
think is beyond the scope of a forum such as this to adequately
address. I do have a tipping “tip” however. I have found the use
of “Redi Tips”, available from Rio Grande Grande and others to be
really effective and convenient.
Jerry in Kodiak
guy.
there are several ways to retip…but first and foremost of
imprtance…only heat diamonds rubies and sapphires…nothing else
can really take heat of a retip…
you can take a little ball of easy solder and gently tip the
prongs…watch out…overheating will flow the solder on prongs you
have already done…and this doesn’t hold up too well (your tips are
only as hard as the yellow soft solder.
the old fasioned way is to take a little ball of 14k (if you are
working in 14k) and flow a little solder on your bead and then retip
with these little 14k beads covered in 14k soft solder.
the redi-tip beads recommended by another on this web-ring work
really well, but only if you have worn down prongs, not missing
prongs…it is a little disk of gold with solder on one side…flux
the bottom of the disk and add your prong…now if the prong is
missing this works, but you have to sometimes add a little solder to
the piece to connect the “disk” with the rest of the prong.
if your prongs are really worn down, or your stones cannot take the
heat, many times I recommend a “reprong”…take the stone out and cut
the prong to the base and replace with wired the same diameter as the
prong (use a medium or a hard solder for this…once again it also
take precise action with the torck , or the rest of the prongs you
just did will fall off!)
hope you found this helpful! the best way is always to
try several different ways and use the way that is best for you! good
luck!
-julia
I’m behind on the posts (I’m taking care of my 87 yr old mother with
alzheimers) but I have a question for the metallurgists among you. I
only retip with easy solder if I get puddling (meaning someone else
has worked on it before me). I am a bit of a purist. I’ve always
thought that hard solder wears better, lasts longer, etc. But I
don’t have anything to back it up, other than being a purist, the
higher temp solders are closer in composition (purer) to the parent
metal than the easies. But I suppose, depending on the alloy, you
could get superior wear with a lower caret content alloy. I want
to be wrong. Tell me I’m right yo be a purist. (I really hate having
to repair something that someone else used easy solder on)