Best Way to solder posts

Hi, After I have soldered my ear posts to the back of my ear
studs(silver) I am worried that they have become too soft and will
bend if people aren't careful with them.  Is there any way I can
harden them up a bit afterwards. Would quenching them in water
straight away make a difference?  Any advice is much appreciated.

Hi Karen, The absolute best way to achieve strong posts without
having to bend or twist them is to quench the item as soon as you
see the solder freeze… It can be quenched in water or pickle…
Pickle being somewhat easier as you will not have to pickle later to
remove the flux… it will already be gone. Do not wait 1 second
longer than you have to and you will find you have very strong
posts. The longer you wait, the softer your posts will be. The pickle
can be in a coffee mug … it does not have to be in a pickle pot.
What we do is grab enough pickle solution out of the pickle pot into
a coffee mug and have this right next to your soldering board… Do
not touch the tweezers to the pickle as you drop the item in the
pickle otherwise you will have red silver … Drop the item from a
few inches above the pickle to be safe.

As far as solder itself, paste solder is fast and easy… but, use
whatever you wish… so long as it is quenched quickly !

Daniel Grandi Racecar Jewelry Co. Inc.

We do casting, finishing , moldmaking ,production soldering of posts
etc… and a whole lot more for designers, jewelers, Students and
people in the trade. Contact: sales@racecarjewelry.com or Tel: 401-461-7803