To those of you who responded to my brooch pin query… I am
not surprised that Orchid members have high standards and frown
on anything lesser than three piece nickel silver pin catches or
hand made sterling pin catches. The reason I am inquiring about
the one piece type is that I have seen them soft soldered to
some exceptionally nice high priced brooches ($100 to 200) and
this did not seem to effect the sales value. I agree that they
do not look as nice as the three piece type, but I find them much
easier to work with. Anyone out there actually like/use the one
piece base metal soft solder pin backs ??
We use for broche pins a kind of dental metal its called
(remanium) and you can solder it with gold or silver but you have
to use a special flux. Remanium is strong (you only need a
thicknes of 0,87 mm) what is very good because it wont demolish
the clothing of your costumer, and it is resistant against
sulfuric acid. Greetings from arnhem holland. P. Steenbrink
First, if anyone is selling their work for that much with
nickle-plated findings soft soldered on, they are being less than
honest with the customer. Second, if it’s ease of production you
want, why not make your work out of plastic and glue it together?
I have used the findings you speak of for costume pieces as a
repair method but NEVER for a new piece I’ve spent hours making.
anyone out there like/use the one piece soft-soldered pin
backs?
I prefer the three-piece variety , but someone bestowed upon
me a bunch of the one-piece kind. I use them occasionally on
mixed-metal (i.e.brass& silver ) or nickel-silver or heavy
pieces where the design lends itself better to a sturdier
pinback. They have their uses, or they wouldn’t be
manufactured…but I wouldn’t put one on a more expensive piece
unless someone specifically requested it. >D<
Hi Milt, I am one of those mavericks who have been using high
quality single piece pinbacks for years (with quite a few pieces
in the higher price range) and have not suffered either
financially or aesthetically. The better ones are well made and
work reliably. My advice is to use what you think works, not to
satisfy some kind of “fine” jewelry dogma. If you avoid the
cheaper varieties and use a small amount of soft solder, they
work beautifully.
Reynard Designs, Can you tell me who your supplier is for the
high quality one piece pin-backs my old supplier Rio Grande does
not make the nicer pin-backs any longer. You can e-mail me
privately if you prefer at poverini@aol.com. thanks, Jen