Hi I have a question about decorating sterling silver jewelry with a
little bit of gold color from inexpensive gold filled wire. My wife
likes the yellow color of gold but so far I have just worked in SS.
Can I solder some decorative bits of gold filled wire or something
like this to the SS so it will have a yellow accent? She likes what
I do with SS but just likes things in yellow better.
If it will work what size round and square would be the best for
this. I know the smaller diameter material would have a tendency to
"melt" if I got something too hot.
Can I use the same flux and solder as usual?
Any help might save me from making a mess of things and it might
also encourage me to work on some different designs with the SS and
gold mixed.
Thanks
Larry It’s Friday and I have two days to mess around at home before I
go back to school. (Teaching a good group of 7th and 8th graders.)
Larry,
Alot depends on what you want to do with the goldfill. If you want to
do a sheet applique, you can get red, yellow, or green goldfill
solder backed sheet from Indian Jeweler’s Supply in Albuqueque and
that will save you alot of hassle for sheet work as you just need to
saw out the shape you want to applique, flux it, and then heat it
from beneath.
If you are doing wire work, you must realized that you cannot ball
up goldfill as you would full karat, but you can get neat things out
of working goldfill wire in with the silver. The solder you use will
depend on how much gold is visible verses how much silver. In any
case, you will not want to use a solder that melts at much over 1200
degrees as you will fuse the goldfill and ruin it. When I solder
goldfill to goldfill, I use 14 super easy 14K solder. I have tried
Rio’s yellow silver solder that they recommend for goldfill, but I
find that it melts way too high and will greatly discolor if not
outright ruin goldfill, so pay the price and use the full karat
stuff. Any flux is fine, but you MUST use a heavy coat of firescale
retardant on any goldfill. I tumble it after I have finished
finishing the piece and that will remove any discolored residue
unless you have fried the goldfill. If you tell me WHAT you want to
do with the goldfill, I can probably walk you thru it. Best thing to
do is do some test pieces before you plunge in on an important
project. Good luck! Suzanne