thankyou for telling me this. I work in enamel and there are times
I have many pieces to fuse and solder. someone mentioned the laser
welder to me and now thank you for the clarification that I don't
need to spend the $$ just the time to continue what I have been
doing. It would have absolutely driven me to diversion if I had
tried to weld my fine silver and not had it work, but create a
larger problem for me.
I didn’t say it can’t work. The point is that metals with very high
thermal conductivity or high infrared reflectivity are difficult to
weld. In the case of high karat gold (22K, 24K), it’s just that the
metal reflects most of the beam, so you have to crank up the power.
This can be dealt with by use of things like black or red magic
marker or other ink on the metal surface, so the beam is absorbed
more by the metal. Works, but just makes a little more hassel.
Silver gets you on both the high reflectivity and the high thermal
conductivity. It takes sometimes very high power levels to weld.
Sterling (standard sterling) also tends to be somewhat brittle when
welded, though annealing fixes that if the piece will be enameled or
something. Fine silver doesn’t have the brittleness problems, but
takes even more power to weld. (Argentium sterling, by the way, welds
very nicely. For some reason, it absorbs more of the infrared energy
than does standard sterling or fine silver so it welds well. Standard
sterling is more problematic, or at least, has been for me. But then,
I’m working with an older machine…
Now, this all doesn’t mean the laser won’t work on fine silver. It
just means you have to crank up the power levels to do it, and many
of the lower cost (like the benchtop models) laser welders simply
aren’t capable of the higher power needed. For you, if a laser had
enough power to do it for you, fine silver gives good welds. And if
you’re working with sterling silver, you’ll benefit from using one of
the models of lasers that offer more than one pulse shape, since
these can be used to help solve the problems some metals have with
giving brittle or cracky welds.
The bottom line is simple. If you want to get a laser used primarily
for silver work, you’ll simply have to set your sights on one of the
models capable of doing that, and these are not likely to be the
lower cost entry level lasers. But the field is evolving so rapidly
that by the next time you see laser welders at some show, who knows,
they may have solved the problems I refer to. Enough people use, or
would like to use, laser welders with silver that there’s plenty of
market for machines optimized for that use. You just have to be
careful to be specific as to your intended uses and needs when
shopping. And take the time to actually try one with the type of work
you intend to do. That will give you an idea as to how well it will
meet your needs. You wouldn’t, after all, buy a new car without a
test drive or considerable prior familiarity with the model. This is
the same, and the same price range perhaps. So it would make sense
to compare and test carefully. For the record, I know at least two
jewelers who’s work is primarily in silver, and they’re happily using
laser welders in their shops.
Peter