I have used a couple different solders on fine wire. My task is making chains. It requires a solder that will hold through the manipulation of forming the chain but not be to heavy for a 22 gauge. Does anyone have suggestions? Jamie
1 Like
Welcome to the forum!
Can you share what metal type you are using?
Fine silver. I start with circles and bend and link together.
It depends on what metal, the size of the pieces and if there will be additional soldering steps. If you don’t know how, learn to use a solder pick. This will limit the amount of solder that you apply to a joint and allow you to apply it at just the right time. Watch your flux as you heat the joint. When it goes glassy, you are close to the flow temperature of most solders. If you are just soldering rings, form the joint and place a solder pallion (chip)under the joint. Flux with liquid flux and heat from above the joint. The solder will flow and get pulled through the joint by the heat. Keep your torch moving and heat the entire piece first then the joint. Make sure that the metal is clean and that the joint fits closely. Finally, apply alcohol and borax to the entire piece, burn off the alcohol and then solder. If you are doing multiple solder joints that are near each other, do the first joint with a harder solder than the next. Good luck…Rob
2 Likes
Thanks. I will try the chips.
I’m not sure what kind of chain that you are making, but 22 ga fine silver is very easy to fuse. There are quite a number of videos out there showing how to fuse fine silver links. One cool thing is that you don’t need to use any flux to fine silver. In general, fused links are stronger than soldered links, especially with fine silver. Give it a try and see if you can make fusing fine silver links work for you. Once you get into the rhythm, it’s very fun and is kind of addictive!
Jeff
4 Likes
Have you used a table top kiln to add in soldering fine wire?
I am curious to see the result. I use a lot of fine silver but I would have thought it was too soft for such a fine chain?