Keeping solder in place

If you melt the flux first, the solder doesn't move around so
much.

Sometime try melting the pallions of solder into little beads
before placing them on a piece. After the flux is fluid,
capilary attraction helps keep the little beads in place in a
joint. They also tend to leave smaller marks then when you have
a pallion flat on one side of the joint or the other.

Steven Brixner - Artist/Jeweler - San Diego, CA
mailto:brixner@compuserve.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/brixner

Sometime try melting the pallions of solder into little beads
before placing them on a piece. After the flux is fluid,

This technique works real well for me too. Why doesn’t someone
sell solder in this form?

Chunk

Sometime try melting the pallions of solder into little beads
before placing them on a piece.  After the flux is fluid,
capilary attraction helps keep the little beads in place in a
joint.  They also tend to leave smaller marks then when you have
a pallion flat on one side of the joint or the other.

Just be aware that in premelting the solder you may find you’ve
boiled off some of the zinc content and/or any other such
components, and you’ll be left with a solder that now has a
higher liquidus.

How to keep paillons in place? I use a powder flux the plumbers
and brazers use, and heat initially without flux till a pick
charged with dry flux coats the work and cleans it up like magic,
and doesn’t mess with the solder too much. At least I DO avoid
that situation (when initially heating the work/solder/wet flux)
when the flux bubbles and fusses and carries on.

PS My first posting.
I was on the list way back a year or so ago (?) but now I’m back.

Regards
Brian
Brian Adam ph/fx +64 9 817 6816 NEW ZEALAND
http://crash.ihug.co.nz/~adam/
http://www.optisearch.com

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Another way to keep solder in place is to wave your flame back
and forth very quickly over the work untill the flux dries. Sonja

Ball then flatten…then place on the piece… but really u
should learn to use a pick to pick up the ball… just the right
heat… touch the item with the pick(ball at the end)… and let
it flow!!!..takes time.

Jim

It also helps not to bring the heat too close to the solder too
quickly. Sandra/ ElegantBee