I’m entertaining the idea of getting a laser welder or arc welder mainly for tacking jewelry before soldering and filling in pitting on cast items. The biggest thing I’m going to use it for is tacking on hinges on lockets before soldering. I don’t want a $10,000+ piece of equipment, but was wondering if anyone has any experience or suggestions as to which one would be better for that task.
I was thinking of the Dado tabletop Laser Welder, unless I could get away with using a $2,000 permanent jewelry welder. Any thoughts?
I can’t comment on laser welders as I have never used one. I do remember a not so great review of the Dado although the price is a attractive. I have a PUK 5.1 that I bought six years ago to be used mainly for tacking silver pieces and it does a good job of that. I also use it to help make rivets, solder small seams and other smaller welds in silver. Pulse arc welders aren’t real friendly with silver because the energy is either conducted away quickly or reflected. I believe that the same may be true of lasers. It works really well on gold and some other metals. I have started to use my PUK to weld what I will call templates out of fine stainless steel wire. These are shapes that I then can use to “chase” lines into thin sheet with urethane and my hydraulic press. It is a quick way to get a repeatable shape that then can be refined with chasing tools and a hammer. Either a laser or a pulse arc welder are big expenses that need to be thought out and not scrimped out on or you will be disappointed. If you can find Jeffery Herman’s website, there is a large amount of information on how to use a pulse arc welder posted on it. Unfortunately Jeffery died several years ago and we lost an enormous amount of information and help with him. Look for more answers to your question and do as much research as you can before you buy. One final comment, I doubt that the permanent jewelry welders will do what you want to do. Welding a small jump ring is fairly easy with a pulse arc welder, but it is done, at least on mine, with the very lowest of settings. Good luck…Rob
Some years ago I asked about the Dado at Otto Frei and was told that for work on silver the Dado was much less effective than a PUK.
I got the PUK and it has all the power you’d need for silver. I’ve never used it at the highest power but have blasted a few craters when welding heavier pieces together (like closing a ring shank).
For tacking pieces together for soldering, it can’t be beat compared to binding wire, etc.
About 60% of the way down this link Hans Meevis mentions a spot laser welder he bought from AliExpress for 350 euros and he considers it ‘money well spent’. At that price and with his recommendation I’d look into it.
The one thing missing from the image of the welder and parts is a shield to shut out the light when a spark fires, which I think is a necessity. The much more expensive welders also come with a binocular scope, which at least for aging eyes is a nice addition.
There are people who do a lot of silver work with pulse arc welders, but they have spent a lot of time figuring it out. Again, take a look at Jeffery Herman’s site. He was a master at it. Keep in mind that pulse arc welders and lasers are two different things. Others will have to comment on the utility of a laser on silver as I have never used one…Rob
I’ve worked extensively with laser welders and pulse arc precision welders for jewelry and have taught workshops introducing the technologies. Both technologies have strengths. What I’ve learned is that the only way to truly answer the question of whether either of these technologies will work for you is hands-on experience.
Getting that pre-purchase experience can mean going to a jewelry trade show and trying it out there. If you live close to a jewelry tool company you should be able to try it out in their showroom. It can also mean talking your way into the shop of a local jewelry store or independent jeweler and seeing if they will let you try out their laser or arc welder. I’m sure there’s more ideas.
Both technologies are a different way of working that have a bit of a learning curve. Just working under a microscope or an auto-dark screen throws a lot of people off at first.
I got an email from Gesswein yesterday about a free technology open house in August. That looks like a very cool opportunity.