Melted Prong

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am hoping someone will give me a suggestion or two on how to
repair a gold prong which I inadvertently melted partway when
soldering it to my gold ring. I purchased an EZ mount 14KY gold
prong setting from Rio, 5x7mm oval, and one of the end prongs
melted about 1 to 2mm down from the top. Before I try to add
some wire to it I thought someone might have had this experience
and would share any tips about the best way to fix it. Thanks to
those of you who are kind enough to help me.

Sue Danehy , near the St. Lawrence River in Northern New York
State where we have had a beautiful summer.

2

Sue,

If you do not need to build the prong back up to it’s full
height ( and maybe even if you do) try taking your chain nose
pliers and squeezing the prong back to shape. Since in the
process of melting it you probably left it in an annealed
condition, this will sometimes work to reform it and bring it
back to a useable condition.

Hope this helps.

Sharon Z.

3

Hi Sue, You sound as if you are going about it the right way.
Solder on a piece of wire and shape it to look like the other
prongs. You do have to be careful about where you do this.Your
solder seam, no matter how well done, will not bend. Clip the
melted prong down well below where the girdle of the stone will
be and then solder your wire. Before you do this, is it possible
to just shorten The other three prongs? You can sometimes do
this and save yourself some work. If the prong is melted a very
small amount you might try squeezing it very hard with a pair of
pliars,. This will flatten it and make it a little longer,but
just a little. Lots of choices. Good luck. Tom Arnold

4

Hi Michael,

Have you tried the Redi-Prongs from Rio? If you still have a
good seat for your stone, or the seat can be recut, this might be
a good option for you.

K.P.

5

start by fluxing the prong then take a piece of wire about the
same size and practice fuseing the end together useing a small
but hot flame directed right on the joint to be fused, pulling
the torch away quickly once the end melts together and holding
the wire still till it cools to solid ,thats the tricky part,
because if you dont hold it still the piece will break when you
set it. then file it before you set it bending that prong first
be fore you put the stone in.

Good luck,Bob

6

It is advisable to remove the rest of the prong, i.e. cut it off
at the base of the setting. After filing it to be perfectly even
with the wire border,counter sink it a bit (drill a small hole
with a round burr), flow some solder in the hole and then a new
prong in place. Countersinking the new prong gives it more
support. Good luck, let us know how you make out. Rob

7

I would use some round wire of the same material and simply melt
it into the remaining prong. Then trim off the excess metal. If
you think this would be too dangerous, try the next-best thing.
Snip off a little wire, place it on your soldering pad & after
fluxing, melt it into a little ball. Then, taking a little
welding solder, flux, melt it and put the two together, pick that
up & solder it on top of your remaining prong. Trim and finish.

Best of luck;
Steve Klepinger