I use a butane torch for all my small work, but when I have
something large to solder I get out a propane torch with a big
brushy flame. It’s kind of like using a big hammer. Good when you
need a lot of force, but not a lot of finesse. No problems with the
paste solder either way.
Janet Kofoed
So, its the perfect stuff for the stuff it is perfect for. Sounds
smart alecy but that is true of so many things.
HI all,
Lona discussed her approach to heating when soldering a hollow form,
such as a bead, and I agree pretty much with her method. I had
forgotten to talk about that. (For what it may be worth, Betty Helen
Longhi and I included several approaches to soldering hollow forms
together in our book, Creative Metal Forming. So, if you have the
book, take a look at the first Bi-shell exercises.)
I use a heat reflective soldering block—my favorite is
Solderite—that I have carved a very small divot into, to balance
the hollow form. put it on a turntable. The seam is very small, and
tight, and hard to see, so I set things up so that the seam is at
eye level. Direct the heat at the bottom form only. On a bead, I aim
the flame where the form and solderite meet. the top form gets heat
from the enclosed space, and the side of the flame. When the smoke
and flame stop, I pick a place to heat until the solder flows. Then
I slowly turn the piece, as the solder flows, until I am back to the
beginning.
I teach this in most classes/workshops about Argentium Silver, and
Hydraulic Press. Success rate for students is about 95%. It’s 99% if
they use enough solder.
Sessin, I’ll think about your question. We can talk about it soon,
when we are both at the MJSA Jeweler’s Bench Conference & Trade Fair
September 13 & 14, 2014 at the Sheraton Providence Airport hotel.
Cynthia Eid
Rob- A very fine goldsmith I used to work with Seng Au learned to
make Baht chains while he was living in a refugee camp in Thailand
many years ago. He could make just about anything with the most basic
minimum of tools.
When Seng would make a chain he’d make his own paste solder. He
would clean his files very carefully, place some news paper in his
bench pan and then start to file a very high temperature solder.
After filing he’d run a strong magnet through the filings to get rid
of any ferrous metal that may have come off of his file. He’d then
mix it in a small dish with paste flux. He had a small hand made
spatula that he would then use to add the paste solder to his chain
link joints.
I’ve spent many an hour watching him and marveling at his skills and
speed. He could make a beautiful chain in one day. Yup. One day.
Start to finish. Old school. No lasers, no tumblers. He’d use a draw
plate, a torch, two pair of pliers, two files, a charcoal block, a
burnisher and then maybe the buff.
I’ve worked with quite a number of Asian war refugees over the
years. The hardest, fastest, and most efficient working people I ever
worked with. I learned how to work at high speed from them with out
any wasted movements and never looking for tools. We’d crank out
hundreds of pieces a day. Too bad we got paid by the hour and not by
the piece in those days.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com
Hi Rob
I have read about, but never tried, filling the solder of choice and mixing the filings with powdered borax and water (possibly alcohol), to form a paste that can be brushed into the joint.
As you describe above, it is common for filigree artists to alloy
their own solder, file it to make fine filings and then mix it with
powdered borax for flux. Most filigree artists then sprinkle the
powdered mixture onto the filigree piece for soldering. Some brush it
on with water and others use water to make a paste which they then
smear onto the filigree work. All three methods work well on
filigree.
There are many possible recipes for making the solder. Many are kept
secret within families that have made filigree for generations.
In her DVD, Victoria Landsford provides a recipe and very clear
instructions for making filigree solder using Sterling silver,
copper, zinc and bronze.
I find that making filigree solder this way is very time consuming
and prefer to buy my solder in paste form from Rio Grande. You can
also buy the powdered form of solder directly from Victoria Landsford
or Rio Grande
Does anyone have any interesting filigree solder recipes that they
would like to share?
Regards
Milt
Calgary, Canada
Jo. interesting story about your refugee friend. Always love hearing
about metalsmiths that do so much with so little. All my
metalsmithing tools fit into 2 five gallon buckets. Enameling
material included. If I did not have a studio full of woodworking
tools then I could move in an hour. After a lifetime of working in
metal I have managed to still keep it simple. My grandfather was the
same way.
Chris
Way (way, way) back when I had a regular job at a jewelry factory,
paste solder was very common.
Generally, we used wire solder for production silversmithing because
it’sfaster than picking up individual pieces of solder and placeing
them, and keeping them in place. Paste has a similar problem in many
situations, where the solder can melt into balls that aren’t
necessarily where you need them. One company had a nice little setup
with compressed air, foot pedal switches, and syringes packed with
paste solder.
You would adjust the duration of the air burst with a dial,
according to how much solder you wanted. It was nice for certain
jobs. I used to satthe syringe up in a vise and (for instance) have
a board covered in ring tops, and a pile of shanks. Pick up a shank
with self-locking tweezers, zap it with some solder, and torch. then
repeat, repeatedly. More recently I’ve used it for soldering big
(thin)steel pieces to steel rods. Thin pieces in a row on a soldering
rack, dab of paste on each one, grab a stick/rod and set it on top of
the solder and torch, then move to the next piece. That was faster
than melting solder onto the thin piece, then heating again while
holding the rod in place.
DS
From Janet to Janet…
You might also want to try 1) dipping the hemisphere edges in liquid
flux and then powdered solder, or 2) dipping the hemisphere edges in
(clean, distilled) water and then into a combination of powdered
flux and powdered solder.
Janet in Jerusalem