Beth,
It is not necessary to pickle after every join...provided you have
prepared the pieces correctly, haven't overheated the metal and the
joins continue to fit properly. Often after soldering - say a bezel
to a backplate - you may get a bit of warping that must be repaired
before continuing. In such a situation, I would completely clean the
piece and re-prepare the metal. Remember this though, if you are
working on a piece that has 6 or 8 or 10 joins on it and as each is
done there are areas that become unaccessable or less accessable to
you to perform smoothing and polishing, it is advisable to do the
clean up before adding the additional piece. As you gain experience
there should be less need to do this as your joins will become
cleaner and neat. But, if there is any possibility of ending up
with an area that you can't get into, stop, clean and polish the area
and then continue.
There is no need to put the piece into hot water after completing a
join if you plan to do a second right away. The water can remove the
Prip's and expose the metal to scale. Just add a bit more borax or
Battern's (or what ever your are using for your soldering flux) and
do the next join.
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry! @coralnut2
