Pripps Flux

Jewelry Discussion
1

Pripps Flux:

Borax (Sodium diborate)30g
di-Sodium Hydrogen Phosphate (Na2HPO4)30g
Boric Acid 44g
Water to500mls

Get your local pharmacist to make it up for you.

Use a child’s paint brush to coat the cleaned areas on all
surfaces to be joined and any other areas of silver to be
protected. Heat gently with a torch (gas-air is all that’s
necessary) until the treated areas are all uniformly white, place
the pieces of silver-solder in position then heat strongly. The
flux goes transparent just before the solder melts, and if the
parts to be joined are in close contact, the solder will suddenly
flash and the job is done. Pickle the work in your usual pickle.

    /\
   / /    John Burgess, 
  / /
 / //\    johnb@ts.co.nz
/ / \ \

/ (___)
(_________)

2 
Could you possibly send to me the method that you use to
prepare Pripps flux?

Bernie: the formula for Pripps is in alot of books but here’s
the basics…here is formula for firescale 90grams boric acid
(get it at your local pharmacy), 60 grams borax (20 mule team,
good old cheap borax) , 60 grams trisodium phosphate put all this
in one qt. water heat untill clear. Trisodium phosphate (TSP) is
hard to get now because its a polluter style cleaner. If you have
a beer brewing supply place near you they carry it for cleaning
beer bottles. The stuff in the hardware is seldom TSP and is a
substitute that doesn’t work. The amount of water isn’t
important, don’t water it down too much or it will go on too
thin. Get a mouth atmoizer at your local art store. I used an old
vitamin bottle to put some in, drilled a hole in the cap and
stuck the atomizer in the cap and bottle. Heat your piece up a
bit and blow a coating on. Heat it again and blow some more on
to get a good coating. Use regular flux on your solder joints.
Pripps works as well or better than anything commercial I’ve ever
tried…Dave

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