Quality Charcoal soldering Board that is actually decently priced

Jewelry Discussion
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Hello all who run across my little topic page here, Please Forgive me for my uncertainty of wording among probably just about everything else but in my defense I am literally 100% new to any/all of this . . That been said I’m curious to hear what some of the more elite members might think of whether this Would It blow up in my face if I was to actually make excellent quality charcoal blocks, even try to accommodate personal requests to the best of my ability HowEver actually do so at what would certainly be better price points than I have found even for lower quality, I am just curious as to hear what any members who care to comment or even elaborate W/ personal ideas or opinions all are absolutely PERFECTLY welcome & encouraged . . I’m BRANDNEW to all of this so just tryin to find some actual GENUINE ADVICE but this one really seems to be a bit of an issue for most in one way or another & now my curiosity is flowin LoL ThankYou for takin the time to read what is infact my VERY FIRST attempt at attempting to create a topic I believe would hit home for most of all jewelry creators …

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I bought one , a rectangular block hard charcoal in the 90’s from riogrande. i’m still using it. don’t recall the price but it was inexpensive.
Kent

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Hey Kent, maybe its due to my not being an actual licensed, business or in reality not really much more than just a big shiny mess maker @ this point LoL but seems like I pay a bit more for this because I honestly can’t remember what I paid for the first one I purchased from also RioGrand I felt like it was a bit much considering it actually lasted me about a month probably less . . Granted I did use it too no end (least till it turned to dust Ha!Ha!) But I also just bought 2 more of the largest available thru them & I’m gonna haftta double check as to not unintentionally say wrong info on what I actually paid this time but I can say I can’t help feelin like it could be a bit better . . Again tho I’m literally just a preschooler possibly even an infant next to just about & or if not everyone else who are on here so just felt that might maybe could have been a decently dumb way for me to make my first attempt at becoming a part of the community . . So ThankYou for replying to my post I guess I’m “Officially a part of the community” now LoL
Thanks again
Steven …

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I keep a block of both hard and soft charcoal on my bench. Actually they are in an old tin as they can be messy. They both have their place plus they can create a reducing environment around the piece that you are soldering cutting down on fire scale. Soft will easily break and come apart. You can carve it to form unique shapes to pour melted metal into, think balling up scrap. You can also push pieces into soft charcoal to hold it in a specific orientation. I will also carve hard charcoal into different shapes to help hold pieces in a specific orientation to solder them together. I keep an old flat paver block on my bench and use it to smooth the surface of a block of charcoal if it is needed. This is very messy and you might want to do it outside. They should be readily available from the usual places like Rio Grande, Otto Frei, Contenti, Gesswein and others. I can’t comment on price, but they are some of the less expensive tools that you will buy. Others should have more ideas about what to buy and how to use it. Good luck…Rob

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You say “board”. I’ve only seen blocks. Is this something different?

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As Rob said, there’s two styles of charcoal blocks. Compressed and non-compressed. Compressed lasts longer and non-compressed are softer so you can put pins or whatever in them.

Otto Frei has a great explanation of how to treat your charcoal blocks to make them last longer. With all charcoal blocks it’s best if you wrap them with binding wire before using.

Compressed Charcoal Blocks

Soft Charcoal Blocks

Hope that helps!

Jeff

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I forgot to say, for me, I use Solderite boards for most of my soldering needs. I have both the hard and soft kinds. They last for a fairly long time.

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No worries, most my solder jobs are wire / wire basket settings.knocked it on the floor it broke in half now I got 2.!
I got white solder board too, can’t see any difference for soldering anything I do.
Good luck

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Thats what i just added to my shop and i love them. I still have my charcoal block i beliebe i got at pepe for higher heat needs but im loving my solderite blocks and boards.

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I just got these from Rio and really like them.

Skamolex Vermiculite Soldering Block, 5-1/2" x 2-3/4"

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