Hi, a customer has brought in a ring which has petrified wood set in
it. The solder join has split so it needs re-soldering. Can I leave
the petrified wood in it while I solder or will that damage it?
Regards,
Mary
remove the stone
john
Hi Mary,
Without seeing the ring–take it out, especially if it’s a silver
ring. Or get someone to laser it back together. I do not believe the
petrified wood will take the heat as it is now stone material with
probably a quartz base…
Better to be cautious & safe!!!
Ciao from SF CA,
Jo-ann Maggiora Donivan
donivanandmaggiora.com
Mary- It depends. Is it gold or silver? Where is the break? If the
break is in the bottom of the shank and it is light weight enough you
can pack the petrified wood with a heat shield product and get int
here and solder fast and quench in water immediately.
It’s a little risky though.
If you have a laser, tig, or pulse arc welder or a friend who has
one that may be the way to go. I’d avoid the pickle and sonic as
well.
I never solder on anything I can’t replace.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen. com
... Can I leave the petrified wood in it while I solder or will that damage it?
Mary, you treat the petrified wood as you would do with any agate or
chalcedony.
That means you cannot get it hot, and silver transmits heat very
well. The traditional answer is to remove the stone. Whether you need
to do this depends to a good degree on what type of torch you have.
If you’re working with a little torch, using propane or natural gas
and oxygen, then you don’t have enough heat to do this safely. If
it’s oxy/acetylene, or you’ve got something larger like a meco
midget, any fuel plus oxygen, then you don’t have to remove the
stone. The method is to use a really fail safe heat sink. That means
the stone, and the top half of the ring, is under water. Get a
smallish tin can (tuna can, cat food can, etc, works well, but
anything, really. Fill with water. Set up your third hand so it holds
the ring upside down, with the stone and top half of the ring totally
immersed. Flux and place your solder, and proceed to resolder the
joint.
Silver (I’m assuming the ring is silver, right?) conducts heat
extremely well, so you will find it surprisingly difficult to get the
seam hot enough to melt the solder. Often, doing this with heavier
shanks, you might have that torch cranked up to a flame that could
weld the seam on a platinum ring, and the silver solder will just
barely melt. Don’t be afraid of getting it too hot. With that can of
water there (which might be boiling happily by the time the solder
melts. Careful not to scald yourself), the top half of the ring and
the stone will never get over 212 degrees F, and will be trying hard
to chill the rest of the ring too, thus the need for a very hot
flame. But you can do this safely using this setup, if your torch is
hot enough. If it isn’t, then you’ll have to pull the stone to fix
the seam. Wear some sort of eye protection in case the water sizzles
too much and spits or spatters. Have fun.
Peter
Can I leave the petrified wood in it while I solder or will that damage it?
If you damage it with the torch, can you replace it? If not, take it
out.
Paf Dvorak