I keep taking in repairs which involve rose gold pieces and every time I
do I regret it. For some reason I have an awful time getting rose gold
solder to flow. It always seems to turn into a putty that I have to push
where I want it. I can’t believe I’m getting a good joint. My question
is, is there a trick to working with rose gold solder that I’m not aware
of. I am using boric acid/alcohol as a firecoat and Batterns flux.
Naturally, all of the pieces I work with are thin and old, mostly
antiques, so I’m very cautious about heat. If anyone knows what I’m doing
wrong, I’d appreciate some help.
Hi Sharon:
The only thing I can think of is that your flux is old or somehow too
weak. I’d start with some fresh and make sure the metal is clean. There
is no reason why rose gold should be any different to solder than any
other color Hope this helps.
So I’m not the only one that loses teeth every time I try to work rose
gold. Hate to cast it. Use Hoover and Strong 14K rose solder, easy. Real
soft flame, a lot of flux (Battern’s), real clean and tight joint, and
still cry half the time.
Flush the Batterns and go to your local welding store and pick up some
Stay Silv white brazing flux. I use it on gold, silver and stainless - it
works great. Thin it with some water to make a thin paste. It protects far
better than any other flux I’ve used. I think you will see a world of
difference when soldering rose gold.
Flush the Batterns and go to your local welding store and pick up some
Stay Silv white brazing flux. I use it on gold, silver and stainless -
it works great. Thin it with some water to make a thin paste. It
protects far better than any other flux I’ve used. I think you will see
a world of difference when soldering rose gold.
My partner agrees. Hates the “damned green stuff”. Likes the solder flow
he gets when using white paste. Cheaper too. I like the green stuff well
enough seems to come off in the pickle easier.
Rose gold solder is just about the most infuriating solder
I’ve ever worked with! My experiences are similar to yours. But I can
offer the fewthings I’ve learned anyway; Forget Batterns flux, it just
doesn’t seem to work on rose gold at all. I use the classic Handy and
Harmon Paste flux known as Handi-flux. I’ve also used Harris’
“Sta-Silv”(available from welding suppliers more cheaply too!). Avoid
the garbage known as20 “Dan-Dix” I’ve never found it usable. Rose gold
solder doesn’t really “flow”, it seems to only melt or collapse directly
where it s placed. If you have an extended seam or joint to solder,
then you might be forced to use Yellow solder- hopefully it will be in
a place where its not too noticeable. Otherwise, use larger pallions
of solder than you normally would and be prepared to file allot.
Depending on the source of your solder, you might want to try either
over heating or under heating the solder. You’d be surprised at the
results! In some cases the solder pits badly and by actually over
heating the joint, the pits will dissipate! ( I know that this seems
counter-intuitive, but it works!)
Hope
this helps, Eben Lenz
I couldn’t agree more!! I’ve used just about every kind of flux;
Blue stuff, Batterns, Pripps (although this one is good for fire-scale
prevention) and White paste flux like Handi-flux and the product you’ve
named; Sta-Silv. This stuff is available at almost any welding supplier
for less than any jewelry supplier sells Handi-Flux. It seems to
":absorb" more oxidation than any thing! I’ve learned to use the
"stickiness" that paste fluxes provide to advantage. After heating the
flux carefully (so as not to have the bubbling action shift any thing)to
the point just before it goes glassy, I can gently pick up the two
pieces (to be soldered) and check their alignment for accuracy before
any thing is soldered together. this eliminates the annoying problem of
un-soldering missaligned parts. I’ve never found Batterns (or any
"self-pickling" flux) to be capable of this kind of use.
Paste flux can also be used to “clean” things. I’ve used it to
absorb oxides from ingots. If you’ve ever torched a diamond that you
"thought" was clean and found out otherwise, you know that the ugly
brown stain can be difficult to remove. I liberally coat the "dirty"
stone with paste flux and slowly heat it until the flux turns glassy.
After letting it slowly cool down to room temperature, I then let the
pickle dissolve the flux and dirt away!
I do recall, however, there was once a product called “Dan-Dix”
(maybe Dixon’s attempt at Handi-Flux?). This paste flux is utter
garbage! Avoid it.