Soldering gold filled wire

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello Everyone,

I need your suggestions on soldering gold filled wire. I am
planning to try my hand at weaving a cuff bracelet out of 20g GF.
(The sterling version turned out OK ). I would like to finish the
ends by soldering a “coil” of 3 or 4 strands of GF wire at each end.
My questions:

  1. What is the best solder that I should use on GF .

  2. Can I pickle it in Sparex?

  3. Does air cooling the cuff after soldering (as opposed to
    quenching) maintain the work hardened condition?

And finally…Do you resourceful people have any suggestions on how
to best “end” weave work? I was not able to find any cold
techniques that look professional. My SS version is cold finished.
It has the ends folded in and a few of the weaving strands wrapped
around the folded ends. It looks a bit too…homemade but it’s clean
and strong. I want something better for the GF version though.

Thank you!
Irina

2

I’m sure you’ll get a wealth of replies and to your post
from folks who are much more knowledgeable than me. One thing that I
do know is that gold filled wire generally should not be soldered. It
is meant for wire wrapping, which normally means no soldering or
gluing is involved. The reason solder is normally not done on gold
filled wire is the way gold filled wire is made. The gold layer is
pressed or rolled over the core. When heat is applied, the gold melts
off at a different rate than the core which basically renders a
pretty much useless mess.

Having said that, I’ve seen items that have been soldered and are
labeled gold fill. Toggles come to mind. Confusing at best.

Betty
www.thecyrusco.com