Hello,
I’m new at this so any hint in the right direction would be great.
For part of a necklace I’m making, I’d like to put a stone on a gold
wire jump ring. I’ve been told I can’t solder the ring closed
because the stone will crack. Is there any other way to close the
jump ring? or a way to get around the stone so I can solder the
ring?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah
For part of a necklace I'm making, I'd like to put a stone on a gold wire jump ring. I've been told I can't solder the ring closed because the stone will crack. Is there any other way to close the jump ring? or a way to get around the stone so I can solder the ring?
I have 2 ideas on this and, as everyone knows I am a beginner, I am
writing to test my ingenuity. If anyone has input on what I say,
please feel free to chime in.
When you describe your project, I am thinking of a fairly large jump
that threads into a bead horizontally.
Idea 1. Go ahead and thread the bead onto the jump ring and keep the
opening of the jump at the top. Make sure that the two ends of the
jump ring are completely meeting. Hold this configuration with a
third hand. Take a small pan of water and put it under the bead/jump
ring combo. If the bead is held under the water and the jump ring is
held exposed above the water, you should be able to solder without
cracking the bead. You may need a very small torch (are they called
micro torches or mini torches?) in order to do it though.
Idea 2. Thread the bead onto the jump ring and move the opening
inside the bead. Gently, hammer the ring to flatten slightly (or
hammer more depending on the texture you like) and prevent it from
allowing the opening of the jump ring to come back out again. I
believe your beads need to have small holes to do this and you would
need a pretty precise tool to hammer fairly close to the bead.
Good Luck
Kim
Hello Sarah,
I'd like to put a stone on a gold wire jump ring. I've been told I can't solder the ring closed because the stone will crack.
Should we assume that you are talking about a stone bead? If that’s
the case, and the ring is at least 10mm diameter, how you do it will
depend on the stone. A pearl needs every bit of protection possible,
a garnet is pretty heat tolerant.
The safest way to solder the ring closed will be to submerge the
portion with the bead in a shallow container of water and sand. The
sand serves as a “third hand” and the water cools things off. Cover
the bead with the wet sand. Your joint should be at the highest point
above the wet sand. Since gold doesn’t transmit heat like silver, you
should be able to quickly solder the joint.
Someone will probably suggest using wet tissue to wrap the bead and
lower half of the wire - I’ve not tried that, but I’ll bet it works
too… especially if you flow solder onto one side of the joint
before adding the bead. Then all you’ve got to do is close the joint,
flux, and heat it enough to draw the solder to the other side.
Let us know how things turn out, OK?
Judy in Kansas
Sarah,
There are several ways to do it. One way is to pack the stone in wet
Kleenex or similar absorbant tissue and solder with a small hot
flame, such as you get with a Smith “Little Torch” and a #3 or #4
tip, depending on the size of the jump ring. You can also pack it
with “Kool Jool” or a similar commercial heat shield. Depending on
the heat sensitivity of your particular stone, you may be able to
just hold the jump ring in a pair of soldering tweezers and solder
with a tight hot flame.
Jerry in Kodiak
Gently, hammer the ring to flatten slightly (or hammer more depending on the texture you like) and prevent it from allowing the opening of the jump ring to come back out again. I believe your beads need to have small holes to do this and you would need a pretty precise tool to hammer fairly close to the bead.
I really like this idea and have tried to do similar things. My
craziest habit is hammering jumprings so the the flat surface is
oriented as it would be on a finger ring, but it’s hell to find
mandrels that work for this–I have used nails, mostly. But what if
the ring is already attached to something? Do I need a third hand the
size of a pin!
So, what is the recommended “precise tool” for this kind of fussy
hammering? Is there one that, like a hammer, can be operated with one
hand?
Lisa Orlando
Albion, CA, US
Hi Sarah, You don’t say how thick the jump ring wire is or the
diameter of the ring. If the wire is under a millimeter and the ring
over 6mm or so, it should be no problem. Position the ring upright
with the seam up and the stone at the bottom in a pool of water. If
you have one, a dapping block if perfect to hold the water. Be sure
to dry it out when you are thru. Use flux and easy solder of the
proper type. Pick the solder up with a poker, hold it against the
seam and use your torch to melt it as quickly as possible. If the
water steams away, stop and refill the sontainer. You must keep the
stone under the water’s surface at all times. Hold the torch as low
as possible and try to point it up at the ring, not held high and
pointed down towards the water. It takes longer to say all this than
to do it.
Have fun. Tom Arnold
Dear Sarah:
This is a common task which can be easily done with a little
preparation. You can also ball the ends of wire which have been
passed through the stone. Something I and our customers do all the
time. Bury your stone in= wet soldering grains, with only a portion
of the loop and the solder joint sticking up straight up and out of
the wet grains. Soldering grains are readily available from a number
of tool supply companies (bought mine from Gesswein, see catalog). I
use a Spirflame[tm] (our firm) which provides a perfect two part
Hydro= gen to one part oxygen flame in a very easy to adjust,
whatever size is needed from microscopic to large. Not only the flame
sizes, but flame temperatures can be adjusted. Perfectly proportioned
hydrogen/oygen flames produce only axial heat, all the heat out in
front, no heat on the sides of the flame which is very handy for
most benchwork. I have even soldered and welded platinum jump rings
which ran through sensitive stones. Melting a ring or breaking a
stone is a very, very rare event during this process. And we have a
number of customers doing exactly the same thing who I could refer
you to, off line. It should also be stated, this is not the only way
to do this, just the easiest. With skill it can be done with a
regular torch, although it is less precise and not as easy. It can be
tack welded and it can also be done by a laser without using
soldering grains, but at a higher cost. If you would like additional
on this technique, please feel free to contact me
directly on my 800 line or by E-mail listed below.
Best Regards, Gary
Gary W. Miller, Sr. Technical Advisor
Spirig Advanced Technologies, Inc. Technical Division
35 Bronson Road Stratford, CT 06614-3654 U. S. A.
Telephone: 800 499 9933/203 378 5216 Fax: 203 386 1346
www.spirig.com
Hi Lisa
So, what is the recommended "precise tool" for this kind of fussy hammering? Is there one that, like a hammer, can be operated with one hand?
I was thinking along the lines of a big nail. Cut the end off a big
nail at a 45 degree angle and sand it smooth. Hold the jumpring (with
bead attached) so that the jumpring lies flat on the surface and the
bead hangs over the edge. Tape this configuration in place. Hold the
nail (at the 45 degree angle) close to bead and gently hammer… The
45 degree angle may not be necessary (I’ve never done it but just
thinking) and it may not even work. It may have the tendency to push
the metal sideways instead of hammering flat. You (I) would have to
experiment.
Kim
p.s Maybe you can do the hammering of one end first? Then bend around
a small mandrel and insert ends in to bead. Then hammer as above the
remaining end?
Lisa, I have two nail punches purchased from the local hardware
store. They make great small round mandrels. Mine go from 2mm to
9mm. On one of them, I cut a small slot going up the length. The
slot is, more or less, a mm deep and a mm wide. I can slide a jump
ring up on it that has a charm or pendant jump ring hanging from the
bottom. This second loop does not get in my way and I am free to
hammer away on the loose one. I must admit that this tiny grooved
mandrel was thought up during a moment of stress, as are most ideas.
Take care. Tom arnold
You just have to do it in the right order. Do all your soldering
first, do any of your hammering next, then put the stone in last.
Dori