Soldering stainless steel jump rings

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello!

I am new at this “asking a question in this forum” , please bear with me if I do anything wrong. Thanks!

My question is what is the best way to solder stainless steel and can it be done with a propane torch? I have a new design and need to solder jump rings and blank stock all in using stainless steel.

Thanks

Lary

2

Laser machine and PUK works well for staineless steel jump ring.

3

Thank you for your suggestion, unfortunately I have access to only a propane torch.

Thanks

Lary1047

4

Please have a look on other threads about stainless steel soldering in the forum. Some members have good advice for the right flux and solder for it. Cheers.

5

Yes, the short answer.
It has been a long time, since I began laser welding I have not done it in over 30 years.
You need a Flux designed for soldering stainless. , and a quick Google search shows several availbe for this.

6

About 30 years ago or so my wife had a stainless steel bracelet where the jump ring wore through and needed to be replaced. Being a fixer and a maker, I thought I could easily fix the problem by silver soldering a new stainless steel (SS) jump ring. I had a heck of a time, so I looked for an approachable welding class in the area. I had no luck there, but found that a community college had jewelry classes, so I enrolled and the rest is history. Been making jewelry ever since.
Back to your question about soldering jump rings. I found that I was able to easily hard solder SS jump rings with standard silver solder flux (the kind with the nasty fluorides). The hard part is the torch. I think the only thing I had back then was a Radio Shack Archer microflame mini-torch (like this Quick-ish Fix: Microflame Torch - YouTube or this Vintage Microflame Gas Welding Torch Kit in Original Hard Shell Box NOS #4400 | #1849948245). I do not recommend this torch! Gas was super expensive. I also did a few with a Blazer butane torch. Nowadays I just use a PUK or ABI Tack welder. The trick to learning to weld/solder is just to try and fail many times until you get it right. SS jump rings are cheap. I respect the replies that recommend a specific SS flux, I assume that that works much better.
.

7

Good Morning!

Thank you for your great info.

Lary1047

8

When I’m soldering anything difficult, I do it on a charcoal block, it creates a small reducing atmosphere around the piece. I’ve not soldered stainless steel all that much, but I’d bet certain alloys of stainless steel take solder better than others. A propane torch could work, depending upon the thickness of the stainless you’re trying to solder, I don’t find the fuel of the heat source to be all that important That being said, I use oxy/acetylene, which has a high flame temp, for sizing quickly, it’s dirty though.