Specifics of soldering

This is great, except that it like a recipe for rhinoceros stew. How
does one make rhinoceros stew? Start with 5 pounds of fresh
rhinoceros and proceed. Never there is a mention of where to get
fresh rhinoceros.

Practice without theoretical understanding is a waste of time. Some
skills could be gained but it is exceptionally unproductive way.
Soldering requires practice where it is difficult to achieve even
heating. Basic soldering requires understanding and not practice.
There is really nothing to practice. If one pays attention to the
sequence of steps, good results should follow almost right away. If
one can produce a simple joint, that is basic soldering, but if one
cannot than practicing failures only results in frustration.

Leonid Surpin

I'm sure you would agree that there is a difference between
complexity and difficulty. While I believe that soldering is
simple, the mastery of it's perfection and the intricacies involved
in soldering can, indeed, be complex. 

I agree with that. Difficulty and complexity are two different
things. The whole art of goldsmithing is complex, but not difficult
providing that correct sequence of steps is always followed. The
difficulty lies in knowing what that sequence is.

Leonid Surpin

Hello,

My last comment on this subject.

I’ve learned soldering about 20 years ago in a class with other
students. I mastered the basic soldering procedure rather pretty
quick.

I remember a student who needed months (!) to learn the basic skill.
Her pieces kept on collapsing because she didn’t recognized the
warning of the metal color.

Soldering was not difficult to me but ask that person how easy it
was for her.

Now I teached others how to solder and the same happends.

Many of you give excellent but it’s up to the person who
need to understand YOUR approach and transfer them into HIS/HER
practice. If one don’t know the sign’s of overheated metal, his/her
object is subject to collapse…period.

Overheating is just one little detail of the soldering procedure and
there are more.

If everything is perfect, the solder will flow before you notice. The
trouble is to have the perfect conditions everytime on all soldering
operations despite different thickness and sizes.

As I mentioned before, try to retip a prong of 1/2 mm which is just
"another" soldering operation.

Following Richards directions being “Flux, place solder in place and
heat where you wont the solder to flow. The solder flows and that is
it!”

What about preheating the piece Richard, what about solder which
doesn’t like to flow or not complete, what about solderjoints
producing pits, the generating of copperoxydul, using the correct
amount of solder, using the correct flame, distance between flame and
joint, etc?

Heat, melt and flow, sure, that’s easy but it’s not alway’s like
that and one needs to know what to do or how to prefend a problem
before running into trouble.

If you’re in trouble, how do you get out?

For all the reasons I mentioned (or haven’t) I dear to write that
soldering is not that easy for a beginner.

I encourage beginners to get into the soldering procedure but there
is much to learn about it. I don’t make the day brighter as it is.

Everything is difficult before it becomes easy

Have fun and enjoy
Pedro

Hello,

If I might add a bit on learning to solder. Even though it seems
wasteful, plan to melt some bits of silver. As the metal heats,
watch the color and note what the metal looks like just before it
melts. Actually, this is NOT wasteful as the bits will form nice
spheres that can be used in your designs.

Now put the edges of two bits together, flux, apply solder and heat
until the solder flows. Be aware of these two indications of
soldering temperatuRe:

  1. the metal color with which you should be familiar (after your
    observations of melting) and

  2. the flux becoming clear and liquid.

Repeat until you feel confident about handling the torch.

Think of this as an experiment followed by applying the principles
learned during practice.

Along the way you will observe and apply some basic principles:

  1. the hottest part of the flame is just beyond the blue point,

  2. it is necessary to pass the flame continually over the entire
    piece of silver (unless you are using Argentium, which acts more like
    gold when soldering) to bring it up to soldering temperature,

  3. the appearance of solder as it flows,

  4. how you can “paint” with the flame to pull solder along a hot
    joint, and

  5. to pull the flame off immediately after the solder flows.

Certainly having a teacher to demonstrate shortens the learning
curve, but successful soldering is still the product of practice.
Sooooo, practice, practice, practice!

Judy in Kansas, where the campus is cheerful after a satisfying
football win.

Following Richards directions being "Flux, place solder in place
and heat where you wont the solder to flow. The solder flows and
that is it!

What about preheating the piece Richard, what about solder which
doesn’t like to flow or not complete, what about solderjoints
producing pits, the generating of copperoxydul, using the correct
amount of solder, using the correct flame, distance between flame and
joint, etc?

This was the very basics. In a previous post I gave detailed
instructions, including preheating. For beginners trial and error is
the most useful experience. So Pedro if your solder does not flow you
need more heat. If you get pits more flux less solder or you have not
applied the heat correctly.

Copper oxide is too much heat for too long, not a problem if you
know how to file/sand it off, also this is what pickle is for.
Correct amount of solder a little goes a long way. Correct flame
depends on the torch + practise.

In Australia we call complicating things Bullshit and on this point
I agree with those who say try it and learn. Leonid looking at your
torch design I can see what you think soldering is difficult. So
here we go again.

OK newbies and all you experts.

Soldering 101. To make a ring.

Take a piece of sterling stock such as 4mm by 2mm half round wire
say 60mm long.

Anneal. Turn the lights out and heat to dark cherry red.

Let it cool to the point you can pick it up in your fingers. Touch
it and if you can count to three it wont burn you.

File the ends to true them up.

Bend round a ring mandrel. Into a U shape. It does not have to be
exactly even.

Still using the mandrel to hold the metal. OK you have a U shaped
piece of metal with the mandrel in it. Put it on a piece of wood.

Get your leather mallet and hammer into a D shape so the ends meet.

Anneal again to “relax” the metal, otherwise when you come to solder
the metal will relax and create a gap.

Butt metal up tight.

Cut through the join with your saw. This will give clean metal
surfaces for soldering.

Re butt the metal up together. As obviously you have removed some
metal.

You may need to use pliers etc to get the metal together again. 4mm
by 2mm sterling half round is in silversmithing land and can be
difficult for newbies to move. This is the point where you will find
if you have what it takes to be a silversmith.

Newbies this WILL drive you crazy.

If this is too hard use 2mm by 1mm half round, but the ring in
sterling will lack strength and is not strong enough to set a bezel
into.

Even though you will see these dimensions in chainstores especially
those that specialise in repairs. Yep newbies they make stuff they
KNOW will need to be repaired some time soon. The point here is
soldering technique and 2mm by 1mm half round rings are pretty and
salable. They are stackable and great as keepers to hold heavy rings
in place.

Hold up to light, if you can not see light through the join you are
ready to solder. If you see light re saw and butt up again till you
can’t see any light.

Lay it flat on the soldering block cut a piece of solder. OK newbies
cut the smallest piece of solder you can.

Flux.

Warm the ring.

Ball up solder and put on pick. If you don’t have a pick put the
solder on top of the join.

Heat the ring. Watch carefully the solder will often move a little
and need to be put back into place.

Aim flame at the bottom of the join.

Solder flows from top to bottom of join. This is due to capillary
action.

Remove heat. Turn ring over heat again on the inside till the inside
solder line gleams.

Let cool then pickle.

Put back on mandrel and hammer round. Turn ring around and hammer
again. The ring mandrel is tapered.

You now have a round ring.

Time to put in fineness mark, 925 for sterling. Use the biggest
hammer you have, not a polished hammer, a basic heavy metal mallet is
fine and cheap and available from any hardware store. Heavy hammers
will stop the stamp from ‘wandering’ and giving you a double mark. If
you hit too hard you may need to re round your ring.

Remove tool marks and firescale.

Polish with tripoli and wash clean, use dish washing liquid and warm
water if you don’t have an ultra sonic.

Give final polish I use hyperfin. Re clean.

You now have a piece of jewellery you can sell. Half round rings are
very popular, people like the simplicity.

Newbies you don’t need expensive equipment to make these rings. A
basic butane torch will do it.

Personally I use 1mm round solder wire and hold it in tweezers and
touch it to the top of the metal join to solder. This comes with
practise. If I am going to do a run of bezel set rings I can make 10
rings, pre-polish in an hour, that’s what you get after a few
decades of practise, with its many failures.

What sought of torch do I use? I use a silversmiths brazing torch
using bellows and runs on LPG gas. OK I am a dinosaur. I can use a
big low temp flame for annealing and warming metal. When I push down
hard on the bellows the flame contracts to a small point and so
concentrates heat.

To finish let me quote, like Old Bur, from someone wiser than all of
us Laozi who wrote the Daodejing (Tao te Ching)

The first line can be translated as:

THE ULTIMATE TEACHING CANNOT BE TAUGHT

Only when one does something for oneself has one really learned!

TTFN
Richard

Michelle, I really have to disagree with your statement that any
torch can do anything with enough “skill”. Think of it like a pan of
water on the hob. Too small a flame for too large a pan, and the
water won’t boil. Put a lid on it, and you reduce the heat lost, so
boiling is more likely. In metalworking terms, if you have too small
a flame, the item you are soldering will lose heat to the air around
it faster than you are heating it up. Your options are to use a
bigger torch (or a better flame) to add more heat, or do something to
create a “furnace” effect, using fire bricks or even making an est
out of charcoal (that’s the equivalent of putting a lid on the pan).

Everything is system :slight_smile:
Jamie Hall
www.primitivemethod.org

I am going to add my comment to soldering again. I like to use
analogy, it is pretty easy to make a cake from a box, and use box
frosting, but everyone will know it came from a box. Just like making
jewelry, you can do the basics, and it will still be appreciated.

But, if you want to make original designs, or, a say, angel food
cake, or wedding cake, it takes a bit more than a good recipe. It
demands the right equipment. And, sometimes that equipment can be
very expensive, but you will never reach your goal with wrong
equipment. The tough part is when you need to be conservative with
money, and careful not to buy more than you need, and what will work
for you.

An egg beater (essential to make a great cake) can cost anywhere
from 2 dollars to hundreds. Both work, depending on what you want
the final outcome to be. Same thing with the torch.

To find out which is best for you, you have to do the research. And,
always remember to “hold your mouth right”

Roxy

But, if you want to make original designs, or, a say, angel food
cake, or wedding cake, it takes a bit more than a good recipe. It
demands the right equipment. And, sometimes that equipment can be
very expensive" 

This analogy does not make sense to me and I completely disagree.
There is no reason at all why soldering should be expensive; all you
need is a half decent torch. And one thing I really like, although
even that is not strictly necessary: a compressed charcoal block. It
will last for an unbelievably long time if you do not abuse it. You
need several sorts of fluxes. All the rest you can make yourself from
iron wire or whatever. When I started up, long time ago, I had no
money to spend on anything, but I could solder the crown jewels
together if necessary. I never spend any money on soldering
equipment. You do not need it. It’s often the case that jewellers
will start collecting all sorts of tools and gadgets.

Forget it. The golden rule is to keep it as elementary as possible.
These things won’t help you. If you want a third hand, fine. But what
else do you really need? Nothing. Of course, the jewellery tools
businesses will tell you the contrary, the more overpriced stuff you
buy the better, but none of it won’t make you one bit into a better
goldsmith. What you need is technique. That’s what you need to
concentrate upon. Not tools. The same goes for cooking. And for
anything else. The contrary is just an illusion.

Jacques

Jamie,

Nowhere did I say all torches will do everything. But for basic
soldering of jewelry, I haven’t seen a problem yet. It’s why I use
different torches myself. The Smith Little Torch does a lousy job at
annealing. Even with the rosebud tip. So I prefer to use the
oxy/actl plumber’s torch I have for that. But the plumber’s torch
doesn’t do a good job in tight places, hence the Little Torch. I use
the butane when I’m at my other bench and don’t want to start up the
Little Torch for a quick solder or if I’m out of the studio.

Michele

This is my first post and a subject that has caused me more angst
than any jewelry technique that I have tried in my short
career/hobby. I finally had a breakthrough about a month ago and can
only say that practice makes perfect. I burned (literally) through a
substantial quantity of silver sheet and bezel wire before achieving
success. Thank heavens for Rio’s silver recycling service! My
experience take aways are patience, meticulous prep work (clean
metal, perfect bezel wire seams, paste flux, absolute contact between
the bezel and sheet metal) and restraint. I ruined many pieces by
overheating and my desire to make sure that the solder joint was
"cooked" but good. YouTube is a great resource to find video
instruction for soldering techniques. Keep trying - it is such a
rewarding feeling when you create your first bezel set piece of
jewelry. Sincerely Andrea Krause

But, if you want to make original designs, or, a say, angel food
cake, or wedding cake, it takes a bit more than a good recipe. It
demands the right equipment. And, sometimes that equipment can be
very expensive

Bolderdash! One can cook the perfect cake in ANY oven. I’ve even
made one in a toaster oven. One doesn’t need a high priced convection
oven with fancy mixing tools, expensive pans or anything costly. More
important are the ingredients, how you mix them and cooking
time/temp. Same goes for soldering. Good materials, well prepared and
the right temp/time and you’re good to go.

Please, people, stop making it seem like rocket science. It takes
awhile to get it just right, but it’s not the tools that make the
master, it’s the knowledge and skill that comes with time and
actually doing. Else how did they make such fine jewelry before the
advent of the Little Torch or Lasers? Could you not make a piece of
fine, original jewelry if you only had a blow torch and hammer from
the hardware store? Of course you can. Learn to use the torch,
reshape the hammer to your liking and have at it. Buy the best
ingredients (silver, solder, flux) or even make your own. That and
your practiced skills will help you create your finished product.

Of this, I’m sure even Leonid agrees with me.

Michele

But, if you want to make original designs, or, a say, angel food
cake, or wedding cake, it takes a bit more than a good recipe. It
demands the right equipment. And, sometimes that equipment can be
very expensive 

Bolderdash! One can cook the perfect cake in ANY oven. I’ve even
made one in a toaster oven. One doesn’t need a high priced convection
oven with fancy mixing tools, expensive pans or anything costly. More
important are the ingredients, how you mix them and cooking
time/temp. Same goes for soldering. Good materials, well prepared and
the right temp/time and you’re good to go.

Yes, of course you can bake a cake in a toaster oven, and it will
look as if you baked it in a toaster oven. If you have a burning
desire (sorry the pun was an accident) to make wedding cakes to sell
for thousands of dollars, you MUST invest in good equipment. If you
want to make jewelry for friends, yourself, to sell locally, yes,
probably any torch from thehardware store will work. But, if you want
to do exquisite work, to sell for thousands, you need the right
equipment.

I say this from the experience of trying to do what I wanted with a
plumbers torch for years. There was no way to control the flame. It
is much easier to control the torch to “the right temp” if you are
using a torch designed for that. I finally got a Smith Little Torch,
and I can already tell it will make all the difference in the world.
Huge. For me, this was an investment in “expensive equipment”.
Someone gave me the other torch. All I am talking about is torches.
Yes, anyone who has a craft can get overboard on fancy useless tools.

Roxy

Expensive equipment to solder no way!

You have to learn to use what you have. My daughter specialises in
bezel set cab earrings.

She uses a $75 mini torch that runs on cigarette lighter gas. It is
often used by chefs to melt the sugar on creme brulee.

The gas costs $6.50 for a refill can. You get about 50 pairs from a
can. My complete set up brazing torch and LPG bottle and bellows
$300. With this I can solder everything I need from delicate rings to
big reticulated bangles.

Jewellery tool suppliers are in the business of selling tools.

Use what you have and spend on metal and gems not tools.

Richard

Please, people, stop making it seem like rocket science. It takes
awhile to get it just right, but it's not the tools that make the
master, it's the knowledge and skill that comes with time and
actually doing. Else how did they make such fine jewelry before
the advent of the Little Torch or Lasers? Could you not make a
piece of fine, original jewelry if you only had a blow torch and
hammer from the hardware store? Of course you can. Learn to use the
torch, reshape the hammer to your liking and have at it. Buy the
best ingredients (silver, solder, flux) or even make your own. That
and your practiced skills will help you create your finished
product. 

I have to agree that tools are JUST tools. Good tools certainly can
make doing any project easier, faster, etc, but the most primitive
tool, in the hands of a skilled crafts-person can produce works of
true art, while the best tools on earth won’t get you to that point
until you have mastered the skills. Mastering something like
soldering is not rocket science, but it certainly requires lots of
experience, trial and error, and learning from those errors until you
develop both the eye and the touch. A good teacher can really
shorten the learning curve, but plenty of crafts people have learned
on their own from books, and more recently, videos, and gone on to
master the skills by practice and repetition.

That being said, I was taught to solder with a brazing tip…just
huge! Since I didn’t know better, I just adjusted what I was doing
and had a bunch of failures. My first ring was 4 wraps of heavy
copper wire with a very small sterling bezel on top. Like this
picture, but in copper. If I knew what I know now, I never would
have attempted it!

Esta Jo Schifter