Hello Bronnie,
In response to your recent posting - it is important to understand
that gold likes to fuse (alloy) with silver at soldering temps.
Rather like touching a hot knife to ice cream. It will sorta’ sink
into the silver. Therefore, it is not desirable to have the gold the
same temp as the silver. Reticulating the silver should never
happen, because that means you are close to the melting point and
the gold has combined with the silver.
I have the best results if I ‘tin’ Argentium EASY solder on the gold
before soldering to the silver.
Be sure to have a good fit with no gaps between the gold accent and
the base, and to use flux on the gold before tinning the solder. (I
like Argentium solder because it melts at lower temperatures than
standard Sterling solder, reducing the likelihood of the gold and
silver combining.) The tinned soldershould be sorta’ globby, not
smooth - you want the solder to be attached tothe gold, but not
completely melted.
Then place your gold on the silver where you want it to be attached,
and put some flux right at that place. Heat the silver gently,
beginning at the edge and working toward the place where the gold is
to be. Watch closely forthe solder to flow. The globs will smooth
out and you may see the gold piece settle into place. STOP. Pull the
heat away and pickle. Check with the loupe that the solder has
flowed completely.
If further soldering is needed, I use the water soluble White Out on
the gold and the joint already completed. Slobber it on thickly. It
protects that joint and the gold during reheating. Caution is still
necessary to avoid heating the silver to the point that the gold
will sink into the silver.
As with most techniques, practice with scrap. Good luck and let us
know how your efforts come out.
Judy in Kansas, where that Arctic cold air is creeping toward us and
making for a chilly weekend!