Super glue & Wax

Are you saying that solder will flow even though there is
SUPERGLUE in the same spots??? If so, thanks for that hint, I’ll
be throwing away all my binding wire and clips used for keeping
pieces in place while soldering!!! : )

and I say:

I wondered the same thing- I have spent soooooo much time
rigging pieces together in order to solder them and if superglue
really works (and lets the solder flow evenly) I can save soooooo
much time. I would like to hear everyone’s opinion on
this…and does using super glue really stink and wouldn’t it
be dangerous too ?(go up in flames-awful fumes…)

I can’t imgine that the super glue would cause any problems. At
that high of a temperature it would bur to an ash and probably
would be flushed out by the wax before that. I have used plastic
ear rings, to get a 7mm ball before. That worked fine, no
problems at all. I have read about folks using insects and
seahorses and other organic objects in a burn out with sucess.
Rick

The time and effort you are putting into this should justify
buying an electro-tacker.It forms a weak weld between
peices,which can then be soldered.Since the initial “tack” is a
weld,a large # of peices can be tacked and soldered without fear
of any of them shifting.

Maybe just a little more effort learning to solder?

Bruce D. Holmgrain
e-mail: @Bruce_Holmgrain
http:\www.knight-hub.com\manmtndense\bhh3.htm
snail mail: pob 7972, McLean, VA 22106-7972
phone:: 703-593-4652

Steve-if you were soldering a finding onto the back of a pin,
for example, could you put the glue, a piece of solder a
little more glue and the finding and heat?  Would the glue burn
off leaving the solder to flow?  I am very curious and I
haven't tried it yet.  

All glue does is provide a bond until you prop or clamp the
pieces up some other way. I can use superglue with a less secure
means of support than I can with wax and plaster because
superglue burns off after my flux has fused and I can use so
little that it won’t interfere with the protection offered by the
flux. I would never bother with superglue if the pieces are
going to be loose after the glue is gone. If something needs to
be held at the moment the solder is flowing, then glue by itself
is a waste of time. It’s long gone by the time solder is going
to flow.

This is a technique that I don’t use for any of the day in and
day out solder jobs I tend to encounter.

Dick Caverly

Dick–for granulation, and when I want to hold down fine wires
for fusing, I use a mixture of about 10 drops of water, 2 drops
of Hide Glue and about four drops of flux. This also burns off
but keeps the pieces in place until the larger piece heats up. I
don’t know if this would work for soldering. Sandra

Maybe just a little more effort learning to solder?

The tack does not replace soldering.It mearly holds the peices
in place until you can solder them.Since the tack is a weld it
will not shift when you solder.This removes the problem and is
therefore a better solution than soldering “by the saet of your
pants”.Better method yeilds better products.

Scott Hepner

Sandra - you wrote that you use a mix of water, hide glue and
flux as your base for granulation: I’m curious, as I’ve just
begun to do granulation -what is the source of copper in your
granulation to create the eutectic ??? I thought you needed that
???

Also, using this mix as a means of holding pieces in place to
solder - sounds really interesting; do you have any problems with
the carbon in the hide glue interfering with the soldering
process, by making it dirty??

Thanx for the info.

Laura

Hi Laura: The hide glue burns off cleanly, but the whole piece
has to heat up slowly. Usually I put it on a small piece of tile
near the heat source( I use a small ‘trinket’ kiln) and after a
few minutes place the tile with the piece on it on top of the
kiln cover. After another few minutes, I move the piece off the
tile and onto the cover by itself. Here’s when the hide glue
starts to turn black and looks awful, but it’s still holding the
granules on the surface. After another few mintues I CAREFULLY
lift off the piece and put it in the kiln and cover it briefly
while I light my torch. By the time I do that and lift off the
cover the hide glue has disappeared and the metal looks beautiful
and shiny. Only at this point there is no more glueing action,(
so if you accidentally jiggle it you have to start all over) and
I proceed to heat the piece. Itt sounds tedious, but it’s really
not too bad, and I’ve found that if I am really patient and let
each step take a little time, I have fewer granules jumping
around and popping off. Gold granules need to be coated with
copper before using. A little copper dish with some hot pickle
in it and a small amount of binding wire in a small tight coil to
rub against the granules in the dish (I’m not sure of the
chemistry of this) coats the granules very nicely. Then rinse in
water and use! Fine silver, with which I have been doing alot of
granulation lately, does not need to be copper coated. But the
underside of the base for the granules needs to be coated with
ochre to prevent it from burning up before the granules are
fused. Hope this is useful! Good luck and enjoy granulation. I
find it fascinating and I really enjoy doing it. Best wishes
Sandra

   granulation to create the eutectic ??? I thought you needed
that Also, using this mix as a means of holding pieces in place
to solder - sounds really interesting; do you have any problems
with the carbon in the hide glue interfering with the soldering
process, by making it dirty??

hi laura, i came late to this thread and don’t know what metal
sandra is granulating. if it is silver, one would might want to
use a sterling or .800 back and fine silver granules. the copper
is supplied in the base sheet. for high karat golds, one could
use cupric chloride or an arrray of other stuff.

as for the hide glue (or whatever glue one would choose)
carbonising… that actually helps lower the fusing temp. the
carbon actually is supposed to be depriving (consuming) the area
of oxygen, and therefore lowering the otherwise required temp to
create a fuse.

this info is in oppi untracht book, jewelry concepts.

best regards,

geo fox

Geo–Thanks for the explanaton–It’s either 22K Gold (copper
coating the granules) or .99 Fine Silver on a F/S base and
doesn’t need copper - but I usually ochre the back of the base
plate so it doesn’t burn up during fusing. Sandra