Torch for soldering guitar strings

Jewelry Discussion
1

does anyone know of a hand held elctric or butane or ? ‘pencil’ type
small torch that could solder guitar strings (brass, bronze and
stainless).

Thanks so much, Terri

2

Hello Terri,

I believe that damaged instrument strings should just be replaced.
Assuming that you are trying to repair broken strings, heating the
metal during soldering will have the undesirable effect of annealing
the metal and at least, the sound quality would suffer.

Judy in Kansas, still cursing those blasted termites!

3

first, it is far better to buy a new set of strings if you are going
to play a stringed instrument. any pencil torch- the cheapest being
a harbor freight 2.99 torch will do the job easily for hit and run
soldering. Depending on what you are going to do with the strings
(the thicker they are they are generally wound strings. you can see
the windings spiraling on the length- wound meaning the phosphor
bronze having a core of either metal or sometimes fibers that will
just make a blob of resinous goo when melted ! ) be sure to use an
appropriate solder, you don’t need silver or gold unless you are
after a decorative look with the precious metal solders working as
an accent colour. Tix brand solder which is sold at most hardware
stores can be used but will appear silver as most silver bearing soft
solders (soft = low melt and flow points) found at home stores will
also appear silver. You may want to use a gold coloured silver
solder which can be ordered from many jeweler’s supply vendors,
perhaps even micro-mark, a company specializing in miniature tooling
and a wide variety of products for hobbyists ( with which i have zero
affiliation). Pickling is another issue though- you can’t use common
Sparex #2 or pH down as sold for pool maintenance as some strings are
ferrous metals requiring Sparex #3…rer

4

Hi Judy, Thanks for your reply. I am actually reusing old guitar
strings to make jewelry. My partner is a singer /songwriter musican
who goes through a lot of guitar strings and I thought they should
be reclyced in a creative way. Terri

5 
I believe that damaged instrument strings should just be replaced.
Assuming that you are trying to repair broken strings, heating the
metal during soldering will have the undesirable effect of
annealing the metal and at least, the sound quality would suffer.

Did I totally misinterpret Terri’s motive? I assumed the soldering
was for the purpose of making jewelry, as was the previous question
regarding drilling into a guitar pick.

Terri, please clarify - inquiring minds want to know!

Linda in central FL

6

Thanks RE Rourke for the helpful I am making jewelry
from used guitar strings. The guitar only gets new strings. I do want
the solder to not be obvious, as it would clutter up the design.

Terri

7

Ahhh. Now I understand. Interesting approach and do let us know how
your soldering efforts came out.

Judy in Kansas, where a strong cold front blew through last night,
bringing down some tree limbs.

8

strings? Ewwwww! I’ve been picker since 1964. I change my strings
after several months. I can’t imagine the amount of finger sweat and
skin goo embedded in the wound strings.

Please tell me you are boiling them out or putting them in the sonic
for awhile before they are worn by others. Have fun and make lots of
jewelry.

Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

9

Hello Terri,

When you are soldering the guitar strings I would recommend that you
use a solder such as BAg7 (lower melting point) rather than a
traditional silversmithing solder; if you use this solder also check
that your flux has the correct operating range to be active before
the solder starts to flow.

Charles

10 
Now 18 karat gold is 750 parts of gold for 1000 parts of metal, and
is the international minimum standard of quality gold in the
WESTERN world.

Is that a pseudo standard, although I sort of agree, I can’t say
I’ve read it anywhere. No it is trade standard amongst fine jewellers
such as Hardy Brothers, Tiffany and Stuart Devlin.

If you knew what a 6mm round A grade sapphire was worth you would
know that my bullion dealers are in fact very reasonable on price and
I use them because of the exceptional quality of their metal.

Not all bullion dealers produce equal quality of product although the
metal fineness may be the same the working quality and finish is not.

For my 18kt ring bands I buy soft fit precision made, and pay a
premium for premium quality. The extra cost is more than made up on
the time I save in making. Customers also prefer hallmarked rings
from a leading bullion dealer. Something about provenance.

Just because there is a standard for 9 karat/carat gold in Australia
does not make it anything else but crap. Why? 9kt looks nothing like
gold and tarnishes easily.

Quality jewellers simply do not use less than 18kt. Educated
customers do not buy less than 18kt gold.

Richard

11

Can anyone post a picture of what you have made with guitat strings,
or give a website, please? I would love to see some of your ideas. I
have a muscian friend who has given me old bass strings.

Thanks
brenda

12

Brenda,

I tried sending this reply directly to you but it wouldn’t go
through,

This isn’t jewelery but I did use guitar strings in parts of it. If
you look closely you’ll see part of a string holding up the big
Brazillian Agate pick in the background. The strings on the small
guitar are all made from the High “E” string.

http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep7zrx

I don’t know if this is any help to you but it’s all I’ve done using
guitar strings. Tom Kuzia

What is most valuable is not what we have in our lives,but who we
have in our lives

Talk to Jesus,He likes to hear from you!