Hi all,
I’ve been investigating the possibility of using one of the soldering
clays on the market to hold pieces in place for soldering when a
third hand or binding wire won’t work. Anyone have any insights on
Rio’s Water-Soluble Soldering Clay vs. a product on Otto Frei called
Thermo-Fix Soldering Clay? The Otto Frei product is considerably more
expensive, so I’d love to hear any thoughts.
Thanks,
Cynthia
Cynthia- The very best way to hold things while soldering is by
hand. It’s the sign of an accomplished and professional metals smith.
Learn to hold crowns, prongs, earring posts, parts etc. in tweezers
and then bring them in just as your main piece reaches soldering
temperature.
I almost never use my third hand and use binding wire maybe once a
year.
It takes practice but really is the way to go. No fiddling about
with wires, pastes, and third hands. Just get in and out in a matter
of seconds.
If it’s not straight, just a quick adjustment by hand instead of
taking things apart and resetting up.
I have a favorite pair of wider tipped locking tweezers that I have
carved a small perpendicular groove in the ends to hold ear posts
and wires snugly while soldering. Tim likes his notched tweezers
notched at an angle, The wire just locks into place. It makes things
so much easier.
I’ll never forget the sense of shock and pride the very first time I
soldered on a post free hand and got it straight.
One of our favorite shop mottos is “If at first you succeed try to
hide your astonishment.” Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com
Hi
Just use casting investment in foil or bottom of coke can.
In an hour it is hard and cheap and on hand in every workshop.
done
Kate Wolf’s clay works great! Think Rio might sell it?
Beth Wicker
Three Cats and a Dog Design Studio
I'll never forget the sense of shock and pride the very first time I soldered on a post free hand and got it straight. One of our favorite shop mottos is "If at first you succeed try to hide your astonishment."
She is right I will never forget that first wire it felt so amazing
and I was shocked lol I use tweezers and an occasional t pin That
and I had a tiny corner of a warehouse a friend had for her quilting
business and the first potato steam cast ring. I ran to the front
office going. I made a potato ring I made a potato ring LOL
Teri
If, like me, you have a significant tremor, this can be all but
impossible.
Superglue is great to hold things in place while you set them up
with sand, clay, investment, or whatever. It burns out cleanly at the
first touch of heat.
Noel
I agree Jo, I have my torch permanently attached to the bench and
take everything to it. So almost everything is done freehand, if its
not straight a slight adjustment fixes it. I favour a pair of dental
tweezers for my left hand (bought from a dentist) like the ones they
use to pull teeth or adjust braces, they have ‘teeth’ and can be
locked, although I almost never lock them because they will mark the
hot metal. Occasionally I will use binding wire, say to solder two
rings together.
This week I learnt my lesson on rushing jewellery and why I don’t
like to berushed, it’s when mistakes are made! I like to take my
time, do a good job and feel good and be proud of my work.
I spent several hours fixing my mistake!
Simone
The very best way to hold things while soldering is by hand. It's the sign of an accomplished and professional metals smith.
I’m very curious to know if you hold the tweezers with your right
hand or left when soldering. Another way of asking is in which hand
do you hold the torch. Janet in Jerusalem
Janet- I am kind of ambidextrous with a bit of left dominant. I hold
the torch in my right hand and solder pick in my left. Though I can
use one with both hands, I keep my flex shaft on my left to keep it
out of the torches way and to spin the dust and metal towards my
bench and not towards my face. I saw, file, hammer and use pliers
with both hands. I write left handed but play the guitar right
handed.
Did I mention I’m profoundly dyslexic? Until I was 40 I thought that
the sign of the devil was 999. I didn’t catch on until my brother and
sister told me the joke “What’s the neighbor of The Devil? 665.”
Insert sibling snorts and laughter here.
Jewelry turned out to be the perfect career for someone with my odd
brain wiring.
Have fun and make lots of Jewelry
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com
Just to add my two cents I think each jeweler should feel free to
learn from others while maintaing an open mind to finding whatever
works best for them rather than adhering to a hard and fast rule
about any “how to.” This doesn’t mean any disrespect for those who
have developed high levels of skill, but rather an openness to
unique solutions to problems including technical ones.
I ask, in the spirit of maintaining and open forum, that I not be
chastised me for my opinion. Disagreement is good for dialog but
censure is not; I have been through art school and have had a
lifetime of such reactions to stating what seems to me to be
invaluable in learning anything; that is having an open mind.
The wonderfully inventive Charles Lewton-Brain has some tips for
soldering in this forum using investment (do a search for “soldering
clay” in the entire Orchard archives on top of page).
I am fortunate to have an amazing teacher who has encouraged this
approach. We both have shaky hands so we often need to come up with
setups for steadying them. At the same time she does not have lower
standards for the results of the finished piece, just encourages an
problem solving attitude towards how to get there.
Hi Janet
I may be right-handed, but I’m utterly incapable of using the torch
in my right hand. I found unconsciously I was using my left hand for
the torch and my right hand for tweezers. I need my fine motor
skills to manipulate the tweezers for I do a lot of tweaking,
adjusting, free-hand holding, pick solder, stick soldering (which I
have that down to a fine art much to the envy of my students and
fellow jewelry friends), putting solder on ends of wire and placing
wire onto the metal object to be soldered. Torch always stays in my
left hand, which is very good at holdingtorch and adjusting flame
with the same hand as well.
Just sit down at your soldering bench, don’t think and just reach
for the torch. Once you have torch in your hand and light it, then
see what hand torch ends up in. If that does not work, then do some
soldering exercises, which you hold torch in one hand and tweezers
in other hand. Do a soldering job. Then switch hands and do another
soldering job (butt join on a ring, nothing fancy). Then see what
you find you are most comfortable with. Oddly enough, almost all of
my students solder withtheir left hand and tweezers in right hand.
Now, I don’t know if they are copying my way, or that’s what they
found to work best. I don’t tell them what hand to use - that’s
their job to figure out.
I know there are other jewelry teachers and experts who says you
HAVE touse your dominant hand to hold torch, but it’s not going to
work for 100% of the population. For those who are ambidextrous like
me and my grandfather, it can go either way, but you have to go what
works best for you, not what the experts say. Good luck and happy
soldering! Joy
Joy,
Perhaps we could change the topic to: Do you hold the torch in the right or left hand? I would love to see a survey on this...
I have been soldering for almost 40 years with the torch in the
right hand…(I started with a foot bellows and benzine can, so it
was the right foot as well…). So I guess I just learned to use my
left hand for complicated, delicate operations over time. I figured
it was the preceding years of violin practice that gave me the
ability to do the hard work with the left hand, but I always
wondered how others managed. I always thought everyone held the
torch in their dominant hand. Don’t know why.
Janet in Jerusalem
I’m not a professional jeweler yet but isn’t there times when you need to hold several or more complicated pieces in position and solder them at the same time? That would be a time when you would have to use investment and/or clay to lock everything in place if you want to solder it all at the same time. Like a large assortment of coronet or basket settings all touching or interlocking each other.
Wouldn’t it be better for jewelers to learn all of the tricks for different situations? Using clay and investment to lock in a bunch of parts for soldering would be another tool for professional jewelers to have in their basket.
Jo, not everyone is capable of that technique. I have essential tremor which causes hand shake. I’d rather fuse than solder because I can lay everything out flat and control what happens visually with the torch. Point soldering the way you describe it is a matter of luck for me – will my hand shake at the exact moment I need it to be steady, or not? I usually spend a lot of time setting up a delicate soldering operation, and I’d love to learn how to use the various kinds of clay effectively since it sounds like it would save me a lot of time.
-M
I too have an essential tremor. It helps me to brace as much as possible
against the benchtop. I’ve struggled with this all of my life so I know how
frustrating it can be.
Re holding delicate assemblies to solder, Can you use glue to hold things
while you solder? Specifically, Super Glue?
Noralie
Re: glue for soldering
Yes, but the fumes are toxic. I used a fast-drying Bob Smith super glue on a delicate filigree project, and when I went to fuse it, it smelled pretty scary, so I didn’t do it again. A better choice would be klyr-fire or Blu-Stic, which are both used for enameling and burn off clean. They’re both water-soluble. I’ve been playing with Blu-Stic for granulation, and so far it seems to work as well as the hide glue mixture.
-M
i was taught to torch with left hand, makes a lot of sense to me. now when i am stamping and texturing i hammer with me left and hold the tool in my right. i have a better view that way also
joanne davis-woods
decorative knowledge
asheville, nc
I have recently started to use a shallow time can filled with pumice granules. It will hold rings vertical or flat or even angled. You can pile them on a piece or use it to level two items. Very handy. I got a large bag for next to no cost from a bonsai garden supplier. I also use titannum offcuts of various thicknesses as shims to level it. Titanium doesn’t absorb the heat away from the job.
I use my pick torches and tweezers in either hand. for soldering. Another trick is to use old bits of charcoal and and soldering blocks cut into small chunks maybe 2" x 1" x 1" and I can make holes or grooves to hold items or use as chocks/ supports when soldering.
Robin in sunny E Scotland.