I find lots of jewelers using White Out as a stop for solder. Can
you tell me what is in it and what the dangers of using it when
soldering are. How do I remove it from my skin? If it is not safe to
use, what is a good substitute? We used to use yellow ochre, but I do
not see anyone using it now.
Thanks for your help
Dianne
I find lots of jewelers using White Out as a stop for solder. Can you tell me what is in it and what the dangers of using it when soldering are. How do I remove it from my skin? If it is not safe to use, what is a good substitute? We used to use yellow ochre, but I do not see anyone using it now.
Use the water based version. Somewhat harder to find in stores, but
safe to use as a stop out. It dries slower, of course, than the
solvent based versions. The solvent based versions should not
generally be used as a solder stop off unless you’ve got very good
ventillation… I’m not sure I recall the exact nasties released by
heating the solvent based version (isocyanates, perhaps?). No doubt
someone else will. But best avoided. And just because yellow ochre
may not be the fad du jour doesn’t mean it doesn’t still work as well
as it ever did. Powdered rouge can be used the same way.
Peter
There are two types of ‘white out’. I think it’s the water soluble
that is safe to use.
WARNING: I am not a chemist, nor a safety officer, nor a doctor; from
here on you’re on your own.
KPK
I have a little pan like thing, 15mm in dia 3mm deep with a handle.
Red rouge shavings with a touch of oil. ( think I used regular motor
oil) Gently warm it up and mix. Solid at room temp, warm it up to
apply as a paste/liquid. Not nearly as messy as ochre and flux
doesn’t wash it away. Will survive pickling (sort of) and ultrasonic
removes it. I don’t even remember where my ochre is stashed and the
white out all dried up years ago.
Jeff
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand
Here is an article at Ganoksin that covers and discusses the
chemicals released from white out…
best
Charles
There is an MSDS you can look up and print out on Google that gives
you the hazards of the Fast Drying kind of Liquid Paper. Years ago
while I was working at DaimlerChrysler, we had a Safety Audit. Liquid
Paper came under the list of hazardous materials and we had to get
rid of it. I can’t recall the chemical, but it is not recommended to
be breathed.
Rose Marie Christison
The solvent used to be 1.1.1 trichloromethane at least in the stuff
in Australia, but when the water based version appeared on the market
here the solvent based one just disappeared from shop shelves…
As for safety when using it as a stop flow you should have active
ventilation when soldering anyway so that should keep the hazards to
a minimum. Please note I’m not a chemist/doctor/safety officer, so
like previously mentioned from here on in you’re on your own.
BTW I use yellow ochre, bought a tub a few years ago and have barely
made a dent in it, so I expect it will still be going strong when I
quite going strong!
Cheers, Thomas Janstrom.
Little Gems.
http://tjlittlegems.com
Hello Dianne,
Be sure that you get the White-out that is labeled as NON-flammable.
It actually can be thinned with water. It will get thick, so mix in
a little water, drops at a time, until it reaches the consistency you
like. If it gets on your skin, wash off with water. After soldering,
just put the piece in pickle as usual. Unless caught inside chain
links, White-out comes off in the pickle. Normal ventilation during
soldering is adequate.
I like using White-out because it’s ready to go and is easily
painted on, plus it dries quickly. It seems to protect soldered seams
as well - at least that is my experience.
Definitely AVOID the flammable stuff.
Judy in Kansas, who is missing out on a loverly afternoon… and
tomorrow is predicted to be cold and blusterly.
Hi,
Ok. I have had this same question before and found the following
useful:
The story I heard is that it was invented by a secretary using
simple white paint. Now it is not just paint, but I thought the
origin a likely one.
HTH
Cheers!
Christopher
Liquid Paper came under the list of hazardous materials and we had to get rid of it. I can't recall the chemical, but it is not recommended to be breathed.
And when used as a solder stop off, it’s not just the fumes from the
drying white out, it’s also what is formed by heating and breaking
down the remaining compounds, something the manufacturers of the
product most likely don’t take into account as a normal use of their
product. Use the water based version if you use white out. That’s
reasonably safe. The solvent based, is not.
Peter
Anyone remember “The Monkees”. Michael Nesmith’s mother came up with
’white out’. He used to be my neighbor in Nambe, NM. He sold it a
couple of years ago. It was very posh.
No that this is a posh neighborhood. it’s very much a mixed area,
from trailers to Michael Nesmith’s posh place.
But the light and the weather, yesterday at 6500 ft. altitude, 64
degrees at 5 PM, a cloudless sky and completely still.
KPK
it was invented by a secretary using simple white paint
Just BTW (I use yellow ochre) - it was Michael Nesmith’s (of The
Monkees, for one thing) mom.
Dianne, I am currently attending classes in the Jewelry Design
program at Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology. As recently
as 3 months ago my soldering instructor, Rebekah Laskin (well known
jeweler and enamelist) mentioned, used and recommended yellow ochre.
To respond to your comment, it is definitely still being used.
Mary Partlan
White Branch Designs
www.whitebranchdesigns.com