I had an experience last week, attempting to solder a mesh chain down
to a silver sheet… I put some whiteout (typing correction fluid) on
the chain to try to prevent the solder wicking up into the mesh.
Since the part with the whiteout was next to the part I wanted to
solder, it was exkposed to the torch flame. It did seem to glow
(almost incandesce), and then the mesh broke down at the point where
hte whiteout was. I almost get the impression that the whiteout
somehow increased the temperature of the the torch flame. However, I
believe that whiteout is used for htis sort ofthing. Has anyone else
had this experience? Are there better substances to be used for this
purpose? Wondering, Todd
when shortening gold mesh watch bands on Piagets back in the
80’s-90’s, we would use milk of magnesia. It was much more
controllable than yellow ochre, cleans off much easier and of course
it was handy when that particular customer was giving you an upset
stomach.
Good luck.
Tim
I use yellow ochre pigment they work well for me.
Todd,
Was the White-out you used water based? Most of those available in
Office Depot, Staples, etc. are not. That can be a problem.
Bonnie
Todd, I have never heard of, or tried using whiteout for that
purpose so have no idea if it performs well, but the system I have
much success from is -
Using the old type dry red rouge -rub a stick on a sandpaper sheet
[150-180grit or so] and collect the fine powder in a small container
that can be sealed up after use for the future use, to this add
enough meths to make a thick paste. This is applied by brush to the
selected areas.
-colin
If you do use whiteout it must be the water based formula. The
original is full of alcohol and will cause problems for sure.
If you do use whiteout it must be the water based formula. The original is full of alcohol and will cause problems for sure.
It’s not the alcohol that’s a problem. It just burns off. It’s other
stuff which gives off toxic fumes when heated. Isocyanates are not
good things to be breathing… But the comment to use the water
based forms is correct, and avoids those toxicity issues for the
most part.
Peter Rowe
Seattle
wet wadded newsprint or celluclay ( ground paper intended for instant
papier mache) works best…not too wet-simply amass the stuff into a
reasonable wad, squeeze out excessive moisture and form it around the
work you want to protect from a hit-and-run soldering job…sounds
though like the mesh was overheated or you had the flame concentrated
on it too long…Someone else mentioned yellow ochre and milk of
magnesia- yellow ochre is just as good as MOM…as long as you mix the
yellow ochre powder to the consistency of heavy cream ( also called
double cream in the UK)…still, wet wadded paper is best.One product
out there to avoid is “cool jewel”- a pink gel like stuff that is
virtually useless…vigor makes a paste called “heat shield”…it is
fine enough but messy and though it claims reusability it isn’t so.
At any rate wet wadded newsprint is readily available, virtually free
and has been used for centuries…rer
How do you know if your white-out is water based or not? None of the
ones I have say anything about this on the bottle…
Janet in Jerusalem
How do you know if your white-out is water based or not? None of the ones I have say anything about this on the bottle....
Smell them.
I’m not sure if the whiteout is alcohol based, I dont remember
smelling alsohol (not at home right now to test). I have some rouge
and Milk of Magnesia (if these don’t work, I can drink some of the
Milk of Magnesia for my upset tummy!!)
How do you know if your white-out is water based or not? None of the ones I have say anything about this on the bottle....
The water based white-out says it clearly on the label. It may not
be easy to find this product, but it’s out there, probably in an
office supply store.
You need to read the fine print on the bottle. If it says
"flammable" or some such — it isn’t water-based!
Margaret
For me ground up red rouge dissolved in warm oil works well. Solid
at room temperature so that it is not quite as messy as it sounds.
Ultrasonic removes most of it and any left in joints just polishes
them with a bit of movement. Old bench friend is a little (2cm) pot
with a wood handle.
jeffD
I have found that any white out will come loose of the jewelry
repair, after the soldering is done. 1st use denatured alcohol with
borax, burn off. Then gently file the solder connection to remove
only the area you want solder to flow too. Use exaclty the amount of
solder you need to make connection good. pickle and ultrasonic, buff
& steam.
Sam
HVJinc
Wait a minute, what is the problem with alcohol based whiteout. It
doesn’t even burn that hot, and anyway the alcohol is long gone by
the time I get to heating it with the torch.
Wait a minute, what is the problem with alcohol based whiteout. It doesn't even burn that hot, and anyway the alcohol is long gone by the time I get to heating it with the torch.
It’s not the alcohol. After all, we burn that off all the time with
boric acid and alcohol mix. But solvent based whiteout contains a
different formula in more than just solvent instead of water. And
some of those other componants (don’t ask me what) degrade on
heating to nasty things. Isocyanate fumes for one. Those are not
things you want to breath. This is also true, I’m told, for burning a
number of various plastics and similar resins, so I assume it’s a
resin or binder in the solvent based whiteout. I’m also not certain
that the solvent is alcohol. Or if so, maybe not all versons. The
whiteout solvent based bottle I’ve got in my office desk drawer
doesn’t smell like alcohol, but more like an acetone based material.
But that’s just my sometimes poor sense of smell, so I’m not sure.
The bottle of course doesn’t say.
Peter Rowe
Some of the White Out has Toluene (spelling???) in it. At my office
we had a Safety Check by the Corporation and the White Out had to
carry an MSDS and be listed as hazardous material.
I am sure what I have now does not contain water…besides that kind
of correction fluid wasn’t as good as the hazardous stuff (at the
office). I have been using OLD nickels as shims when I need to get
an item up higher when I solder – the nickel won’t solder to the
Sterling Silver. BUT the new nickels will solder to the
Sterling…look for the OLD ones…the nickels can be used as change
after being heated!!! Also I have been painting the White Out on
little cut out pieces of nickel sheet to also use as “shims”.
I have used the White Out to mend chains with success. My source of
heat is the acetylene with room air…#3 tip. One has to learn to
control the size of the flame and mending chains is no problem. I
have even soldered gold chains with 14 Karat solder when a jeweler
wouldn’t take the job! After trying the Little Torch, and melting a
lot of gold, I stayed with the old “Plumber’s Torch”. I don’t
profess to be anywhere near a Goldsmith…pretty good silversmith
with over 40 years experience and improving. The Orchid information
is invaluable for so many subjects.
Rose Marie Christison