BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Jewelry Making Soldering information

Hi,

Many goldsmith and jewelry designers frequently ask us about the soldering conduction, different types of solder and about cleaning their jewelry after soldering.

Here are some points about soldering that I hope will assist you:

Soldering using soldering wires and/or sheets:
1. Immerse the whole piece of jewelry to be soldered in BORAX liquid � this prevents the gold from blackening due to heat exposure
2. Immerse the solder (wire or sheet) in a liquid containing ACID BORIC, before using the torch.
� In order to improve soldering conduction, we recommend immersing the solder in yellow borax.
3. Cleaning after soldering:
Immerse the soldered piece, when still hot, in a liquid solution containing 10% SULFHURIC ACID and 90% water. The acidic solution will melt the borax.

Soldering using soldering paste
Immerse the jewelry piece in an ACID BORIC solution before applying soldering paste.

Tips:
� When you have to solder the same point several times, you should use different types of solder: It is recommended to first solder with hard solder at a high temperature and then progress to medium and soft solder at progressively lower temperatures.
� When you need to solder very small pieces and you don�t want the solder to spread, you can use in soldering paste named: �STICKY�.
� In order to save time when soldering, use wires that already contain solder.

Remarks:
� Always use solder of the same karat as that of the jewelry piece, so that it complies with universal jewelry standards.

We will be happy to hear more ideas, tips, questions and comments.

Hila
http://www.pasternakfindings.com

Thank you, Hila. One thing I haven't tried is immersing the solder itself in acid. That's very helpful!

Chris

Hi Chris,
Thank you.
The Acid boric helps keeping the gold color and prevents blackening.

In order to clean the acid boric immerse the jewelry in hot water.
Hila
http://www.pasternakfindings.com

Hi Hila,
I prefer natural citric acid pickle...safe and non-toxic, and I think that it gives similar results.

Hi Tina,
Thank you for the tip.
The natural citric acid is a very good option for some karats and colors.
We recommend to try the citric acid and the Sulfhuric acid in each karat and color and to use with the acid that gives you the best effect
Hila.
http://www.pasternakfindings.com

I have difficulties working with syringe of the soldering paste, can you suggest what can I do instead?


thank you
Brian

There are special dispensers for the soldering paste which �ejects� specific quantity of the soldering paste, perhaps you can find it in jewelry tools suppliers. The other option is just to put in a small bawl a little of the soldering paste, and from this bowl just to use the needed quantity you need of the soldering with a needle or any other tool.

Hila
http://www.pasternakfindings.com