[Jewelry making - Article 00134] - Re: [Orchid] Bezel Melting Problems

[Beth Rosengard]

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>     ...put a few nails or cotter pins on a charcoal block and put your
>     base sheet on those.  That creates an air space between the block
>     and the sheet, which does two things.  First, it reduces the heat
>     sink effect of the block, so it's easier to get the base sheet hot. 

    I have to question this, Peter, though I can't remember the last
    time you were wrong on a technical matter :-).  Charcoal blocks get
    very hot and because they are a poor conductor of heat, the heat
    doesn't spread out; it stays close to the heat source and reflects
    back to the piece being soldered.  So rather than acting as a heat
    sink, charcoal blocks serve to facilitate the soldering process
    (unlike most refractory materials). 

    To take advantage of this characteristic when soldering bezels, I
    move my torch around and around the outside of the bezel,
    deliberately heating the block.  With a big enough and hot enough
    flame, it is possible to flow all of the solder at once without ever
    actually heating the metal directly. Unless the bezel is especially
    large or the metal unusually thick, this should work every time.  I
    have a feeling, Milt, that you need to use more heat, possibly with a
    larger torch tip (depending on the size of the piece) and never point
    the flame directly at the bezel wire.  Beth 


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