[Jewelry making - Article 00149] - Re: [Orchid] Tips on soldering gold

[AlanRevere]

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>     The solder will not melt, mush less flow, before the gold to be
>     joined. I can literally put the flame on the solder (which beads
>     up) until the gold beneath it melts, but the solder doesn't. 


    Dale, Assuming you do not have faulty solder, what you describe is
    totally logical, based on my own experience: If you direct the flame
    on the solder, it will heat up, bead up and not flow. And often, by
    the time the metal beneath reaches the flow temperature, the flux
    has been burned off, preventing the solder from flowing at all. So
    you add more heat thinking this is the problem. Eventually the gold
    melts and you have a nice little mess to deal with. Been there, Done
    that. 

    Here's the scoop on solder. For solder to flow, you need only a two
    conditions: 
    Clean, fluxed metal 
    Heat to attract the flowing solder 

    The key is that solder flows onto metal that is hotter than it is.
    The gold beneath has to be heated, not the solder. When it reaches
    the flow point of the solder, the solder will flow onto it. 

    Bottom line 
    Try heating the work, not the solder. 

Good luck,
Alan

Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts, Inc.
760 Market Street
Suite 900
San Francisco, California 94102
USA
tel: 415-391-4179
fax: 415-391-7570
www.revereacademy.com
alan AT revereacademy.com
or
alanrevere AT aol.com


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