[Jewelry making - Article 01255] - [Orchid] Struggling with soldering sterling silver

[Wldlzrd]

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Hello Everyone,

    I have a question regarding soldering sterling silver. 

    I have just realized that my solder joins are not really "joining". 
    (yikes) And I am not sure what I am doing wrong.... 

    So, I began to practice soldering again. I did the below more than 30
    times, with the same results :( 

    The set up: (I tried 2 different joins) 

    join #1- 
    15mm long,  2x1mm rect wire, on a charcoal block. 5mm long, 2x1mm
    rect wire, laying across above wire. (kind of like a  cross) secured
    with a "staple" (made from small paperclip), also used  pins.... 

    join #2 
    20mm long, 2x1mm rect wire. mitered 5mm in from end, bent to a 90
    degree  "L" shape. 

    pieces sanded/filed  flat, join is flush and clean. pieces fluxed
    with grifflux #1. (I made a new batch of flux.) used one chip Rio
    Hard sheet solder.  (I used Rio med solder a  few times as well). 

    used Smith Little Torch with #5 tip flame is approx 20-25mm long,
    with a soft tipped blue cone. (I  tried bigger and smaller flames as
    well.) 

    I heat up the piece, watching for the flux to go clear and glassy. 

    then one of 2 things happens: 

    1) the flux goes clear, but the solder doesn't flow, and the piece
    starts  going "bright orange" then the solder  flows as the surface
    of the metal goes "shiny", so I  pull the flame off. 

    2) the flux goes clear, and the solder flows before the piece starts
    going "bright orange". 

    I pickle, then pull out the piece, and look at the join. I see a
    solder "fillet" all around, so I think the join is  good. 

    The problem: 

    Then, I take a pliers to check the join, and the 2 pieces pop 
    apart. 

    I then examine the 2 pieces, and on each piece I see a "broken 
    fillet" around where the 2 pieces touched, and where the pieces 
    touched there is a "fine, crusty, white residue" which sometimes has
    some color  in it (yellow, rust, brown, black).  It appears that the
    solder is not  going "thru" the join". 

    The questions: 

    why is my solder not flowing thru the join? what is this crusty stuff
    and why is it occurring? (is it flux?...) 

    I have not heard/read anything about this yet, and have been under
    the  impression that my joins were ok, so I never asked while in the
    classes......... 

    Any help would be greatly appreciated....I'm stuck in neutral. 

Thank You,
Julie

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