[Jewelry making - Article 00105] - Re: [Orchid] Rehydration of dried out paste solder

[Dave Arens]

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Hi Paul,

>     I did a search last night to see if anyone had figured out how to
>     revive dried out silver paste solder. 

    I've had success using mineral spirits from the hardware or paint
    store. 

    I use paste solder that's sold in syringes. It tends to dry out
    after a while & is difficult if not impossible to extrude from the
    syringe. It dries out inspite of keeping the tip of the syringe
    capped when not in use. 

    When the paste gets hard to extrude, I remove the plunger in the
    syringe & add a few drops of mineral spirits, mixing them in the
    remaining paste with a popsicle stick or other long narrow tool. 

    Sometimes the trick is getting the plunger out. I've found that
    removing the needle or cap from the syringe & inserting a stiff
    blunt ended wire until it contacts the rubber piston on the end of
    the plunger & then removing it, breaks the vacuum that forms when
    the plunger is removed. If you use a pointed wire, it's much easier
    to poke a hole in the rubber piston. 

    With past in a jar, you wouldn't have to remove the plunger, so
    adding a few drops of mineral spirits & mixing would be much easier.
    I'd add the mineral spirits a few drops at a time mixing thoroughly
    until the right consistency is reached. 

    Since I've found the paste solder that Beth Katz makes
    (myuniquesolutions.com) I haven't had to add mineral spirits. Her
    paste solder is GREAT! 

    Usual disclaimers, just a happy customer. 

Dave
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