[Jewelry making - Article 00939] - Re: [Orchid] Mokume Gane Soldering

[R . E . Rourke]

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    try using medium white gold solder, or look at your flow points and
    see wich is closer to the melting point of the silver ( are you
    using .925 or.999?), you always run the risk of the silver melting
    before you hit the flow point of the 14k.so go with a lower temp
    flowing solder that wont absorb the silver.. 

    but- palladium being in the platinum group requires high temperatures
    to bond, so you may need to invest in a MAPP and O2 bernzomatic
    set-up for about 49 bucks at your local lowes or home depot. It'll
    melt anything down readily. 

    .and if you can't afford a full tank set up (a regulator, hosing
    for MAPP or acetylene and a "y "connection fitting for your O2 tank
    and if you like a flashback arrestor, or at lest a check valve, and
    safety lenses because of the damage it can do to your eyesight ) for
    platinum and melting then the bernzomatic may be your answer...oh,
    even if you opt for the bernzomatic (which has a safety orifice in
    the attached hose's tip) you still need some didmyum or shaded lenses
    to protect your eyes as far as pooling of solder you must 

    A) insure all surfaces are clean and grease free 

    B) apply flux ( for what you are doing Batterns or any hydrochloric
    based liquid seems the better choice to me- you can id that type by
    the characteristic neon yellowgreen colour they Usually have ) with
    a clean applicator to the area 

    C) if the solder is pooling it is not grease free or the fit is not
    tight- solder is not a "filler" or spackle...it will only flow if
    the two parts being joined are equally heated, so heat your 14k first
    and keep hitting it with the torch while heating the lower temp.
    silver which comes into flow range faster than the gold, so you want
    to make certain that the heating is synchronized, otherwise you'll
    end up with a ball of silver that has absorbed the solder and not
    only becomes useless because the piece is now destroyed, but the gold
    is nowhere near the temp. it should be to enable the solder to flow
    yet the silver is at or near the melting point of your 14k hard
    solder..at least that's what i gather from a quick read of the
    problem...not enough torch heat, unclean joint or applicator, and/or
    wrong solder grade for the work..if i'm correctly reading it you are
    using 14k gold, palladium and silver of some sort..which all have
    differing melt/flow points..
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