[Jewelry making - Article 00088] - Re: [Orchid] Copper colored solder

[Terry Ogden]

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Mike

    Recently made a post myself on the same subject, or nearly the same
    subject and have pretty much the same observation. I am also using a
    Smith Little torch for this project. 

    1. Getting pallions to stay put, I use Pripps, but, I put on the
    pallion, coat with Pripps and heat slowly to let the moisture bake
    off. The crust holds the pallions in place. Balling like silver does
    not happen for me, I have to heat my project to the point my solder
    melts to get a good flow. 

    2. Crust, some of mine did the same thing, it comes off easily
    though. It almost seems like an oxide that formed. Sometime the crust
    that forms has to be sanded, but I have not had that big of a problem
    with it yet. One thing I have noticed is that, the smaller the
    pallion, the more likely it is to crust. Made one piece of 28 gauge
    solder, and it was useless. I also tried filing my mix, that was
    really a bust. 

    3. I have not tried the solder from Rio, I tried several other
    makes, but 1 fellow on here suggested that he added about 10% silver
    to his copper to get it to pour well for casting. It made a fair
    solder, I am up to 13% in my experiments. Seems to work ok, but the
    guy who suggested Rose Gold may have the ticket. Being cheap though,
    I am going to beat the alloy idea to death first. 

    4. Making little balls of copper, I would try the copper silver mix
    for this, it balls very nicely off on its own. 

    I do have one question though, how do you harden up 22 gauge copper
    after soldering, mine always goes soft, everything I have done so far
    is fairly thick, like 20 gauge and up. 

    Good luck to ya... 

Terry
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