[Jewelry making - Article 01264] - Re: [Orchid] Laser and Pulse/arc welders

[Stanley Bright]

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    My LaserStar sits to the right of my workbench. It is used almost
    daily. Why almost? Somedays I just set stones and don't need to put
    metal together. We still do sizings with solder, attach heads with
    solder, ropes and small chains are better with a laser. I can do
    small joints or big joints (.2 to 2mm beam) My machine is 100 Joule.
    80 is probably enough. My base price is $39 for a laser joint. More
    or less depending on the job. I don't like using it on silver. Not
    because I can't- but because it seems like a waste of the machine.
    Before I get jumped on-- I usually see cheapo silver stuff not the
    high end designer jewelry. I can weld on costume jewelry, put posts
    back on Coral earrings set in bezels, etc, etc. I can add gold to a
    small spot if I need to. Not solder--gold. I can also fill areas that
    need metal, polish inside of filigree rings (by turning the power way
    down and increasing the frequency to 7 or 7.5 hits per second. Shiny!
    The reason for increased power (and capacity) is that after you put
    metal where you want it, you'll go back and "homogenize" the joint.
    Melting everything all together so you dont have small pits where two
    hits meet. (If that makes any sense) The drawbacks? Maintnance and
    supplies. Changing the water is a pain. In my unit its right next to
    the motherboard. So- no Tequila before changing water. Otherwise the
    machine is great. Expect a 3 month learning curve to be comfortable.
    By the way what sold me on Laserstar was the training. Two days one
    on one. Would I do it again? Yes. But I would try to buy it not lease
    it. Probably not money smart, but I hate bills. 

    By the way, we size rings with solder because the other jeweler I
    work with hasnt been trained on the Laser. Welding is definately the
    better way to do it. Heads need to be soldered because they may need
    to be unsoldered in the future. 

Stanley Bright
aandmjewelers.com
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