[Jewelry making - Article 00782] - Re: [Orchid] Sheet solder Vs Wire solder

[Ruthie Cohen]

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    I prefer using wire solder. To keep it clean, I take long lengths of
    wire solder, wipe it down w/ some emory paper. Then I cut it into
    short lengths about 1.5" long, and keep those short pieces in an
    empty 35mm film cannister. Each film cannister is labeled as to hard,
    medium,easy,etc. The solder stays CLEAN until you are ready to use
    it. I used to hang the wire solder up on a board and wondered why
    sometimes it would't flow. Duh! The stuff got dirty being exposed to
    air. Not any more since the age of film cannisters. 

    I use medium solder all the time to solder bezels onto sheet. Works
    great! Hard solder to close the bezels, medium to solder them down. 

    If the wire solder is "blowing off" the piece, the flame is too
    strong. Use a soft, mushy flame to make the paste flux tacky. For
    filagree work, I've see flux powdered, then gently heated up to
    preflow. It's easier to nip off a tiny piece of wire solder w/side
    cutters than taking shears to snip. I do use sheet solder for gold
    work as that is more available. Yes, the solder pic is very good for
    applying solder to an area. We just use a sturdier pic than what is
    commercially available as the regular ones sag in no time flat. 

Ruthie Cohen
Mountain Metalsmiths School of Jewelry & Lapidary
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