Thanks! I ordered some gold solder and a pre-fab bezel setting. I'll try adding that to a scrap ring that I have. Wish me luck. I might be back here crying for help. We'll see.

Thanks again... more questions now: My oxy/acetylene setup is pretty huge, heavy, dirty and is downstairs in the garage. I'd like something smaller/cleaner for indoor soldering in my little dining room studio. Two part question:

1. Would the EZ Torch work for gold? Is the HEAT going to be enough for gold jewelry work? I just want to braze some setting heads on some rings, repairs, stuff like that - in addition to silver soldering, which I know will work fine.

2. What if you used it with MAPP gas? I can't quite tell if it will work with that or not, but it seems like that would get you a little hotter than propane - if the hose/tip is rated for that.

EZ Torch:

I doubt that you would find that torch all that handy. It looks a bit large and propane/air just doesn't get all that hot unless the flame is good sized. For about the same price as that setup you could get a Little Torch and use your current O/A tanks and regulators with a couple of adapters. The Little Torch it just dandy for what you're wanting to do, I think.

Rich

The Little Torch sounds great - and I almost bought one yesterday, but I'm just thinking - and I'm not just trying to save a buck - I can afford a Little Torch just fine. I'm just considering every option. Why not a little $15 MAPP gas pencil torch from the hardware store. They burn significantly hotter than propane. I don't see myself soldering anything with a stone already set in the near future so what's the harm of a somewhat broader flame? Would such a torch be useful to learn and get a feel for gold soldering? Maybe even fabricate a couple "real" pieces, attach a prong head, etc?

I should edit... MAPP isn't "significantly" hotter than Propane. I'm still curious if this is a worthwhile road to go down. I'll probably buy the Little Torch, but can't resist the possibility of having less stuff cluttering my house/shop/life. I'm over run with "stuff" so the less the better, at this point.

After I got a small O/A torch, I never again used my regular propane/air torches at all for jewelry work. I used one great humping big homemade one for annealing holloware, but everything else I used the O/A. Back then, they didn't have the Little Torches available so I got a "radiator repair" torch - about what they sell these days for air conditioning work.

The cleanliness and precision of the O/A flame is hard to beat for fine work. I'd eschew the little MAPP torch.

Rich

I really appreciate all the tips! I'll probably get a smaller oxy/fuel torch for improved precision and control. In the meantime I gave it a try with my little propane hardware-store torch and the results are so-far-so-good!

This is a bezel I bought, just for this experiment. The ring is a last-minute casting made from an old bracelet. It was just a test but it worked - maybe I'll set a diamond in there!

I'm no longer afraid of soldering gold, moving forward with confidence.

You have learned much, Grasshopper. :-)

Rich

One of the big differences between O/A and the other fuel gases is the way the flame acts and heats.As Rich stated above the O/A will allow more precision and help localize the heat which I would think would be of great value to a jeweler or when working on things where the work is relatively thin/delicate and the filler rod is close to the same melting temp as the base metal/work.
In fabrication work we used O/A for welding and touchy brazing/soldering jobs and the other gasses for cutting,heating,etc where a lot of soaking heat with higher operating pressure was needed.
If fuel gas cost and higher pressure/flow weren`t factors using the larger torches then we would have gone with O/A for just about everything.

Follow the advise you got from Rich.You have the tanks and regulators,go with the O/A Small Torch.It will make life much easier and you will not regret it.

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice there is.

I completed this little experiment happily with a $12 propane/air torch and figured that was going to be good enough for most of my needs. But then I was thinking about it more. In this case the small bezel was shielded behind the ring shank, so I could apply a lot of heat to the inside of the heavy ring shank and the setting warmed up perfectly due to its small size, without being directly in the flame. But when that big, fat flame did drift to the side, the bezel turned red-hot INSTANTLY. I was able to pull back just in time, no damage.

Then I was thinking of some designs I have in mind where a thin, light-weight bezel will overhang the sides of the ring shank... it would be unavoidable, with my huge flame, to overheat the setting and melt it to oblivion long before the ring shank ever got hot enough to melt the solder. I'll need a smaller-yet-still-quite-hot flame for that. I think I'll go ahead with a Little Torch purchase. Thanks for all your good advice. That plus one little ounce of experience - having seen what almost happened to my bezel - is convincing enough. I got lucky.

If you buy/build a tool or machine that will do what you want it to do only when it`s operating at max capacity then you limit yourself to not being able to go further than that type of work.
On the other hand,if you buy or build a tool/machine that is several levels above what you presently need you effectively expand your potential and find yourself looking to expand your skills and scope of work to match the capabilities of your tools.

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice there is.

It is good to gain confidence, now get yourself a real torch and develop some skill.

OK! You guys convinced me... I just spent (another) $600 at Rio Grande! I got a Little Torch, a diamond setting book, a video on setting princess cuts (that was an expensive vid!), some casting grain for one of my projects and some other goodies. I hope you all don't mind learning with me as I go.

I have two paying customers right now (white gold/diamond engagement rings). So far, I've happily re-invested most my profits in the name of doing a really good job for them. Of course the real profit is learning, experience, some tools and a couple nice portfolio pieces :)

In the next 3 weeks there will be a lot of photos including some diamond setting (round and square), gold soldering (with my new torch), casting and all sorts of fun.

Hi,
I use A/A for my silver work. Everything I've read on temp for melting silver/gold indicates that A/A has a temperature sufficient for these tasks if using a large tip.
Is this correct and any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Meg W.