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Still a beginner

sparesomechange - Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 4:29pm
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.peace sign ringpeace sign ringSo after playing around with silver soldering for a few attempts, I looked at some web sites and you-tube for some guidance as to what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. I became aware of some things I maybe should be doing differently.
When I first tried soldering some silver a while back,it was a spoon ring and I was using a propane-air torch. The torch didn't get near hot enough to do the job and I realized I would need an oxyacetylene torch for the what I was planning. So fast forward to now. I've got an oxyacetylene torch I've been using but all my silver spoons are in somewhere in storage and I am working with some thin gauge sterling wire, for which the acetylene flame is just way hot. Rather than just soldering I am really doing more of a weld. I see the silver wet up and hit it with the solder wire to cool the puddle and join the parts. There has been no metal getting red hot and just the solder melting to hold the parts together. So I've got a little bit of a dilemma. I think the high heat gives the pieces a more organic and flowing look. Also I like the idea that the parts are welded and not just brazed. And while tricky to do, I'm sure I could get the technique down pretty quickly. But for the sake of speed and ease, switching back to the propane torch for the thin gauge stuff might be what I need to do


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B.J. Severtson's picture

Torch

B.J. Severtson - Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 6:54pm

Spare change?
Like your handle. Could we see your torch? Picture please.
Brad 2 cents worth


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Rich Waugh's picture

If you're using real silver

Rich Waugh - Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 10:33pm

If you're using real silver solder, you're not getting any better joint by fusing than you are by wetting with the solder. The melting points of the solder and the sterling are close enough and the tensile strengths are very similar.

The disadvantage to having the silver begin to melt is that ou created a "burned" surface where the copper alloy is depleted and affects the strength of the parent metal as well as inhibiting the flow and cohesion of the solder.

For working with small wire, I still use an OA torch, I just work quickly. It helps to have your pieces on a surface that reflects the heat back to the work so you can stay farther back with the torch, too. I like either a soft firebrick or a charcoal block. With a good heat-reflecting background, an air/propane torch, or even air/natural gas torch will do surprisingly large work. A couple of pieces of scrap soft firebrick placed around the piece as heat reflectors will allow you to successfully solder the handle on a teacup using nothing more than a Bernz-O-Matic torch.

As you have discovered, an OA torch is a very, very hot flame and takes extreme care and control to use on small or delicate work. Sometimes, bigger/hotter/fancier isn't always better.


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visitor's picture

An air/actyalene torch is

visitor - Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 12:56am

An air/actyalene torch is better for silver work. If you are melting the solder wire into the wet spot, you are still silver soldering. If I recall correctly, a welded joint does not have a filler whether it is a brazing rod or silver solder wire. It's alright to use fusing to join things but if the metal is deforming more than what you want for the look you want, you are working too hot. To solder silver, the whole thing needs to come up to the temp that your solder melts at. You can't just heat the area that you want the solder to melt in. An excellent book to read is "The Complete Metalsmith."

marily


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visitor's picture

peace

visitor - Monday, August 18, 2008 - 6:10pm

i went to google and typed in peace sign ring. one of the first pictures that showed up was this one.
i absolutely love it. its very cute and would go with any outfit


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