I would like to adorn one of my jewelry pieces with a 3mm 14k gold ball (with no holes), however, I can't seem to find such an item to purchase, so I thought I would create my own from gold wire, chips or grain. As I only have experience soldering with silver, and gold is an expensive commodity to 'practice' with these days, I thought it would be prudent to ask for advice from others.

Ancient stile ear rings, white gold, diamonds

Does anybody have some tips on soldering gold? I'm pretty handy at soldering silver, but I have never tried gold. I understand that one needs to heat the solder joint more directly as opposed to the whole piece. I think I can handle that. Anything else that a silver-soldering person might need to know before beginning to experiment?

I am new to artmetal and I hope to make new friends and learn more about working with metal.

I have worked as a bench jeweler in the past and just recently set up a custom jewelry design/repair shop in a caboose in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

  Aloha, I'm Gary Anthony The JewelerAtLarge TM... new to all of this, still glad to join. I've been a jeweler for 30 years now, and live on the Island of Kauai creating jewelry using genuine beachglass and Argentium Sterling Silver. I also create some large fish sculptures in copper... all the local fish - Ahi, Mahi Mahi, Ono, Ulua and on...
I'm wondering if anyone can give me any feedback on using a scroll saw to cut out my fish...(24gauge copper) I currently use heavy shears, but then I have to spend extra time finishing the edges. Any thoughts?... I like that delta one, but hear it might suck.