There are lots of tactics to method soldering bezels and plenty of jewellery making gear and fabrics to be had to make this procedure float (pun supposed!) extra seamlessly (sure, any other pun!). Significantly, over the years, there are extra choices for soldering than ever earlier than and extra soldering platforms to choose between than ever earlier than. Each and every soldering platform gives its personal receive advantages and Tom and Kay Benham assist discover the advantages of their attempted and true favorites.
Tom and Kay Benham were our main “Ask the Professionals” columnists for years and we’re glad to percentage a few of their maximum useful guidelines from the pages of Lapidary Magazine Jewellery Artist with you right here. Somewhat facet be aware. I met Tom & Kay in Tucson, 2001’ish and we dreamt up the Ask the Professionals column proper then and there. I’m grateful for social media and with the ability to stay alongside of all their accomplishments and circle of relatives information. Kay is reasonably the curator of artwork and should you don’t already, apply her for inspiration! It’s with a heavy middle I percentage that Tom kicked the bucket. I will nonetheless see his smile, pay attention his voice as he helped me perceive the complexity of a venture he used to be operating on or software he used to be growing, and his legacy of information as a metals and intarsia professional lives on, as do his gorgeous designs. —Tammy Honaman, Interweave Director of Content material
Q: What’s the most productive platform to make use of to carry a work when soldering from underneath?
A: We’re regularly requested this query in a single shape or any other and began asking it of ourselves a few years in the past once we melted our percentage of bezels seeking to train ourselves learn how to solder positive silver bezels to sterling silver again plates.
Above: Soldering stand. {Photograph} through Jim Lawson
We temporarily realized that the flame must handiest be carried out to the ground of the backing plate, heating to a top sufficient temperature to soften the solder however now not the positive silver bezel: be mindful, it’s the heated steel inflicting the solder to float, now not the flame. Merely said, the platform is any software or object that raises the piece to be soldered above the refractory floor, permitting the flame get entry to to backside of the backing plate.
Comparable: Soldering Set-Up: The Fundamentals (Loose Video)
Titanium Platforms
A number of firms have just lately presented titanium enameling trivets, which additionally serve as as superb soldering platforms, and our present desire is for a titanium platform. The reason being that silver solder is not going to stick with titanium, nor will teeth. For those who’ve ever soldered your clamps or fixtures in your silver, you’ll actually respect this selection! We just lately obtained some broad titanium strips and came upon they may well be bent into V or W shapes. For those who position two or extra of those at the refractory floor, it supplies a considerable soldering platform.
Different platforms can paintings, merely now not as neatly. However as a result of we expect it’s excellent to grasp choices, we describe the ones we’ve attempted right here, with their benefits and drawbacks.
Tripod and Mesh
The primary software we attempted used to be the previous standby: a soldering tripod and cord mesh. Whilst this setup is quickly to be had and ended in fewer melted bezels, the heavy cord mesh used to be an enormous warmth sink, requiring using a bigger torch tip. One of the vital unwanted effects of the extra warmth from the bigger guidelines used to be the oxidized or fireplace scale trend as a result of the heavy cord mesh touching the again plate — so we needed to spend a large number of time sanding and sprucing to take away the trend. We attempted a number of other cord mesh set ups with various effects, however usually didn’t just like the cord mesh involved with the silver.
Binding Twine Nest
That is an previous time favourite, created through loosely wrapping iron binding cord round your hands after which manipulating the cord backward and forward to shape a helter-skelter pad a few part inch thick. Position the items to be soldered on best of the chicken’s nest and direct the flame underneath the piece to warmth Titanium trivets Titanium shapes Tripod and mesh Twine nests and coils Fireplace brick squares Previous Saws from under. The mass of the cord is so small you don’t desire a better torch tip, however this nonetheless left some patterning at the backside of the silver.
Toroidal coils of iron binding cord additionally make a very good soldering platform, however they don’t get rid of all patterning, both so we attempted stainless-steel cord. That labored really well with none patterning, however since the stainless-steel is far more difficult than iron, you’ll want to shape the coils through tightly wrapping the cord round a small picket dowel rod, then sliding the coil off and forming it right into a circle to create the toroidal coil. Twist the tip wires in combination to safe its form.
White Fireplace Brick
We’ve extensively utilized small blocks of white fireplace brick as a beef up, and whilst this most commonly works neatly, preserving the small light-weight blocks from shifting round will also be vexing and from time to time disastrous, so we usually keep away from this technique.
Comparable: 9 Pointers for Absolute best Solder Joints, Each and every Time
This Q&A in the beginning seemed in Lapidary Magazine Jewellery Artist.
Do you could have a favourite soldering platform? Tell us within the feedback!
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