How to Solder Techniques and Tips

How to solder Techniques is the process of joining two pieces of metal together.

Mastering how to solder technique will give you the freedom to incorporate sophisticated connections into your jewelry designs, take the time to learn this process and master it.

I highly recommend taking a basic silversmith/fabrication class to be guided by a master jewelry designer in the beginning of your journey. Check your local community college for their metal and jewelry design classes.

Before you begin your journey, you will need to gather some basic soldering tools:

Selecting the right torch is important, because it will save you money in the long run. A torch is one of the first investment your will make as you are setting your studio.

Fluxes: serves as an agent that allows the medium to move freely on the metal.

Different types of flux can be used with different types of materials and temperatures.

Borax: the most commonly used. It comes in a cone and sits in a ceramic dish. .

Auflux: Is a general – purpose flux that comes in a liquid form.

Tenacity 5: This flux comes in powder form and is mixed with water to form a paste. It can withstand higher temperatures. TIP: I use a paste flux that I buy from the jewelry supply companies. It works with all my applications and when used correctly it can last a long time. I mix the flux with distilled or filtered water to form a softer paste. I keep it stored in a baby food glass jar. There are different types of soft metals you can use to fuse silver.

You can buy silver and gold solder in all the above forms. It comes in sheets and wire. I prefer the sheet. However, you can use wire to incorporate some interesting design into your jewelry design.

The most important thing to take into consideration when learning how to solder is a CLEAN & SAFE environment.

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