Jewelry Tip: All about solder

[nancylthamilton]

Hi J, Big question, small space to respond in. Overlap the metal to be cut and saw through both legs. Filing is too inconsistent. Sawing leaves both sides exactly the same. I think I talk about what a pain doing this is and how to match up the ends in my video: How to make a hook and eye clasp - part one and two. I go through the same problem. I hope this helps. Email me personally (from my site) for more help. Thanks, Nancy

[JtheParanormal]

Hi Nancy, I am beginning to make my own sterling rings out of sterling wire and strips and I'm having trouble making the perfect joint to close the ring, sort of like closing jump rings but on a slightly larger scale. I try to file the two ends of the silver strip so that they are flat but it's just not working for me because I always have a slight gap in the silver and the solder doesn't flow or flows out. Are there any tips you can offer to make the perfect joint when making silver rings?

[MelindaOrrDesigns]

Thanks for sharing!

[nancylthamilton]

@MelindaOrrDesigns thanks Melinda!

[nancylthamilton]

Trekranger, I purchase my solder from Rio Grande Jewelry. Have fun. N

[trekranger]

who do you normaly buy from ?

[nancylthamilton]

Melody152, Thanks you so much!

[melodyl52]

Thank you. What a great tutorial.

[sisteryaya24]

Thank you. I like your style. My question is can you use gold solder on gold-filled wire? I already purchased it before I knew about yellow strip solder.

[nancylthamilton]

@sisteryaya24 Yep, no problem. It's pricier but work great. Thanks for watching. n

[sisteryaya24]

@nancylthamilton

Hi again Nancy. Thank you so much for getting back to me. I tried it (the gold solder) out and one piece of gold-filled metal kept it's gold and the other piece (a jumpring) didn't. I'm thinking it must have not been real gold-filled. What do you think? Thanks again for your help. I'll keep watching. Peace

[nancylthamilton]

@sisteryaya24 Yeah, it is weird that it worked once and not twice. I just don't know. It may not be real gold solder but, gold filled solder and I suppose, as it's only filled, that the other part that is not gold showed up. I've never had that happen. Was the line that showed silvery? I'm as confused as you are. Maybe we'll never know???? I'll email Rio Grande and ask them about it. Hopefully, they've got an answer. Later gator. Nancy

[nancylthamilton]

Thanks so much casitagirl! Love those fabulous comments. Good luck and have fun in your new adventure. Nancy

[casitagirl]

Thank~you! Very new to this. I've been searching you tube videos around on the web and so glad I found you!

[nancylthamilton]

@az27485 Well, I don't know. I've never tried it, so I can't say. Guess you could take sheet solder and treat it like sheet metal but, I imagine you might have a mess on your hands (or bench). Let me know if you ever try it. Good luck. N

[HackSteele]

You're very clear and helpful, both with your demos and explanations/commentary. Thanks a lot.

[nancylthamilton]

@HackSteele  Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write. N

[nancylthamilton]

Hi Marie, To solder gold filled metal use yellow strip solder available from Rio Grande Jewelry. You can also use this solder with brass.

[sisteryaya24]

@nancylthamilton

Nancy, I also asked Rio about yellow strip solder and they didn't recommend it for gold-filled because the colors don't match. They said it was great for brass thought. What do you think. It's a lot more affordable than gold solder.

[marietejero]

what solder do you use for gold plated jewelry?

[nancylthamilton]

Hi Trek, You shouldn't be able to see any light between the two edges. Solder will melt on one side only, if the join isn't perfect.  Clean metal by heating it up, til it turns dark gray and has a pink glow. Quench it and pickle. That will make it very clean. Paint the flux in the join and flux the solder too. Torch is probably not hot enough. Mapp gas is hotter. Heat metal evenly. Then hit join with flame. Work fast, copper is dirty. Email me for more info - no enough room here. Good luck

[trekranger]

i'm making copper rings (24guage) using hard solder and i cant get solder too melt. I'm using a little propain torch you get at any store. i can get the solder too melt by itself but when i put it on ring it just wont melt.i clean copper and use flux so i dont get it.HELP. i got it too melt 2 times out of 5 but thats it.Solder it wire and its hard .Any ideas??

[nancylthamilton]

Why thanks you Ms. Lynn! Thanks for watching and taking the time to respond!

[passionwriter70]

Thanks for making this video. I am new to this and I am trying to learn what kind of solder I need to buy and how to use it, etc.. Your video is very helpful and I will be watching all of your videos as soon as I can.

Thanks for sharing!

Lynn

[nancylthamilton]

Glad it helped!

[cRoniQuePower]

Thanks for making this video. It's really informative and I enjoyed learning about solder!

[trekranger]

is that also silver?

[nancylthamilton]

@trekranger I get my silver solder from Rio Grande Jewelry Supply. Just type in solder under "search". There is silver in this solder and the amount varies depending on if the solder is hard, medium, easy, etc. Rio's hard solder is 75% silver, their easy solder is 65% silver. There are many places to obtain solder and it comes in different forms: sheet, wire and paste. You cannot find this solder at Lowes or Home Depot. Thanks for watching. Good Luck! Nancy

[trekranger]

where do you get it at? can you buy it from lowes or homedepot ?

[carvinmom]

love your lessons, very informative and especially easy to follow..

[digsart]

Great tip! Thank you sweetie! ♥♥♥