tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790282116427049637.post957306439983948836..comments2023-09-13T07:11:16.246-07:00Comments on Silvera Jewelry School: Answers to some Common Questions about SolderingJoe Silverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16941552125746455757noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790282116427049637.post-81245518211390196592018-09-07T10:17:17.252-07:002018-09-07T10:17:17.252-07:00Looks like I’ve got some posts that I missed! I’ll...Looks like I’ve got some posts that I missed! I’ll reply here to a few of them. Sorry for the delay.<br /><br />Silvia Giebitz: Metal Pins vs. Ceramic in a honeycomb block - what an interesting question! Alrighty then, here you go, you can’t, without bending the laws of physics and some really bad luck, accidentally solder your ceramic pins to your jewelry! Honeycomb block holes fit most steel t-pins that you can buy from a sewing notions store. T-pins are flexible and great for positioning your work, but unless you coat them with an anti-flux material, like yellow-ochre or white out, they can get soldered to your work. It’s okay though. You can unsolder them or just cut them off with old pliers and grind the rest off. Ceramic pins come with some honeycomb blocks, not all, and don’t have that problem. <br /><br />Ann Bogart: I’ve been there. What’s happening is the metal is relaxing open during soldering - it’s annealing and losing the tension that was holding it shut. Easy solution: close your ring as usual, and then tie it shut with binding wire. I use 19 gauge dark annealed binding wire from the hardware store. You tie it around the midline of the ring, twisting it shut. Then make a “z-bend” with flat nose pliers. This is basically grabbing a section of binding wire with your pliers and bending the wire a little. The z in the wire tightens the fit. The binding wire will keep your ring shut during soldering, leading to potential for joy and possibly a happy dance. <br /><br />Danielinseattle: Thanks for buying my book! Here’s a couple of tips for dealing with unruly balls, um, when soldering. Yes, the flat spot does disappear when you add solder, so you have to keep track of it. Usually you can see a color difference between the silver and solder. If that doesn’t work, try this: make divots to help keep the balls in place, and use a tiny piece of solder. After you melt the silver into balls, find a matching size round steel bur, available from jewelry suppliers. Doesn’t have to be a perfect match just close. Use the round bur to make shallow divots on your jewelry piece where you want the balls to stay. Flux everything and heat lightly until the flux turns clear. Place your balls in the divots. Then make really tiny solder chips. Place a solder chip against the base of the ball where it’s seated in the divot. Continue heating until the solder sucks in and solders your ball in place. Repeat until finished, happy or both. Hope this help.<br /><br />Joe Silverahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16941552125746455757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790282116427049637.post-19319914472554076082018-06-27T11:05:02.008-07:002018-06-27T11:05:02.008-07:00I’m working on the first project of your simple so...I’m working on the first project of your simple soldering book and running into trouble soldering the tiny silver balls to the discs. When the solder melts on the the ball, the flat side of the ball then becomes rounded. It’s then hard to tell which side has the solder and even when you can figure it out it won’t stay put on the disc when heating and the torch just makes it roll over. The only time I’ve been able to make a ball stick to the disc is when the ball got so hot it partially melted. Any tips?Danielnseattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05278406223067322530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790282116427049637.post-62802916773308829402017-05-06T10:17:03.232-07:002017-05-06T10:17:03.232-07:00I am trying to solder a heavy gold band. I get th...I am trying to solder a heavy gold band. I get the seam to line up perfectly with no gap but when I heat it up the metal moves apart slightly. I know the solder will flow there because it's very slight but I want a perfect seam. I have already completely annealed the ring before I start but it still happens. Does anyone know of a way to avoid this? I don't want the seam to be visible at all. Thanks, Ann Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12797760360349736040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790282116427049637.post-35829709401124103182016-01-16T06:55:20.974-08:002016-01-16T06:55:20.974-08:00When is it better to use metal pins instead of cer...When is it better to use metal pins instead of ceramic ones on a honeycomb block? Or which pins are better ceramic or metal ones?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15997836503252213330noreply@blogger.com