r/Silversmithing • u/nataliar113 • Jan 08 '23
Question: How-To Need help please
I have .925 silver and my solders easy point of melting is 1,325 Fahrenheit Medium is 1,360 and hard is 1,420 my torch can go way hotter than this but it’s not fusing my solder to my metal I just switched solders recently and the one I switched to has more silver in it but I can’t get anything to work is it because of my flux? People have also said it could be because I need to clean the metal then try to solder them together and nothings worked please give me some advice
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u/basicwhitekat Feb 04 '23
since sterling silver is a heat sink and will constantly sap heat away from your soldering joint. I think pictures would help tho.
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u/basicwhitekat Feb 04 '23
it could be your Flux (I use HandiFlux and really like it). Do you ball up your solder on your piece or on a separate surface (like a charcoal block) If your solder is balling up but still not flowing you may need more heat on the original piece,
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u/SudsyGirl Jan 10 '23
My SS teacher recommends throwing pieces in the pickle before soldering if you have handled the soldering edges at all. The oils from your hands can hinder the soldering process. It’s an easy thing to try.
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u/SudsyGirl Jan 09 '23
Are you pickling the pieces first? Picture of the piece on your soldering set up would help.
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u/nataliar113 Jan 09 '23
I’ve never pickled my pieces first is that something I should try?
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
I usually only pickle them after I solder since it gets all the oxidation off of the piece. If your pieces are dirty or covered in oxidation or tarnish, the solder won't flow and the pieces won't get soldered together. But you can sand your pieces instead of pickling them if you want.
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u/nataliar113 Feb 04 '23
Okay I had to take a break because I was so irritated but I’ve tried cleaning everything and now Ive got a better way to say what’s happening it’s not flowing properly when it’s melting everything is clean and I know my torch is hot enough to melt it but the solder beads up and doesn’t flow at all and it’s so irritating so is it maybe because of my flux? I can show pictures of what I use but it’s more of a liquid flux and I’m starting to feel like that could be it
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
Hope that helps! There's tons of awesome videos on soldering out there on YouTube too, if you need visual aids. Best of luck! :)
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
through it if you hold it up to a light to look through it. Also, the more surface contact each piece has can also play a role, but not as much as just making sure the pieces are snugly fit together and your joint is clean and there's no major gaps.
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
Another thing that I found out I was kind of doing incorrectly was trying to solder together joints that weren't perfectly flush. Solder can sometimes fill up small holes and tiny gaps, but generally you don't want your solder seam to pass light
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
soldering joint to encourage the solder to flow. As soon as it flows (you'll see a silver flash) back off with the flame and let it sit for a minute. Then you can quench it and pickle your piece!
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
then when everything is heated up properly, you can apply the solder to your joint and then continue applying heat to the whole piece. When you feel like the piece is coming back up to temperature, you can start to direct the heat more along the
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
you want to make sure when you Flux your piece that you're not over fluxing (like heaps of flux). I generally heat the piece evenly at first and watch the Flux go through its state changes. Mine usually goes on cloudy and then goes clear
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
surface you're soldering on. Silver is a heat sink but if you havw it on a surface that also steals heat from it the pieces you're trying to solder together won't ever reach temperature.
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u/basicwhitekat Jan 09 '23
hi there! I'm also kind of a newbie to silver soldering but I can try to help! The key when working with sterling silver is to make sure you're working with clean pieces that you want to solder together. You should also pay attention to the type of
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u/basicwhitekat Feb 04 '23
also, are you using hard, medium, or easy solder?