First rule of soldering

Okay, last Thursday was one of those days.

I decided that I needed to tackle bezel setting and use some of the stones that I've had for a long time.  I have done bezel setting before, in three separate classes (under the watchful eye of a teacher.)  I made my own cab and bezel set it way, way, way back in college (and that one was fully soldered, unlike working with metal clay.)  They all turned out successfully.  But, since I hadn't done it by myself for quite a while I was rather hesitant.

When working with metal clay, the bezel can be shaped, the ends soldered together, and the bezel pushed into the wet clay.    This method is quick, but often results in cracks in the clay as the clay shrinks around the bezel.

A more accurate method is to make the clay piece and the bezel separately.  Solder the bezel and fire the metal clay piece by itself.  After firing, the bezel is pasted to the metal clay piece using paste which has lavender oil added to it.  Don't rush the drying at this step, let it air dry.  Then re-fire both pieces together and finish as usual.  Now here is where my problem came to light.

In class, I didn't pay any attention to the type of solder paste we were using.  (A major error!)  So, I went merrily on my way, soldering not one, but three bezels.  Since I had a design in mind for only one, I proceeded with that one.  All was going well, until I took it out of the kiln and noticed the solder was gone and the bezel had a crack where the solder should be.

Then it hit me (like a ton of bricks as they say.)  My firing temperature was hotter than the melting point of my solder!!!!!!

Okay, live and learn (again and again and again.)

All is not lost on my other two bezels though.  Paper clay can be cut into a small strip and used like a band aid to hold the seam together.  Whew, at least I remembered that from my metal clay bezel setting class.  (And I'm hitting the books to jog  my memory on some standard bezel setting practices.)

Now all I need is some info on making a square or triangular bezel.  (All the directions are for ovals, and circles!)

This photo is a finished bezel set piece that I did during a class at the conference in 2009 (or was it 2008?)  Anyway, it's just to prove that I can do bezels (but still working on making a cleaner seam.)

88%

I was trying for 100% but didn't quite make it!

There is a tendency for me to make the kind of jewelry that I wear.   I don't wear post earrings so I tend to make dangly earrings that hang from ear wires.  There are a lot of people who do wear post earrings, so I've been trying the last few days to create some earrings for them.

Of course, this involves soldering the posts on (unless I use fire-in posts that are expensive and bend easily because they're made of fine silver.)   Soldering ear posts is very easy (unlike some of the soldering I had to do in college.)  No fancy torch is needed, just a creme brulee' torch.

When soldering on fine silver, the back needs to be very clean and more solder has to be used because of the fired clay's porosity.  Silver solder can be used on copper and bronze pieces too.   The solder will show as silver, which looks a little messy to me since it doesn't blend in like it would on a silver piece.

Last week I had two pair of bronze earrings that needed to be soldered.  It took me three times "each" on these earrings.  I cleaned them with the 3M bristle brushes with my flex shaft and that is where I think I made my mistake.  The 3M wheels must have a compound in them that kept the solder from working.  After I cleaned the backs with a wire brush, things went more smoothly.

Today, I had four pair of earrings to solder.  Cleaned them first with the wire brush.  The first seven earrings soldered on without a hitch.  The eighth earring took two times.  Hey, 88% isn't bad considering my batting average last week.

These have not been cleaned up yet.

Lots of practice

When making earrings I usually make dangly earrings with ear wires since that is what I wear. But I need to remember that not everyone likes this type of earring. I'm finding out that many people wear small earrings with posts. My mother is one of them.

Several years ago I gave my mother a small pair of earrings made from a mold of a button that required a post (although I also made some of them to hang from an ear wire.) Since I hadn't soldered in oh..... 36 years I was a little hesitant about soldering on the earring posts. But no problem, there is a remedy for that. Just buy fine silver earring posts that can be fired in place. They have a nice big pad for lots of contact with the earring surface which makes them so easy to use. For ease in use they are worth the extra cost (as they are not cheap.) The drawback to using these is that fine silver is soft and bends easily. I know to be careful when using them but most people don't. So, the post on one of my mother's earrings broke. (Not sure how long ago, she never wants to bother me.)

My mother also bought a small pair of earrings on an ear wire. She thought they were small enough that she wouldn't mind them dangling..... but she did.

So, I took both pair of earrings. One to be repaired and the other to be reworked. Two summers ago I took Linda Kline's earring extravaganza class at the Arrowmont Retreat. We learned how to solder on metal clay and it really wasn't all that difficult. (Silly how we shy away from things out of fear.) Since then I do simple soldering on pieces like earrings and pins and am able to use my small kitchen torch. (I always thought I would need one of those fancy torches.)

Soldering on metal clay requires a clean surface (a freshly fired, unbrushed piece is best.) Then the silver molecules need to be compacted as much as possible by burnishing the area to be soldered. Since metal clay is very porous it is necessary to use more solder than usual. (I use easy paste solder.)

Now here is where the "lots of practice" comes in. First I had to remove the other post and file the surface of both earrings (solder will not fill in gaps.) I set up my firebrick on a piece of tile and soldered on the earring posts to both pairs. The earrings from the button mold were curved, so I laid them into a carved out area on the firebrick. This made them level for soldering.

All went well and I had two pair of earrings soldered. As I was cleaning up I noticed that the earrings posts were really pointed and thick. So.... I took a second look at the container of earring posts and found that they were not posts at all but tack pins. (I should have known.... nothing ever goes that smoothly.)

More work! I removed the tack pins with the torch, cleaned the pieces again and soldered again. Only this time things did not go as smoothly as before. The button earrings gave me some problems and I got even more soldering practice.

Since the one pair of earrings originally were hanging from ear wires, I had a hole to deal with. I turned them upside down and added a silver bead with a small jump ring. They still have a slight dangle to them but I think my mother will be okay with that.

What did I learn from this? Check twice..... solder once!