The finished bracelet

By: David I. Day

 

 

After some polishing with diamond dust polish here is the finished results.

Some lessons learned.

First control of heat is very important. In electronic work it is usually OK to heat in a single area. This is not the case for silver work. The torch must be kept in motion at all times. A rather sizeable area must be heated to get the solder to flow. When flow occurs this happens rather quickly and attention must be given to keep from melting the piece.

Solder comes in many varieties for this type of work. During the last year I discovered that the kind that comes in a sheet is easiest to use. The sheet is the size of a business card and is cut with a diagonal cutter into slivers. This slivers are placed into the connection for easy flow.

Flux is a another area where special attention should be placed. I now flux the piece then heat with the butane torch. I heat until the flux looks like snow. At this point extra flux may be removed with a solder pick and blown away. The idea here is to only have flux where solder is to be flowed. In the case of the first coin bracelet, flux was allowed to flow on the coins and solder flowed there. Later projects were fluxed then the excess flux was removed prior to soldering. Another tip is to continue to heat the flux until it reached the glass state. This sets the flux in place and oxidized the surrounding silver surfaces. Solder will only flow over the fluxed areas. The oxidation helps to isolate the surrounding areas and keep the solder out.

Another area of concern is how much solder to use. A good rule of thumb is to use the least amount possible. If more is need additional can be added. It is very important to get proper flow. If the solder does not fully flow it will have to be removed by filing and grinding.

In a later section I will discuss polishing in more detail. The next part is a more back to basics discussion of design. I will go through a complete project from the pencil design to preparing the materials to fabrication to polishing. These steps are not hard but if you have never done this before it can be frustrating.