Gold soldering question...

Hi All,
I am going to be making a couple of gold rings, simple wedding band
type things. These are going to be made in 14K white gold. I'm hoping
for just a bit of guidance. I am at best a hobbiest at this sort of
thing and have done lots of soldering on silver, both in jewelry making
and for industrial applications where I work. I have never soldered gold
before, and am wondering just how different it is in comparison to
silver. I have read plenty of things that indicate that it is actually
somewhat easier than silver due to the difference in how it conducts
heat, but the intimidation factor is still there. Do I use the same flux
as you would use for silver? I usually use Handi-Flux type stuff for
silver, and have a Smith air/acetylene torch as well as a Smith "Little
Torch" in oxy/propane.

Any suggestion would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
AL A.

A similar question was asked 3 months ago. Here is the link to the
thread:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.c...58f58bf3dca1a6
Sarit.
http://sarit-jewelry.com


Al A. wrote:
Hi All,
I am going to be making a couple of gold rings, simple wedding band
type things. These are going to be made in 14K white gold. I'm hoping
for just a bit of guidance. I am at best a hobbiest at this sort of
thing and have done lots of soldering on silver, both in jewelry making
and for industrial applications where I work. I have never soldered gold
before, and am wondering just how different it is in comparison to
silver. I have read plenty of things that indicate that it is actually
somewhat easier than silver due to the difference in how it conducts
heat, but the intimidation factor is still there. Do I use the same flux
as you would use for silver? I usually use Handi-Flux type stuff for
silver, and have a Smith air/acetylene torch as well as a Smith "Little
Torch" in oxy/propane.

Any suggestion would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
AL A.


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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Al A. wrote:
Hi All,
I am going to be making a couple of gold rings, simple wedding band
type things. These are going to be made in 14K white gold. I'm hoping
for just a bit of guidance. I am at best a hobbiest at this sort of
thing and have done lots of soldering on silver, both in jewelry making
and for industrial applications where I work. I have never soldered gold
before, and am wondering just how different it is in comparison to
silver. I have read plenty of things that indicate that it is actually
somewhat easier than silver due to the difference in how it conducts
heat, but the intimidation factor is still there. Do I use the same flux
as you would use for silver? I usually use Handi-Flux type stuff for
silver, and have a Smith air/acetylene torch as well as a Smith "Little
Torch" in oxy/propane.

Any suggestion would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
AL A.
What you read is quite right; gold is slightly easier to solder than
silver. Prepare the joint in the same way and use the same flux. In
fact, do everything the same, except you use gold solder instead of
silver. I'd use the oxy/propane torch in preference.

--
Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Sarit Wolfus wrote:
A similar question was asked 3 months ago. Here is the link to the
thread:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.c...58f58bf3dca1a6
Sarit.
http://sarit-jewelry.com



Sarit,
Thanks for pointing that out, all of the responses are just the sort of
info I was looking for. I seem to have missed those posting when I looked.

Much appreciated!

-AL A.

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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

What a mine field?
Modern white gold is not pure white as most of the Nickel has been removed
from the alloy.
This is my pet hate, as older metal and solder was more white.
All white gold now has a yellow shade to it and to make it white is Rhodium
Plated, which in time wears off.
I make my own white gold to the old recipe but i casnnot perfect the 18ct
white due to the higher gold content.
If you want to start on gold i would try yellow gold first.

Dave
"Al A." wrote in message
...
Hi All,
I am going to be making a couple of gold rings, simple wedding band
type things. These are going to be made in 14K white gold. I'm hoping
for just a bit of guidance. I am at best a hobbiest at this sort of
thing and have done lots of soldering on silver, both in jewelry making
and for industrial applications where I work. I have never soldered gold
before, and am wondering just how different it is in comparison to
silver. I have read plenty of things that indicate that it is actually
somewhat easier than silver due to the difference in how it conducts
heat, but the intimidation factor is still there. Do I use the same flux
as you would use for silver? I usually use Handi-Flux type stuff for
silver, and have a Smith air/acetylene torch as well as a Smith "Little
Torch" in oxy/propane.

Any suggestion would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
AL A.



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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 08:30:10 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Castle Jewellers"
wrote:

What a mine field?
Modern white gold is not pure white as most of the Nickel has been removed
from the alloy.

In Europe, this may well be true, but not here in the U.S., where although
palladium white golds are available, most of what's used and sold is still the
traditional nickel based white golds.

This is my pet hate, as older metal and solder was more white.
All white gold now has a yellow shade to it and to make it white is Rhodium
Plated, which in time wears off.

True again, but I'd note that it's traditional to rhodium plate the nickel white
golds too, especially the 14K ones, which often are a bit softer/warmer in color
than the whitest of the 18K alloys.


I make my own white gold to the old recipe but i casnnot perfect the 18ct
white due to the higher gold content.

Interesting. In my experience, the very whitest of the white golds are nickel
based 18K alloys. These also tend to be sheer hell to work with sometimes,
being prone to porosity when cast, and being very hard and tending to
brittleness when fabricated. But with practice, you can do both well in any
case. Like you, though, I just just can't say I LIKE white golds. I'd rather
work in platinum.

If you want to start on gold i would try yellow gold first.

Agreed. It's got such a nice yellow color too. (grin). But realistically, for
what the original poster is actually proposing, simple wedding band styles, the
complexity of the intended fabrication is very simple, and doing this in white
gold should not present undue problems. And soldering itself is not, at least
in my view, where the white golds present the most trouble. It's in shaping and
modelling, where the metal is asked to deform without cracking. Or in stone
setting, where it's hardness and springyness simply makes a setter work a lot
harder, or causes trouble when prongs wish to spring back instead of staying
where they're put.

For simply bending a strip of metal around into a wedding band and soldering the
seam, I see no reason why even a beginner couldn't achieve good results easily
enough, especially if he/she has prior experience with silver. Make sure the
seam is clean and well fitted and well fluxed, and the torch is heating both
sides of the seam evenly, rather than just one side or just the solder, and be
aware that golds in general will give you less visual warning if youj're getting
them too hot and risking melting something, than does silver. Be also aware
that you'll want to shape the band more closely to it's final form before
soldering the seam, since deforming, hammering, or bending the solder seam is
much more likely to crack it with white golds, than would be the case with
silver. But all in all, this project should not be too difficult.

cheers

Peter Rowe

Castle Jewellers wrote:
What a mine field?
Modern white gold is not pure white as most of the Nickel has been removed
from the alloy.
This is my pet hate, as older metal and solder was more white.
All white gold now has a yellow shade to it and to make it white is Rhodium
Plated, which in time wears off.
I make my own white gold to the old recipe but i casnnot perfect the 18ct
white due to the higher gold content.
If you want to start on gold i would try yellow gold first.

Dave


Thanks for the reply. I was not trying to lay a mine field. My apologies
for throwing a chunk of meat to feed your pet hate.

I am making these in white gold because that was what was asked of me.
It is for my daughter, and is to match another ring, also in 14K white.
I figure if I screw it up and it dosen't come out right despite my best
efforts, well then I have lost a couple of hundred bucks, maybe. It
would hardly be the first time I have lost money in my life, and
certainly won't be the largest amount! On the up sideI'll have gained
some enjoyable shop time time, and if I am really lucky and pay
attention, I may even learn something new.

I wish I had the knowledge, skill and raw materials to make my own
white gold, but I simply don't know what you (and lots of others here)
know, and don't presume that I can just "pick it up" over next few weeks.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

-AL A.

Hi, I am new to this group. Can someone send me the link to soldering
silver, especially chain? I have a "pen" solder tool, very tiny tip.

Thank you.

Atomic Flare

texastwostep wrote:

Hi, I am new to this group. Can someone send me the link to soldering
silver, especially chain?


Uhh... "the" link? There's a lot more than one...
Google is yer friend, k?



I have a "pen" solder tool, very tiny tip.


Throw that thing in the rubbish bin and get a torch, for starters...



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