Soldering Welcome to USE SIMPLE TOOLS & EQUIPMENT fearless safe for a home S O studio! L D soldering! E R I N G B BEYOND E This new book from the author of the Y O best-selling Soldering Made Simple will N jump-start your creativity and take your “Every project presents D T BASICS craftsmanship to the next level. Journey a new challenge, H h e E t with master instructor Joe Silvera something different to B A beyond the basics of jewelry soldering! tackle, so you really do S I C get better with time S LEARN KEY TECHNIQUES: stone setting, soldering near stones, and working with gold and mixed metals. and practice.“ Techniques to build — Joe Silvera PRACTICE YOUR SKILLS in 16 jewelry projects: earrings, confi dence and control bezeled pendants, and rings. GO BEYOND THE BASICS and learn how to use small mixed-gas torches, fi rescale-retardant fl uxes, and anti-fl ux. 90-MINUTE COMPANION REVIEW fundamental skills including sawing, fi ling, and DVD ALSO other basic techniques. AVAILABLE Soldering Psoalrdte r1in rge vainewd ss tmonaete-srieatltsin, tgo toelcsh, sneiqttuinegs uuspe ad sintu tdhieo ,p arnodje cPAcinirrr ietcdnalitesa absmb e2.lete2w t .eA5ermreenma :t wanod c 1o1n6cmenmtr ic BEYOND t h eBASICS Part 2 presents 16 projects to practice soldering bezels, prongs, and tube and fl ush settings; hollow forms and sculpted pendants; protecting stones with heat shields; SSoollddeerriinngg BBeeyyoonndd tthhee BBaassiiccss pserencsiistiivoen -gsoolldd-efi rlilnegd am geotaldl. ring; and working with ©Twhi ti2sh0 om1u4at tKpeearTTrilamml oobimsasacrriyoh n ccnP ofurhhtbo blmies htrTTheinepgee rp oCudccobu.l ciAhhselhld ennr iirng. hiiatnqqsy r feuuosremeerv essd. && SStteeppppeedd BBeezzeellss wwiitthh JJooeeT SSoiirllvvceehrraa Techniques & Stepped Bezels with Joe Silvera Part 3 offers a review of basic metalworking skills including sawing, fi ling, and polishing. 64600 U.S. $21.99 S CAN $22.99 I L ISBN 978-1-62700-029-1 V 52199 E R From the publisher of Bead&Button, A Bead Style, and Art Jewelry magazines 9 781627 000291 0 64465 16460 8 Joe Silvera www.KalmbachBooks.com Soldering BEYOND BASICS e h t Techniques to build confi dence and control Joe Silvera BKS-64600-00.indd 1 4/1/14 4:13 PM Kalmbach Books 21027 Crossroads Circle Waukesha, Wisconsin 53186 www.Kalmbach.com/Books © 2014 Joe Silvera All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review, this book may not be reproduced in part or in whole by electronic means or otherwise without written permission of the publisher. Lettered step-by-step photos by the author. All other photography © 2014 Kalmbach Books except where otherwise noted. The jewelry designs in Soldering Beyond the Basics are the copyrighted property of the author, and they may not be taught or sold without permission. Please use them for your education and personal enjoyment only. Please follow appropriate health and safety measures when working with materials and equipment. Some general guidelines are presented in this book, but always read and follow manufacturers’ instructions. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented; however, the publisher is not responsible for any injuries, losses, or other damages that may result from the use of the information in this book. Published in 2014 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5 Manufactured in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62700-029-1 EISBN: 978-1-62700-030-7 Editor: Mary Wohlgemuth Art Director: Carole Ross Technical Editor: Annie Pennington Photographers: James Forbes, William Zuback Illustrator: Kellie Jaeger Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data Silvera, Joe, author. Soldering beyond the basics : techniques to build confidence and control / Joe Silvera. pages : color illustrations ; cm Includes index. Issued also as an ebook. Companion DVD also available from publisher. ISBN: 978-1-62700-029-1 1. Solder and soldering–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Metal-work–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Jewelry making–Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. TT212 .S552 2014 739.274 BKS-64600-00.indd 2 4/1/14 4:02 PM CONTENTS Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Hollow Bird and Branch Pendant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Crown Prong Rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Part 1: Getting Started Recycled Sterling Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Fused Ball Pearl Earrings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Soldering Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Gold-Filled Tube-Set Rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 Jewelry Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Sterling and Gold Tube-Set Bird Pendant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Setting Up a Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Flush-Set Gems Cuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 How to Solder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Using Solder | All About Flux | How to Ignite Your Torch | Adjusting the Gold Gallery Wire Bezel Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Flame | Soldering Techniques | Unsoldering | Anti-Flux | Soldering Near Stones | Soldering Mixed Metals | Stone-Setting Techniques Part 3: Basics Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101 Toolkits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Annealing | Sawing | Filing | Sanding | Polishing with Power Tools | Burnishing with a Tumbler | Adding Patina | Measuring Ring Size | Adjusting Ring Size | Circle Divider Part 2: Projects Mixed Metal Earrings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Dog Tag Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Beads and Rings Earrings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Freeform Prongs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Looking Sharp Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Double-Sided Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Nouveau Western Bezel Cuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Pedestal Prong Pendant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 BKS-64600-00.indd 3 4/1/14 4:02 PM PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT I recently learned something interesting about skills. Most of us advance in a skill to a certain point and stop. For example, it’s hard to advance past your best typing speed. Once this plateau is reached, after struggling to learn the basics, getting better and better with practice, we’re able to type without having to focus on it, and our mind is free to wander as we work. But without returning to the struggle, to having to think hard about your practice and how to advance, we stay content at that level. We can define geniuses, artists, and prodigies as people with the fortitude and discipline to push themselves back to the beginning in order to move beyond their limits. Fortunately, soldering is a craft that doesn’t encourage resting on your laurels. Every project presents a new challenge, something different to tackle, so that you really do get better with time and practice. 4 BKS-64600-00.indd 4 4/1/14 4:03 PM My first book, Soldering Made Simple: Easy Techniques for Kitchen Table Jewelers, was written for my students and for anyone who wanted to learn how to solder, whether they had some background in jewelry or not. It thoroughly explains the basics of soldering and lays out a course of guided projects from simple earrings to bezel-set rings. The first book, still in print with thousands of readers worldwide, provides a great introduction to soldering with home-friendly tools. This book is for those of you who have reached that skill level plateau and want to move beyond the basics, to ascend to more-interesting projects, including more stone setting, soldering near stones, and working with gold and mixed metals. Some explanations of basic techniques and “Every project presents a new challenge, something different to tackle, so that you really do get better with time and practice.” 5 BKS-64600-00.indd 5 4/1/14 4:03 PM tools overlap with Soldering Made Simple. And I’ve included a few basic projects to help any beginners with the impatient courage to dive right in to more intermediate designs. But I’ve filled these pages with lots of juicy tips to help you make more-advanced jewelry, which involves beyond- the-basics soldering techniques, such as using two butane torches or small oxy/propane torches, firescale-retardant fluxes, and anti-flux. Part 1 reviews materials, tools, setting up a studio, and soldering and stone-setting techniques, including the intermediate skills required for the projects. Part 2 is made up of 16 projects to practice soldering bezels, prongs, and tube and flush settings; hollow forms and sculpted pendants; protecting stones with heat shields; precision-soldering a gold ring; and working with sensitive gold-filled metal. In Part 3, a basics review in the back of the book, you can revisit sawing, filing, and other fundamental metalwork techniques. Just as in my first book and DVD, I’m committed to using tools and equipment that are safe for a small shop or home studio. All it takes is a corner of a room to set up a simple jewelry bench. But that corner can overflow with hours of satisfied creation as you master the art of soldering. 6 BKS-64600-00.indd 6 4/3/14 3:25 PM 1 GGGeeettttttiiinnnggg SSStttaaarrrttteeeddd BKS-64600-00.indd 7 4/1/14 4:03 PM Materials WHAT CAN BE SOLDERED? BASE METALS Copper Brass Nickel PRECIOUS METALS Sterling silver Gold Argentium sterling silver Fine silver FILLED METALS Gold-filled Silver-filled 8 BKS-64600-00.indd 8 4/1/14 4:03 PM Precious metals and base metals Jewelry created by studio artists can be made of a lot of materials, but the metals are usually precious metals or base metals, or a combination of both. These metals can be soldered. They’re nonferrous, meaning they don’t contain any iron. They can be pure metals, sometimes called fine or .999, which refers to the percentage or parts of pure metal they contain. In this case, they are 99.9% pure. They can also be alloys, which are mixtures of two or more pure metals, melted together to make different colors or working properties. The alloy number again refers to the percentage of the dominant metal in the alloy, so sterling silver is .925 or 92.5% fine silver and Nickel .075 or 7.5% copper. Filled metals and bimetals, which are made of two metals bonded together, can be soldered too. But unlike regular precious and base metal alloys, they can’t be melted or the metals will mix into a weird alloy of base and precious metal. What can’t be soldered? Soldering is used to join metals, so it doesn’t work on other materials. Plated metals don’t solder very well. They can be soldered, but the plating will burn off, exposing the base metal core. This includes copper-core craft wire, vermeil, and silver- and gold-plated metal. Base metal findings and wire can also be sealed in tarnish-resistant coatings that burn during soldering, making them too dirty to solder. White metals, such as pewter, bismuth, tin, and antimony, are low-temp metals that melt below 1200°F (649°C) or even 600°F (316°C). They can’t be soldered with hard solders used for silver and gold. They should not be mixed with base or precious metals; they can contaminate the surface. Gold Gold-filled & silver-filled Filled metals are metals that are made of two metals bonded together, usually a precious metal to a base metal, to help make the price more economical for fabrication. Silver-filled is sterling or fine silver over red brass. Gold-filled is 12k or 14k (karat) gold bonded to brass or a similar base metal. The advantage of filled metal over plated metal is that the layer of precious metal is thicker than plating, allowing for fabrication, like soldering and some polishing. 1/10 or 1/20 Filled metals are sold and marked by their weight of precious metal: 1/10th is 10% and 1/20th is 5%. Gold-filled is marked and sold by its karat and the weight of that karat. For example, 12KY/20 gold-filled wire is 1/20th or 5% yellow gold by weight. It has a tube of 12k yellow gold around a core of brass. 14KY/20 is the same as 12KY/20, but the gold is 14k. Filled metals should always be hallmarked appropriately. It is not ethical to mark 14KY/20 as 14KY. Instead it should be marked 14K/20, or 14KY/20 GF, or 14K GF, or GF (gold-filled). Single-clad or double clad Filled sheet metal can be single sided or double sided. For example, single-clad silver-filled sheet has a sterling side bonded to a brass base. Double-clad has a layer of precious metal on both sides of a brass sheet. Double-clad is more expensive, but it looks like gold, for example, on both sides. Of course, the edges expose the brass core and will need to be covered if you want to hide that. Filled findings like bezels and bezel wire are available. These will often be double clad to Silver-filled hide any base metal cores. 9 BKS-64600-00.indd 9 4/3/14 3:26 PM