workbench guide to jewelry techniques

8/14/2019 Workbench Guide to Jewelry Techniques

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ANASTASIA YOUNG

THE WORKBENCH GUIDE TO


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SOLDERING

Metals are most often joined together using the soldering

process. Solder is a metal alloy with a lower melting point than

the metals it is joining; precious metals each have their own

solder alloy, but base metals are usually joined with silver solder.

Materials and tools

Solder is available in different gradeshardsilver solder has a melting point just below thatof silver, medium has a lower melting point,and easy solder melts at a lower point still. Hardsolder is used predominantly, as it color-matchessilver better than medium or easy, and flowsalong seams better, too. Enameling solder has avery high melting point and can be used to joinelements that are going to be enameled (see page229); extra-easy solder should only be used forrepair work. Every karat and color of gold has itsown solder alloys of hard, medium, and easy.

Flux is used to aid solder flow by preventingthe metal from oxidizing when heated. Borax is

Technique finder

Core techniques

(pages 82108)

Cutting and piercing

Drilling

Filing

Annealing Soldering

Pickling

Bending metal

Cleaning up

Polishing

Construction

(pages 109119)

Forming techniques

(pages 120149)

Carving and casting

(pages 150168)

Mechanisms

(pages 169189)

Color and texture

(pages 190234)

Stone setting

(pages 235247)

Stringing beads

(pages 248251)

Outwork

(pages 252269)

Plant cell brooch

By Laura Baxter

The intricate silver and

gold elements of this

brooch were skillfully

soldered together.

a good general-purpose flux, and comes either asa solid cone that is mixed with water in a dishto form a thin paste, or as a powder. Solderinggold requires relatively high temperatures, andyou may get better results using a flux especiallyfor that purpose, instead of borax. Easy andextra-easy solders, and stainless steel will alsoperform better with a flux designed for thespecific purpose.

Heat-bricks, charcoal blocks, and solderingmats, including ceramic mats that have holes forpinning pieces in position with binding wire,are necessary to protect surfaces from torchflames. Mats can be used on a turntable, which

will allow the piece to be rotated while heatingtakes place.

Small, inexpensive hand-torches are useful,but only for small soldering jobs such as chain-making. Torch heads that automatically mix airand bottled propane or butane gas are easy touse, and are a worthwhile investment. You caninterchange different sizes of head attachment togive suitable flame sizes for most soldering jobs.

Annea ling Solder ing


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2 Techniques Core techniques

ANNEALING METAL

Annealing is the process used to soften metal

once it has become work-hardened. These

steps show the annealing of metal wire, rod,

and sheet. Lengths of wire should be coiled and

loosely bound with binding wire, which will

help to prevent overheating any areas. Use a

soft, bushy flame to heat the coil evenly until

it reaches annealing temperature.

1To anneal thick wire or

rod, angle the torch flame

along the length of the rod,

and start heating at one end

(or, as shown here, at one

edge of the loop). When the

end becomes a dull red color,

move the flame along the rod,

making sure that the whole

length or loop has reached

annealing temperature.

2 Anneal sheet metal with a

bushy flamecirculate the

flame to bring the whole piece

of sheet to a dull red color.

3 Allow silver to cool to

black-heat before quenching

in water. Allow larger pieces

of sheet to air cool, which

will prevent distortion from

rapid cooling.

on a heatproof mat and start heating, using asoft, bushy flameyou will soon see colorchanges on the surface of the metal, and once themetal starts to glow red (check the chart forparticular metals and their annealing color) stopheating. These color changes are most visiblein low light levels.

The method you use to cool the metalwill affect its temper (hardness)in order toachieve optimum results, use the recommendedmethod of quenching or cooling for yourparticular metal.

The annealing process causes a coating ofoxides to be formed on most metals, and they

will need to be cleaned in an acid solution calledpickle (see page 98).

When not to anneal

For certain tasks, such as making earring wireswhere no soldering is required, it is oftendesirable to retain the hardness of the metal sothat the piece will not easily bend out of shape.The piece will be less easily formed, but will bea more durable structure.

FILE

TECHNIQUE

04

Precious Kiwi-skin necklace

By Alena Joy

Precious metals

were used alongside

dried kiwi skins

to construct this

delicate necklace.


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visible around the edge of the seam. Rememberto make an air-hole in a hollow form if it is goingto be heated againtrapped air can make piecesexplode. This technique can also be used to joinflat sheets of metal together neatly.

Awkward soldering jobs

Confidence in soldering comes with practice.When things dont go as planned, try to work

out whymistakes can be learned from and theknowledge used to your advantage.

Each soldering job may be slightly differentthan the last, but a few general points should betaken into consideration. Build a wall from soldering mats or bricksaround the soldering area, because this will helpto reflect heat back onto the piece, which willhelp it heat up more quickly.

Time spent setting up pieces is time saved ifthe elements move when they are being heatedand need to be quenched, repositioned, andfluxed again. Always try to use gravity to your advantage whenbalancing piecesreverse-action tweezers are agreat help here, but remember that they will drawheat out of the metal they are holding, and so it

will take longer to reach the correct temperature.This fact is useful when you are soldering thin

wire on to larger formsusing tweezers will helpprevent the wire from overheating. Binding wire is incredibly useful for holdingpieces in place, but it can cause damagesilverexpands more than binding wire when heated, somake sure you use thin enough wire that will notresist expansion.

Multiple joins

While it is possible to use hard solder only tosolder multiple joins within one piece, mediumand easy solder are often used for the finalseams. This means that the piece will not haveto be heated to such a high temperature for thesolder to melt, and so there is much less risk ofthe hard solder re-melting. In a piece with threesolder joins, the first should be made with hardsolder, the second with medium, and the final

join with easy solder. For pieces with more thanthree joins, hard solder should be used for as

Techniques Core techniques

TECHNIQUE

07

FILESWEAT SOLDERING A HOLLOW FORM

Hollow forms can be awkward to solder, as

there is often no place for pallions of solder to

be placed easily. Sweat soldering allows you

to melt solder accurately in position. Here,

two domed circles are soldered together to

make a spherical form.

1 Apply borax and plenty

of pallions of solder to the

flat edge of one dome.

2 Heat the dome until the

solder slumpsoverheating

may cause the solder to run

down into the concave surface.

Ensure that all of the edge of

the dome has solder on.

3 Dont pickle the soldered

halfbut you may lightly

rub the soldered surface with

emery paper to flatten it

if necessary. Flux the two

halves and bind them

together with binding wire.

4 Heat the form evenly to

bring it all up to temperature

at the same time. You will see

liquid solder appear along the

seamensure that this has

happened all the way around

the seam, and then stop

heating the piece.


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5Solde ring

Clockwise from top:

Petals rings by Rui Kikuchi;

Ping ring by Gilly Langton;

Ring by Margareth Sandstrom;

5R1 Ring by Anastasia Young.


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many of the initial joins as necessary, and thejoins masked off with rouge powder mixed toa paste with water after they are made. This

will help to keep the solder from melting again.Heat-resistant gel can also be used to protectsolder seams, thin areas that may be at risk ofoverheating, and gemstones.

Easy solder should only ever be used for thefinal solder join in a piece as it can melt holes insilver if it is overheated.

Solder seams can become dry fromoverheating or too much annealing. This cancause pin-holes along the seam. Every time solderis heated, some components will burn out of thealloy, which effectively gives the solder a highermelting point and it will require heating to ahigher temperature in order to get it to melt. Ifnecessary, run fresh solder along the same seamto reinforce it.

Mixed metals

When soldering gold to silver, it is necessary touse silver solder, regardless of the karat of thegold. This is because silver has a lower meltingpoint than that of gold solder. Take care notto overheat the gold during this process or anysubsequent heating because the silver solder canmelt pits in the surface of the gold.

Base metals, including steel, can be soldered to

silver using borax for the flux and silver solder.

Techniques Core techniques

3 As soon as the rod is glowing

dark red, allow the flame to

lick the wire while continuing

to heat the rod. Dont allow

the wire to get too hot, or the

solder will travel up the wire,

away from the rod.

4 When the solder melts

and joins the two parts,

remove the flame. Quench

and pickle the piece.

2 Heat the soldering mat first,

to allow the borax to dry out

slowly. Once you are sure

that the solder will not move,

start to heat the rod, which is

thicker than the wire and will

take more time to get up to

soldering temperature.

1 Hold the rod in place using

pins in the soldering mat, and

balance the wire in position

using insulated tweezers. Apply

borax to both parts and place

a pallion of hard solder so that

it is resting on the rod, and

touching the wire, too.

SOLDERING AN EARRING STUD

Thin wires soldered on to larger forms, such

as pins for earring studs, can be a challenging

soldering job. The trick is to avoid overheating

the wire. The setup of the pieces is crucial

try to use gravity to your advantage!

TECHNIQUE

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FILE

The different types of solder

Silver solder is available in different t ypes;

hard, medium, and easy solder strips are

shown above.


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7Solder ing

TECHNI

QUE

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FILE

TECHNIQUE

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FILE

SOLDERING MIXED METALS

When soldering mixed metals, always consider the melting points

of the component parts, and use a solder and flux suitable for the

metal with the lower melting point.

MULTIPLE SOLDER JOINS IN ONE PIECE

This technique demonstrates how to use the three main grades

of silver solderhard, medium, and easywhen soldering a

piece that has several different solder joins in it.

1Solder an 18-karat yellow-gold

wire ring with 18-karat yellow-

gold hard solder, using Auroflux.

Pickle, clean up the join, and

true the form.

1Form a ring shank from

9-gauge (3-mm) round silver

wire (see page 112). Use

26-gauge (0.4-mm) fine silver

sheet to make a bezel that

fits around a cabochon stone.

Solder the ring shank and bezel

using hard solder. Pickle and

clean up both pieces.

2Use borax to flux the silver

base sheet and position the

gold ring. Apply hard silver

solder pallions around the

outside of the gold ring.

2True the bezel on a triblet

and rub the base on emery

paper to ensure it is flat.

Place the bezel on a piece of

22-gauge (0.6 mm) silver sheet,

flux, and place medium solder

pallions around the outside of

the bezel. Solder the wire on

mesh, so that the flame can be

applied from underneath to

avoid overheating the bezel.

3Place the piece on steel mesh

so that the silver can be heated

from underneath. The solder will

melt when the silver reaches the

correct temperature. The gold

solder should not be affected.

4Clean off any excess silver

solder with a needlefile and then

refine the surface further with

emery sticks.

3Pierce out the bezel cup from

the surrounding sheet and

carefully file the base flush with

the sides. Use emery sticks to

clean up the outer surfaces.

File a flat area on the top of

the ring shank, in the same

position as the hard solder join.

The bezel cup should be a bit

larger than the flat surface.

4Place the bezel cup upside-

down on the soldering mat

and balance the ring shank on

top. Support the shank using

tweezers. Flux around the join

and apply several pallions of

easy solder. When soldering,

concentrate the heat mainly on

the shank. Pickle and clean up.

See page 236, for Bezel setting,

where this project is continued.


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Your go-to reference book

This comprehensive and ambitious workshop reference for jewelers bringstogether a vast range of skills, techniques, and technical data in onevolume, to provide an essential look-it-up resource for both students andprofessionals. The focus in The Workbench Guide to Jewelry Techniquesis on detailed explanationwith clear step-by-step photography.

All of the techniques demonstrated are illustrated with photographsof remarkable cutting-edge jewelry pieces by jewelry designers and

makers from around the world.

In addition to detailed explanations of jewelry techniques there is:

n an extensive directory of tools and materials

n a key to identify tools for a beginners kit

n a historical introduction to jewelry

n a guide to the design process and to photographing and

promoting your own work

na comprehensive reference section with a directory of gems,

tool shapes, glossary, standard sizes and measurements,

conversion tables, and an extensive list of resources

The Workbench Guide to Jewelry Techniquescovers traditionalmetalsmithing skills and techniques for alternative materials, such as plastics

and resin in expert detail, as well as discussing issues such as the process ofoutsourcing work to specialist external suppliers.

Hardcover, 812x 10, 320 pages400 photographs, 200 illustrations,100 chartsISBN: 978-1-59668-169-9$34.95Available February 2010

Anastasia Youngis a practicing designer, jeweler, andartist whose work has been exhibited internationally.She is the author of The Jeweler's Technique Bible.She is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, andCentral Saint Martins College of Art and Designin London, where she now teaches the BA jewelrydesign course.

workbench guide to jewelry techniques

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