What Kinds of Solder are Used in Jewelry Making?

Why do You Have to Use Different Types of Solder for Multiple Joints?

You don't want to re-melt a joint you've just soldered while soldering another joint in the same jewelry piece. Using solders with different melting points will keep you from re-flowing previously completed joints. For example, you'll use hard solder on the first joint, medium on the second joint, and easy on the third joint.

Your solder metal should have a lower melting point than the two metal pieces you're fusing. Otherwise, you'll melt your jewelry pieces, too.

Gold and Silver Solders

You can purchase hard, medium, and easy solders in gold and silver. Gold is available in different karats. Of course, gold costs significantly more than silver, especially in higher karats.

Gold and silver solders come in different flow temperatures. For silver, you have the following:

• Itt, 1,490º F (810º C)
• Hard, 1,425º F (774º C)
• Medium, 1,390º F (754º C)
• Easy, 1,325º F (718º C)
• Easy-flo, 1,270º F (688º C)

Gold solders are usually a karat or two lower than the gold pieces being soldered. It also comes in hard, medium, and easy solder.

Personally, I don't like using Itt because it gets too close to the melting point of silver. With an oxy/acetylene torch, it takes less than a second of inattention to melt your piece.

Easy-flo contains cadmium, which gives off poisonous fumes when heated. If you use easy-flo, make sure you keep your work area well ventilated. Personally, I recommend avoiding any solder that contains cadmium.

Solder Comes in Different Forms

You can purchase solders in sheet, paste, and wire forms.

Sheet solder is cut into pallions, tiny pieces of metal that fly all over the place while you're cutting it.

Paste solder comes premixed with flux in a syringe-type applicator. I find that the flux-to-solder mixture varies, depending on how long the paste has sat on a shelf. For best results, empty the applicator, mix the paste thoroughly, and then put it back into the applicator or a small, lidded glass container.

I prefer wire solder. I can flatten it and cut it into tiny pieces or just cut a piece off the end of the coil. This is important, because you want to use just enough solder to make a good strong joint without flooding it. Nothing looks worse than a joint with blobs of solder on it. It takes a long time to clean it and get a seamless joint.

Sheets

You can purchase sheets of silver and gold solder in hard, medium, and easy. You can trim the sheets into smaller pieces to fit your needs. Many jewelers like cutting custom-sized, smaller pieces from sheets. Hard solder sheets cost slightly more than medium or easy. Thicker sheets will also cost more.

Amazon offers silver sheets in hard, medium, and easy. Rio Grande offers gold sheets in hard, medium, and easy in 8, 10, 14, 18, and 22 karat gold.

Wire

Silver and gold wire solder is also available in hard, medium, and easy. Sold by length in feet, wire comes in different gauges (thicknesses). Thicker gauges cost more. Many jewelers prefer the heft of wire rather than the thinness of sheet solders.

Amazon offers silver wire in hard, medium, and easy. Rio Grande offers easy gold wire.