Play with fire at the Jewelers Guild!
What is Soldering?
Soldering is a process where a metal alloy, referred to as solder, is heated to its melting point and used to form a fuse between two pieces of metal. Learning to solder is an essential jewelry making skill that can elevate your work and greatly expand your skill set as a jeweler.
In the case of jewelry, we “unite” metals by joining them together with heat, flux and solder.
What you will learn in this workshop:
- Solder types/styles
- H M S Reasons
- Composition
- Temperatures
- Chip / Wire
- Flux
- Picks
- Pumice / Block
- Third hands
- Pickle
Steps we will take:
- Apply flux to sheet and examine the different solder types and their flow
- Solder several small rings together HMS
- Solder right angle sheet to sheet
- Solder post to sheet
- Solder flat band together HMS fill ins
- Discuss fusing
- Cut sterling sheet to size and solder
- Clean polish and wear your own ring handmade by you!
Topics this class will cover:
Solder types, connections with proper alignment, HMS reasons, composition, chip/wire, cleanliness and oxidation, heat flow, flux types, pumice/block, third hands, pick and pickle, ring sizing, polishing and finishing
What you’ll take home with you:
A very cool ring you just made!
Materials:
All tools and materials will be provided for this class.
What you need to bring:
Bring your A game! And a lunch for yourself if you’d like, we have lunch break at noon for approximately 45 minutes.
