Silversmithing: Soldering Surfaces

[@jenniferschutte5682]

I use a siliquar board. It is very smooth so you can write on it with pencil to help get things lined up. Reflects heat nicely. When I use a solderite board, I use a spray bottle of water to dilute the flux after and they pit less.

[@chadssilversmithing]

I haven't tried that type of board yet, so thanks for suggesting it. Good idea on the dilution:)

[@andeekirk381]

I have been watching your videos daily. Thank you so much for all your ideas and how to do things I never thought I could do. I just started silversmithing again. It's been since I was in high school that I was able to do anything like this. Learning from you has been a joy, and I appreciate all of your content. Thank you so much! 😊

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Andee! I’m really glad you are getting some good from these! Happy new year:)

[@lauriemolzahn4823]

Thank you! I had just searched your channel to find out when to use the different soldering boards! Then I get a pop up for this video. Answered my question perfectly.

[@chadssilversmithing]

I'm glad Laurie! Thanks for watching my video:)

[@ronaldolson3393]

Reminder: The ceramic with holes also come with pins which can be used to support item being soldered. Love your channel

[@chadssilversmithing]

That is a very good point! Thanks for the reminder Ronald!

[@sylviaprudhomme5417]

Great ideas❤❤❤❤

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. :)

[@Galaxysparkles]

Great information. Thanks Chad

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thank you Galaxysparkles!

[@paulpavel-d5r]

Great vid! I use a clay ball about 4 inches or so , you can insert tweezers or other tools into it and position them very accurately. Clay must be wet of course. Keep in a plastic bag when not in use to keep it soft

[@chadssilversmithing]

That’s great idea Paul! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@malcolmthompson9848]

Another use for those fire bricks is constructing mini blacksmithing forges. I've placed two together in a vice and used a hole saw to bore a 2" tunnel through their length so each one has a half pipe cut. I make one or two smaller holes in the side of these brick for my Mapp gas torch. The 2" tunnel is fired from the side and I can insert mild steel rod into the tunnel to soften or harden reposse tools and alike

[@chadssilversmithing]

That's a cool idea Malcolm! Do you mean the Magnesia block?

[@malcolmthompson9848]

@@chadssilversmithing yes

[@alexsar54]

Thanks for sharing! Another thing that has become almost indispensable for me in recent years are those small titanium clamps. I couldn't find them factory made, but the online instructions were pretty straightforward, so I made myself a dozen in different shapes from 0.8mm titanium sheet. They have proven to be very useful for holding parts together while soldering, and titanium steals much less heat during the process than steel or any other metal. Plus, there is no risk of soldering your parts to titanium. Thanks again!

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Alexsar! I haven't seen those. Where can I find more information about those?

[@alexsar54]

@@chadssilversmithing Well, the guys from the company called KNEW CONCEPTS seem to be the first to introduce those clips (or clamps). On their corporate site you can find the description, instruction how to make them, links to some KZbin instructional videos as well as a downloadable pdf manual. Plus a plethora of materials if you google search for smth like "titanium clips for jewelry making" . Good luck!

[@malcolmthompson9848]

I still wire bind my charcoal blocks from Rio as I think this still prolongs their life. In addition to reflecting heat back onto the work more efficiently, the presence of carbon in charcoal blocks mitigates against fire stain because the oxygen in proximity to the work will want to bond to carbon faster than to copper alloyed in silver or gold. Finally, I find the best method to flatten these blocks is to use the open-screen sanding cloth the drywallers use. Put the sanding cloth on an old baking sheet and lap sand the block. The dust falls through the screen and this prevents the cloth from clogging. Very fast fix.

[@chadssilversmithing]

Definitely don't use your neighbor's concrete driveway:)

[@janehoward5677]

I’ve used a vermiculite pad and find them to be similar to the solderite pads. The flux will disintegrate the surface of the pad. I’m using a space tile now from Pepe tools and love it. Very smooth surface and dense.

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Jane! I'll have to try that:)

[@JustME-ft4di]

I was wondering how you were getting in with the honeycomb block. So you find the heat can get up under things with them like using pumice in a tray? Interesting! I got a magnesia block because of your videos and it is very useful for some things. Also Kiln bricks are great for organic moulted pieces or making moulds. What are the the two block things you show that can get heat up underneath called?

[@wendygerrish4964]

Good question. I just assumed they were the little ceramic molds you can use in a kiln to make glass forms or use to set shelves on, inside a kiln.

[@chadssilversmithing]

Those were given to me by Flying Chef who comments here frequently. They are small ceramic crucibles. I don’t remember where she said she got them, but maybe if she sees this comment she will chime in:)

[@ElinHaugan]

As I'm a newbie to this, I have'nt tried a bunch of soldering sufices yet, but in my start up kit from my teachers, I received a scamolex plate and I've just used that until I got my magnesium block. The nice thing is that they can be cut into with regular woodworking tools, so I made mine circular and glued it to a ball bearing. I use my hand under it or on the side to rotate it and I have'nt felt the heat through it so far, so the reflecting propperties are very good. As you get them in large sheets and pretty thick, you can also build soldering corners to keep the heat better when makeing larger jewelry. Best of all, they're cheap as well 🙂

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thank you Elin! I really appreciate your contribution of knowledge!

[@ElinHaugan]

@chadssilversmithing thank you! 😊 I really appreciate you for takeing your time to teach me and others so much for free as well, it is rare these days with such a big heart ❤️ Wish you and yours a merry merry Christmas, Chad ☃️❄️

[@Nancy4133nope]

Great video very informative. I use a pumice tray alot for soldering different things . Its just a cheap tray from the Dollar Tree and put it on a lazy susan attachment. Filled mine with Clay cat litter occasionally the clay litter will pop just a lil works great you can balance stuff like cuff bracelets for soldering on different components. I use it alot in my chain making. I bury my chain links Ive already soldered on and they are kept cool. Works fantastic. May I ask where do you buy the soft brick from the one you can stick stuff down into Magnesite or something like that I really need one . Thank you as always for your wonderful information love your channel

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks for the good ideas Nancy! Lately I’ve just gotten the Magnesia blocks off of Amazon.

[@barbaradeneke2909]

I keep a spray bottle of distilled water nearby to extinguish the charcoal block to literally keep it from burning up and help it last longer (and to keep the carbon monoxide and other fumes out of my house as much as possible since I am sensitive to fumes and prone to migraines - there are stories of these blocks reigniting during the off hours and burning up or worse if not quenched when you are done using them for the day). The hard and soft charcoal have *slightly* different effects on soldering as I understand it - the hard being slightly more heat reflective and the soft being slightly more able to absorb oxygen to reduce the risk of fire stain from over heating. I bind mine with corner braces made of sheet copper and a tight copper wire run around the block and plan to do this with any new ones going forward too. This keeps the copper wire from digging into the sides of the charcoal and making the edges disintegrate. I've had them for many years and I do have some cavities carved into the soft one for making balls with rounded bottoms. Interestingly, the hard one was the first one to crack! I don't use these routinely but only if I feel I need a reducing atmosphere for my project. I use various different kinds of soldering "furniture" or "nests" made of binding or titanium wire or little squares of copper sheet to help get the flame where it needs to be for a soldering project.

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Barbara! Safety is important! I appreciate the information, and I'm sure others reading the comments will appreciate your knowledge.

[@malcolmthompson9848]

The tripods as they are sold for jewelry work are next to useless IMO. The tripod itself is a massive heat sink and the two gauges of screen are either too thin (to support the work or resist burning) or too thick (again more heat sink.) Rio sells an intermediate screen used for enameling which works better especially if you set the screen to overhang the tripod with counter weight Set the work out on this ledge so as to minimize the heat sink issue. Best still is to flip the tripod upside down and place the screen between the legs. It helps to use binding wire to fasten the screen to each leg. This leaves plenty of room underneath to sweet solder but possess minimal heat sink affect.

[@chadssilversmithing]

I also found these to be not terribly useful. I guess that is why I gave mine away years ago:). Thanks for the useful info Malcolm!

[@wendygerrish4964]

Great for some jobs ie using a plummers torch my instructor uses tripods for enameling.

[@Galaxysparkles]

Did you ever figure out a lock for that book pendent you made ?

[@chadssilversmithing]

Nothing too fancy:). Just a hole in the copper piece that popped over a little silver ball.

[@johngpreston1784]

You can stick metal pins in the one with holes to stop stuff moving and hold things in place - sometimes. Oops should have watched the whole video before posting.

[@chadssilversmithing]

Hehe! Thanks John:)