Soldering gold-filled earrings

Learn how to solder gold-filled materials to create elegant custom jewelry. Join Mark Nelson in this Beads, Baubles & Jewels segment as he discusses tips and techniques for working with gold-filled materials, from soldering to avoiding scratches and firescale on your pieces. Watch as he creates a pair of stunning crystal chandelier earrings and learn the process from start to finish.
Shop some of the suggested products based on those seen in this video:
14/20 Yellow Gold-Filled 25.7mm Washer Stamping, 24-Ga. ow.ly/gA1250GgmLU
14/20 Yellow Gold-Filled 1-1/2" 2mm Ball Head Pin, 1/2-Hard ow.ly/r4Hi50GgmMe
14/20 Yellow Gold-Filled CZ-Set Ear Wire with Open Ring ow.ly/erTJ50GgmMI
Silquar™ High-Heat Block, 12" x 6" x 1/2" ow.ly/q5Fc50GgmMZ
Long-Life Hard Charcoal Soldering Block, 3-1/8" ow.ly/IwAC50GgmNm
Fumasi 60 Rockwell Shears ow.ly/OzB850GgmNJ
14K Plumb Yellow Gold Sheet Solder, 30-Ga., Medium ow.ly/gcMU50GgmOl
Foredom® SR Motor with H.20® Quick-Change Handpiece Flex Shaft System with Motor Hanger ow.ly/wB9H50GgmOy
Smith® Little Torch™ Propane and Oxygen System ow.ly/bEIm50GgmPi
Smith® Little Torch™ Holder ow.ly/i6Tt50GgmPs
Automatic Torch Igniter ow.ly/Jk6V50GgmPK
My-T-Flux, 1 Pint ow.ly/LgQf50GgmQb
Rio PickleIt™ Starter Kit ow.ly/B8eI50GgmQp
Handy Flux Paste with Brush for Soldering and Annealing ow.ly/UuY450GgmQO
Soldering Tweezers, Set of 4 ow.ly/o75050GgmRd
Friedrich Dick Barrette Needle File, Cut #3 ow.ly/rRT650GgmRx
Mag-Safe Bifocal Safety Glasses ow.ly/WGdu50GgmRV
Malachite Round Bead Strands ow.ly/vOJi50GgmSt
3M 3/4"-Diameter Radial Bristle Disc Kit ow.ly/2JOc50GgmTC
Picasso Blue Platinum Polishing Compound ow.ly/ngr250GgmU3
Tight-Weave Fine Muslin Buffing Wheel, 1" x 16-Ply ow.ly/rvmv50GgmUu
Swanstrom Pliers and Cutters Set ow.ly/dsyg50GgmUS
Sunshine® Cloths ow.ly/JAD750GgmVb
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[@pauladeleon8673]

Thank you for the excellent instruction/demo! I've tried many times to solder gold filled wire, sheet, bezel, etc...all without success until I used the 14k gold solder. I had much better results, but I still struggled with fire scale and discoloration. (Even with flux, pickle, and hand finishing!) Your demo taught me I may need to create a fire scale barrier, and DEFINITELY, work on my heat control! Question: After dipping the washer into the denatured alcohol to create a fire scale barrier, you applied a flame to the washer. What purpose did applying the flame serve?

[@RapunzelASMR]

1:40 what is he doing? What product is he using

[@tattoofthesun]

The sensual tension is palpable

[@roseburkhardt9588]

Hi, can you add links to the tools used in the product description?

[@MD-ei2tk]

can you use butane to do this too?

[@juliepeck6915]

So when working with GF or gold does it matter what type of flux you use? I mean I have paste flux and I do have the boric and Denatured alcohol mI’d now. So is it ok to use the paste solder?

[@RioGrande1944]

Hi Julie, There is no special flux needed for working with gold-filled. Our Jewelry Tech Team assures that paste flux will yield good results. Also, paste solder works wonderfully with gold-filled in terms of making good joints and that it is a good color match. We hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching!

[@iCrAz33luVmuSiC]

how do I know if I've overheated the metal? is it obvious? I'm afraid of the base metal coming to the surface.

[@RioGrande1944]

It’s not really obvious, but it will become more pink or pinkish, you can help to prevent this by using a barrier flux like stop oxII or cupronil dip the entire piece in and then add a soldering flux at the joint area. Also use as low a temp solder as you can.

[@Ragamuffinblue]

do you pickle Gold filled?

[@RioTechs]

Beatrix Mol Hi Beatrix. you sure do, same as the other metals. I hope this helps. Mark N Tech

[@bettybho2168]

It looks as if the heat has turned the gold filled sheet a copper color?

[@RioGrande1944]

Hello there, Thanks for asking. Some discoloration or firescale does happen during the soldering process. In this example, Mark will finish the piece with a bristle disc and muslin buff to bring a polish to the piece. Hope this helps!

[@colinhe]

do you diluted Borax acid in what type of alcohol?

[@RioGrande1944]

Hi Colin, Thanks for your question. The recipe for barrier flux is available on the Rio Grande blog, you can find that here: riograndeblog.com/mark-nelsons-tips-mixing-boric-acid-barrier-flux/ Hope this helps!

[@courtneyjohnson5834]

Can you put Gold Filled pieces into a tumbler with steel shot to polish/work harden?

[@RioGrande1944]

Hi Courtney, Thanks for watching. Yes, you can put gold filled into a tumbler with steel shot to polish, but it’s not going to harden the work much. The surface will get slightly harder, but tumbling in steel shot is mainly for polishing. Hope this helps!

[@flyingcheff]

No explanation about Barrier flux(???); What is the scientific explanation of "Don't push it"? Such an important subject since Rio sells GF and actually tells people that its ok to solder, which is HUGELY inaccurate and misleading. If you're going to do a video about this very difficult to succeed in process, you MUST (please!) be far more comprehensive and professional in the presentation of the facts - just the facts and nothing but the facts (which have NOT been presented here). - This is extremely unusual, as Mark's/ Rio Grande's videos are usually Right ON! This one gets an F- from a previously gullible Rio Grande customer - with reference to soldering gold filled; (I drank the cool-aid and believed what Tech support said the first time I called wondering what was wrong. I was told: "soldering Gold-filled is the same as any other soldering". Later, much later, after i'd lost a whole bunch of money doing what I was told and ruining this expensive metal, I talked to someone else (Sessan/ Sessin?) and he apologized and corrected the myth. Honesty, how refreshing!!.

[@juliepeck6915]

Gabby Flying Chef so if I may ask how would you go about this?

[@bettybho2168]

Thanks Flying Chef for bringing this out in the open, I too found Mark's explanation on this topic to be very wishy washy. No one seems to have any real solution to the problem of soldering gold filled metals, I'm starting to think it would be best to use only silver and real gold where soldering is required.