Soldering Tips

This video is in response to the many questions I get about my unconventional silver soldering style. I use almost exclusively hard silver solder. This video discusses various types of solders, melting temperatures, and approaches to soldering silver. If you find it helpful or interesting, please give it a like! If you'd like to see more useful videos like this, please subscribe to my channel:). It would be great if you would share this with others who might find it useful.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others, as I've taught people for most of my life. This hobby turned into a fun side gig for me for years while I taught public school. I love suggestions and hearing about others' experiences. What is your favorite project? What kind of tutorials would you find useful?
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Chad Parker
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#silver
Soldering Tips.
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[@flyingcheff]

Wow, great explanations! I sure hope you are only getting positive comments- you deserve it! 👍👍👍 If we make a piece after watching your video, where would you like us to tag you (to show it off)? 🌺 Ps. Darling pup!

[@tamwolf20]

Thank you for covering this. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[@chadssilversmithing]

You’re welcome! Same to you and your family!

[@puresas]

Thank you Chad, I am learning alot from your videos.

[@chadssilversmithing]

You’re welcome Chris!

[@jimbartley9125]

Thanks for the info. Cheers Jim

[@chadssilversmithing]

You are welcome Jim! Thanks for watching:)

[@CherylAnn2222]

Great Info, Thanks Chad!

[@chadssilversmithing]

Glad it was helpful!

[@paulinemegson8519]

Gotta say Chad, I agree with the attitude that one of the great things about silver work is that there are so many ways to do things, and no right or wrong, just what works for you, or doesn’t. I also prefer to use hard solder wherever I can. I find the lower melting point solders can colour very differently from silver metal, where the high silver content of hard means it stays good looking for longer. The learning curve is a little steeper for hard, particularly if you do, as I do, a lot of scrollwork pieces(I’ve always been known for learning stuff the hard way lol) and in the beginning, melting settings in particular, is all but inevitable now and then, but eventually it becomes a less common thing lol. I do use wire solder simply due to it being easier for me to store it, but I tend to pick solder where I can cos I like the precision. Nice to hear your soldering thought process…..always good to hear others ideas. I hope you and yours(4 legged family included)have a great Christmas (assuming you celebrate it) and a peaceful and safe New Year

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Pauline. I appreciate your thoughtful comments. Hope you and your family have a good Christmas as well!

[@littles64]

Great info chad.thank you and have fun and safe holidays.

[@chadssilversmithing]

Same to you Littles64! Thanks for watching:)

[@rippy4freedom]

Cool timing, I just got my first Acetylene and Oxygen tanks filled and my handy butane torch!

[@chadssilversmithing]

Have fun, and be careful!

[@codythompson2560]

Chad, I really appreciate your beginner breakdowns! It's always important to keep your fundamentals sharp and you're still sharing new tips I've never seen in these videos. Thank you so much for taking the time to help us all!

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Cody. I always remember something I should have discussed after I publish the video, lol! Hope you have a nice holiday season!

[@codythompson2560]

@@chadssilversmithing Hey, sorry to impose, but I've got a question I've been struggling with a bit lately. I am meticulous about keeping my scrap free of solder, but I do save all my scrap with solder separately. I've melted that down into an ingot and slowly rolled it out into a ring shank blank. The thing is, I keep melting the band before the solder flows but I don't have the same issue with "fresh" silver (never been used/melted down). Do you think the issue is me or the lower quality metal I'm using? Thank you for your time!

[@chadssilversmithing]

@@codythompson2560 I would think the melting temperature shouldn’t change much unless you really had a lot of solder in the mix, and it sounds like you don’t. I usually add in a little scrap fine silver bezel to offset any lowering of the silver content due to solder being in there. It doesn’t seem like that should cause you problems, so I’m not sure what is causing this Cody. Thanks for the comment, and sorry I didn’t have a better answer:)

[@tag5504]

I only have a hand held torch until I can go bigger. I'm actually surprised how well it does! Thank you for your tutorials. I'm a new follower and learning a lot. 😀

[@chadssilversmithing]

I'm glad you are finding these useful TAG. Thanks for the comment!

[@tag5504]

@@chadssilversmithing do you ever play with fusing? Thoughts on that? 🙂

[@chadssilversmithing]

@@tag5504 I have struggled getting consistent results with fusing things. It may just be that I haven’t figured out the trick though:)

[@naomiwendy2234]

Yellow ochre prevents solder from flowing too, it just makes it a bear to clean up... Have a safe and happy Christmas! 🌲

[@chadssilversmithing]

Same to you two:)

[@rippy4freedom]

Merry Merry Chad and friends !!!!!!! 😊

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Rippy! Same to you!

[@gordo6202]

Thanks Chad for sharing you soldering tips. I have been doing silversmithing for over 20 year and I always like to hear and see how others do things. I really like the way you explain what and how you do things. Even old guys like me learn new ways of doing things. One tip I do now is spraying on the flux. Love it. 👍👍 HAPPY NEW YEAR and keep the videos coming.

[@chadssilversmithing]

Thanks Gordo! I love hearing how others do things. There's almost always something valuable to learn from seeing others' techniques. It helps me to stop holding on to things that are "just how I've always done it" thinking which I am susceptible to:) Happy new year to you as well!

[@kimgill4644]

Thank you for sharing your expertise! I’ve been playing with metalsmithing for a couple of years and appreciate any and all tips. I’m interested in your opinions on mixed metal pieces … I use a lot of brass & esp copper with sterling in my pieces. I’ve always understood that these are dirty metals, and I am pretty religious when it comes to pickling after each step. Do you think I could reduce my pickling time when using mixed metals?

[@chadssilversmithing]

It generally never hurts to pickle more. I would just do a little experimentation to see what you can get by with. I do a little stuff with brass and copper occasionally, but I'm definitely not an expert on those metals. Thanks for becoming a Patron Kim!

[@Shukarr]

Hey Chad, Thank you again for these lessons😊 If I can make a request, could you give us some lessons on working with heavy gauge sheet and wire? Like traditional cuffs and ketoh bow guards? I’m trying to do it on my own but the sheet deformed while I was trying to solder the thick wire on. Just a hopeful suggestion. You really are helping us and inspiring us so Thank you s 10😊

[@chadssilversmithing]

Hello Vestacha International! I've honestly never done any of those sorts of cuffs. If I were to guess, the problems are likely arising from the difficulty of getting large pieces to reach soldering temperature evenly. Drastic temperature differences in large pieces of sheet can cause warping. What sort of torch are you using?

[@Shukarr]

@@chadssilversmithing hi Chad, I’m using just a standard disposable propane tank and torch head. I have a smith little torch but no flashback arrestors so I’m a bit nervous to use it. From what I read online it needs high heat and so I had it on as high as I could get it. I didn’t hammer at all on the sheet before soldering as I was trying to keep the surface as free of marks as possible. Most Ketoh bracelets are done using delft clay casting but I’ve never tried that. I’m only a couple years into this new art form. I love your work and videos. I’m hoping hoping that in the new year you’ll be able to do some close up angles of how you make your pieces. Thank you for responding and I hope you had / are having a good holiday.

[@chadssilversmithing]

@@Shukarr Before I had an acetylene torch I used to use two propane torches, one in each hand for really big pieces, but then you don’t have a free hand to nudge things with a pick if they shift on you:)

[@mawi1172]

Style: you try to control your flux to some extent. Some others I've seen drown it in flux and then we watch them have to get the excess off.🤔😊😊😊

[@chadssilversmithing]

So there are some other spray fluxers out there too:)

[@katiejo1095]

Do you have Flux video?

[@chadssilversmithing]

Alas, I do not. I imagine there are a lot of good videos about flux on KZbin if you do a little searching. I’ve always used the one kind, so I don’t have much broad experience to share on that topic. Sorry Katie!

[@katiejo1095]

@@chadssilversmithing what kind?

[@chadssilversmithing]

@@katiejo1095 What I use is My-T-Flux from Rio Grande. Another brand that works much the same is Battern’s Self Pickling Flux. Hope this helps!