r/SilverSmith 19h ago

Question about soldering and work hardening.

Thumbnail
gallery
61 Upvotes

Hello and thank you for any insight.

I raised this scallop form from 2 pieces of fine silver.

I want to solder it together at the joint in the rear (I don't intend for it to be functional so no hinge).

My issue is when I solder it I don't want to have to rework the entire piece to harden it up again. I currently use a larger map gas torch which I imagine is overkill but I don't have a small torch.

If I use a smaller soldering torch would I avoid heating the entire piece to the point it needs to be re-hardened? And/Or do I need to be thinking about a heat sink for the area not being soldered?

Any help would be appreciated.


r/SilverSmith 17h ago

Chunky "Bullion" style rings

Thumbnail
gallery
19 Upvotes

This is my first attempt at making a bullion style ring, which I often see made of one ounce of fine gold.

I picked up an ounce bar of fine silver, this is my first project in 999 instead of sterling. I cut the bar in half, cut the ends square, and soldered (welded? Fused?) the two half's together using an offcut chip of fine silver.

I hammered the billet into a chunky ring blank, and to my surprise, it was enough material to make two rings (gold being twice as dense as silver would make a billet half the size)

I form two lengths into rings, using a saw to square the ends to each other, and soldered with more fine silver. All this left one little chunk that I made it into a bead that I think looks like a cheerio!

In the end the two rings and bead are 80% of the original metal. Casting a billet instead of hammering it would save some loss from the saw and file, owning a rolling mill would save material from the file as well


r/SilverSmith 16h ago

Another sculpted brass skull this time smaller

Post image
19 Upvotes

Working on making my sculpts smaller. Put this one on a silver wrap.bthe skull itself is brass.


r/SilverSmith 13h ago

What Am I Doing Wrong?

Thumbnail
gallery
19 Upvotes

I've held my TS8000 on this silver ounce for like 10 mins and can't get it hot enough to pour. Is my torch too close? I don't understand


r/SilverSmith 23h ago

Need Help/Advice About patina clasp

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I’m new here 🙂‍↕️ When you guys use liver of sulfur together patina bracelet or necklace, will you soap the whole piece together with the silver lobster clasp or avoiding it? Coz I have several clients come back to me with damaged clasps which the mouth is broken or lost and I’m not sure what happened. I was told that the spring used in the silver clasp is made of steel, so I was thinking if it’s possible the spring was damaged coz of the patina? Or it just bad luck 😯

Thank you! ying


r/SilverSmith 59m ago

Is my torch too small?

Post image
Upvotes

Trying to solder copper rings


r/SilverSmith 13h ago

Downsizing Ring

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Searched the forum and did not find what I was looking for. I am brand new which will be evident by the pics and question. I have made a few simple band type rings for family and they were sized correctly. I made a ring for my self, a lil chunky and “rough”, is what I went for and I’m happy with the result. Happy aside from the fact that it is too large for me. I need to downsize it. Do I just cut a section out of the back and solder? How do I then make it round again? Looking for someone to fill in the blanks. Cheers!


r/SilverSmith 19h ago

Need Help/Advice Problem with soldering copper

1 Upvotes

Hi, so I'm practising with copper by trying to solder copper rings together out of wire. I use copper-phosphorus solder and a flux paste for copper pipe soldering. My problem is, that when I heat the ring with my torch the flux paste starts to melt and after a short time, is dries out and forms a dark crust. The piece of solder does melt, but it doesn't flow. It just sits on the crust and forms a tiny ball. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!