QuestionQUESTION: I am making a pair of wedding rings w/ 14k white gold and steel - the strip of steel is in the middle of 2 strips of white gold. ( it is essentially a section of steel tube with 2 thin gold rings soldered flush on each side of the tube) I am having trouble getting the seams to flow properly all around - some sections of the seams are perfect,some a bit rough in appearance, and some sections have a unfilled gap. I would appreciate any tips on how to make this work before I fry these rings - thanks in advance!
ANSWER: Christine, I will be getting back to you tomorrow evening. I may be able to get a photo at work to help, or perhaps a simple sketch.
The main problem is the flux used with steel. If you get a chance to get back to me before then, use the follow-up option. Can you tell me if the steel is stainless steel or some other type?
In any regard, this is a difficult work and my experience is somewhat limited in joining steel and gold but I have done it with success. I will tell you my approach and hopefully that will help. I sure don't want the rings fried! Done that...don't want to do that again or have someone else who is trying to fry anything.
It is a joy to speak with someone actually doing the work. Very few of my questions are from folks who are actually work jewelry. I will help the best I can...just please wait for tomorrow evening when I get home from work. Fair enough? See you then.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas. June 10, 2008 9:52pm
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: The steel is tubing from McMaster-Carr - multi-purpose regular steel - not stainless.
Thanks
Answer
Solder Collage
Quick added follow-up: This will make sense later if you have not read the answer below. The flux does not need to be the brand name mentioned. It does need to be a paste flux for silver soldering and brazing containing flourides. A welding supply house may have a suitable flux. Just be sure the working temp of the flux is about 1100 degrees F. Now, the answer is below.
Christine, I am back. As said previously, I am not an expert in joining steel and gold. What I will give as advice if from my personal experience and experiment. I sure hope this will help. : )
First, the steel must be totally clean and sanded at the solder joint area. Any dark oxides on the metal will prevent proper solder flow.
The next factor involved is what soldering flux to you use? Liquid flux simply will not cut it. The flux does not have enough cleaning power under heat and steel is quite quick to form oxides when heated. The flux I use is a brand name, Handy Flux. This is a paste flux containing fluorides and it is recommended to have good ventilation when used. Handy Flux has saved the day for me many times with difficult seams and a need to have a clean and complete solder flow. For most work, I use liquid flux but for long seams I always use Handy Flux. This flux must be applied generously to the soldering area. When heated, the flux looks like a clear syrup on the metal surface.
Here is a link to a place selling the flux, found by simple google search: (links are copy and paste)
http://www.jewelrysupply.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7872
This flux cleans the metal quite well under heat. The drawback is clean up. The flux will be like glass on the metal and there will be some dark areas from oxides cleaned from the hot metal. This takes a good long pickle and then some buffing to remove the dark areas. With steel, normal pickle is out of the question and a boil in water or some time in an ultrasonic will remove the flux residue.
Next, heat is a sensitive issue. It is easy to overheat the steel next to the gold(unless the gold is quite thin in comparison). Overheated steel means overheated solder at the joint and that will cause pits in the solder line. Try and keep heat as uniform as possible!
The technique I use for bezels may help in getting the solder to flow. See the picture. The top one is an exaggerated display of the method. Solder in the seam of placed on the seam is heated until it begins to flow. A clean and pointed solder pick is placed right on the solder where it melts and pulled along the seam. The flame follows the point of the solder pick. This will pull solder along the seam. The technique may also be used to even out a gappy solder seam with more solder added then pulled along the gap. You may have some spillover of solder to clean up later but the solder seam will follow the joint. If the ring design happens to have a groove between the two metals, that makes it easy to pull the point of the pick along. Otherwise, expect to clean up some spilled over solder. : )
If the solder doesn't want to cooperate but you do have some of the seam done, remove heat, cool and again clean the metal as best you can. Apply more flux and go for it again.
To show the effectiveness of the flux, see the beading tool image. One side was coated with the flux and the other side was not. Heated to a low red heat, the fluxed side stayed white and clean of oxides.
The other image is an old beading tool made of hardened steel soldered to a scrap of gold filled metal. I did not try for a neat fit and had little time to make the picture. Yet, using the solder pick and Handy Flux the solder neatly joined the steel to the plate. This is not the same as joining rings together but shows the method does work.
This is the other advice: Get a good solder pick made of tungsten. Titanium will fold under heat and even if a stainless steel pick will work most of the time, it might contaminate the solder when used with this strong flux. The pick is simply a rod of the metal in a wooden handle.
Christine, that is the answer in a nutshell. Please do not hesitate to use the follow-up or ask a new question is anything here is not clear to you or if you have more to ask. I am wishing you the very best in getting the project done.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas. June 11, 2008 7:27pm
