QuestionQUESTION: Dear Sirs, I recently wanted to repair a metal tubing that had broken off at the a joint section.
A attached section broke at the joint connection and it has a big glob of harden excess solder.
The problem is that I cannot seem to melt the solder off the tube section to start the repair.
I read a previous article from this forum similiar to this experience and it suggest something about adding flux to the section where the glob is and then heat torching the section to remove the excess solder on the section that needs the repair.
I am doing Torch soldering, and am not so sure that this advice will work given this curcumstance , also I do not know whether the solder used in this connection was hard, medium, soft.etc.
My question is first and foremost how should I go about removing this excess solder while adding the torch solderlng in the repairing of this section.
Next how do you determine what flux or solder hardness exist.
Finally, In this sort of repair , what would the post clean up and re-preparation steps be to rejoin the new tubing, to make this repair complete .
Thank you for any advice this that you can provide.
ANSWER: Hello William,
First you'll need some yelow ochre, or " stop-flow" to stop the tube from further de-soldering once you apply the torch to remove the excess. You can use a dremel tool if you have one or a bench knife to scrape off the excess balled up solder ( which indicated the join was not clean and oil-free- even fingertips can deposit oils). You will also want to mix some borax with denatured alcohol to dip the piece in to prevent firescale when you do the repair. Now you are using a torch, I will presume it is an oxy fuel torch and not just propane, or butane ( though a butane torch will outperform the plumbers type propane torch in jewelry work up to high karat gold pieces and are available at home stores and x marts for about 28 dollars, or sci-plus .com has a bernzomatic model on sale for 16 dollars that i keep on hand for a number of hit-and-run soldering jobs . It works quite smashingly!), you will need flux ( preferably a self cleaning flux, or cupronil which is flux and firescale preventative in one great product made by 4S labs) and some easy or repair solder that matches the colour and type of metal you have ( fine silver, sterling, karat gold etc.) try to avaoid paste fluxes and paste solders they are primarily for production jobbing.Hoover and Strong is one of the best manufacturers of various grades of solder in all styles, wire, chipped, and strips and even make a yellow silver solder good for repairing gold filled or bi-metal pieces where a yellow solder is desired or the material is vermeil.
I apologize but I'll have to continue this later this evening as I did not realize the time and have an engagement to be at at 4pm..
So if you have more questions between now and then please respond otherwise I'll continue from this point later.
Apologies, Ari
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: First, Dr.Roark thank you, for such complete and accurate information on the subject. This was truly an excellent surprise and a wealth of information from the complete picture.
I have some specific question from the information supplies.
First, I have the (yellow ochre), but it is in a powder form .
*What would be the proper mixed ratio? 1:1 , 2:1, etc,
Also, when applying the ochre, I think you would use it around the area adjacent from where the flame is concentrated, to keep from reheating the adjacent area. (please correct if wrong.)
Dr.Roark , Next , When would I apply the Borax W/ Denatured alcohol?
*Are these two different mixtures and are they mixed in different ratios ? 1:1, 2:1, etc,.
*How long should I leave the solution on ?
Finally, I asked about the solder application because it is often reference that if the original soldering joint was done with hard , or medium quality, then if you don't use a grade lower that the solder will undo the other adjacent work or that the soldering itself won't take.
Please help in clearing up this aspect of soldering so I will have the correct concept.
Dr. Roark, I want to thank you again, and it was a pleasure to communicate with such a knowledgeable person.
AnswerHappy to hear from you again William,
As for the yellow ochre, it is not an exacting science but you want to create a solution that is about the consistency of half and half (cream) if it is too thick it will not have enough moisture and will essentially bake off in a crumbly mess. The viscosity helps insulate and cover the metal. You can mix up about 1 1/2 teaspoons full to 3 tablespoons of water and store it in a film canister or dropper type bottle ( like eye drops come in), shaking before each use. The commercially prepared "stop-flow" as it is called is a rip-off at $3.98 or upwards from most vendors for less than an ounce of water and ochre! If you like ( and have on hand) you can add a drop or 2 at most of oil of rosemary as a preservative. It is quite effective and prevents molds and other corruption from forming on the surface from the addition of water that is not sterile and/or a non-sterilised container - but if you use it regularly and have a controlled environment that you work in the likelihood is minimalised.
You apply the ochre mixture around every other soldered join except the join area you are working on. So How then do you use the firescale preventative? The first thing to do in the steps towards getting to the point is to warm the piece then dip the whole into the alcohol and borax anti-firescale mixture ( like I said before- unless you use Cupronil that works as both flux and fire coat- also applied after warming the piece and though not a stop flow will prevent scale or fire stain and can be built up in coats to protect silver pieces before soldering). Then apply the ochre to areas you suspect would be affected by reheating. The borax can be laundry type but the borax in cone form for soldering and making one's own flux oe coating your crucibles is higher quality as it has no fillers and is the crystalline form of borax most suited for jewelry making. As for the ratio of alcohol ( denatured or methyl alcohol only, not isoporpyl or rubbing alcohol ) to borax, in the end you want it the thickness of milk I add borax into the alcohol until no more can be dissolved perhaps an ounce of borax to about 6 oz of alcohol. It will seperate and needs stirring before each use. It will adhere best if you slightly warm the piece before dipping, so I use a widemouth cannister with a non-metallic lid as the mixture attacks metal lids rapidly and it is generally not airtight so it evaporates too. It is wide enough for most pieces up to a belt buckle size- but it can be painted on or put in a misting sprayer and sprayed on as well.
Presume most jewelry is soldered inititally with hard solder. I tend to use only hard solders in my work, in a rare instance i will use med. hard as I want to perform as few operations as is possible and I want all joins as strong as possible and I want to make it easy if anyone ever modifies a piece years later to not ruin it by using easy solder somewhere in the piece as it will melt down first and ruin any construction that I spent time on..Most books do say go from hard to med, to easy or repair grades but for gold hard can be reheated 2 maybe three times with high karat solders as the alloy will hold up and not burn off with repeated heatings. With silver I use hard and that too can be reheated but only twice before the components degrade.Then I use med. hard, or medium at the least. If you are repairing something though and have no idea of how it was joined or if it looks mass produced- then easy solder may be the wisest choice particularly after applying your ochre to the piece ( or wet wadded newsprint to protect stones and other elements that heat would ruin).
I also recommend Hoover and Strong brand solders, and cadmium free if you want to purchase the least toxic to your health. If you wear a respirator though when soldering it matters not if you buy ordinary or cadmium free. I have a colleague that makes paste solders that are of a reasonable quality but the most attractive feature is that her solder pastes (my unique solutions is the brand and I am in no way recommending you buy them whatsoever, this is purely information as anyone can make solder pastes with some zinc oxide and ground metals) come in a very wide range of temperatures and are sold by the melting point- a tube or two of her med.low or medium for silver work would be a great addition to your arsenal of solders. Most people beginning in making jewellery buy too many solder grades- It is wholly unnecessary,If you plan out your work piece and reduce the number of joins as much as possible. As I said I generally use hard solder exclusively, but for the rare instance have some medium on hand, and in white gold I keep a strip of easy around.
You can go from hard down the proverbial ladder of grades as many boks will tell you to do so, but I being old fashioned depend more on planning out the operations, using some cold connections where possible, some compression fittings, ands then the least soldering necessary to hold everything securely for many years of daily wear.
I hope this helps you understand the steps, in using the firecoat protectant then applying the stop flow to keep other joins from undoing, if not you know where to find me.
Best Regards, Ari
