I enjoyed Kristin Works video tutorial posted here , but I have a question.

What type of solder is used for sweat soldering the pieces together ?

Thanks ,

Patty

Thanks Trish ,

I wasn't sure if she might have used IT or Eutectic Solder .

I guess I need to experiment further.

My one try with something I soldered, going in the kiln, resulted in the solder re-flowing over the whole piece .

But I've lowered the temp in my kiln since then - so maybe there's hope .

Thanks again,

Patty

Thank you, Trish

Hard Solder it is !

Patty

That's exactly what I'm experimenting with -

when/if I figure out something that works consistently for me anyway, I'll give a post about it.

Thanks for the follow up.

Patty

Hallo Patty,

I have also been soldering saw and solder jewelry for years using standard silver solder, working temperature 770 degrees C (1418 F). Before enamelling, I solder the bearing and the hook for the needle. The needle is only mounted after all enamel work has been completed.
I NEVER fire according to time or temperature. My oven always has the temperature of about 800 degrees C (1472 F). I watch the firing carefully. As soon as the enamel surface is molten and shines, I remove the workpiece immediately !! I had never a proble, that the solder melts during enameling again.
Edmund

Thanks Edmund - something I'm definitely learning - enamel is never just time in the kiln.

And of course it always varies piece to piece !

Patty

Hallo Patty,

It does not just vary from piece to piece, but also from kiln to kiln. In addition, it depends on whether I use a massive conterenamel-support with large mass, and a large enamelobjekt or a lightweight support and a lightweight objekt. And thirdly, it's a huge difference whether I  a small, low-mass workpiece push into a  large-muffle furnace with a large hot muffle-mass, or vice versa. That's why I consider the firing and temperature specifications, which are often prescribed in books, to be absolute nonsense!

Happy enamelling

Edmund

I think Edmund that's what I find the most difficult part of enameling, it's NOT always the same.

Makes me think about learning to solder my copper jewelry - practice, practice, practice is the only thing that really teaches you what you think might be the right timing & technique.

But, I'm still having fun with it all - so not half bad :-)

Patty

There is a liquid called "Blue fuse". It is technically a copper salt. It's used for granulation, but can also be used for fusing pure silver pieces together without solder. This is the best option for enameling. Sandra McEwen explains it  very well in her youtube champleve videos.

 

 

Nina Novikova said:

There is a liquid called "Blue fuse". It is technically a copper salt. It's used for granulation, but can also be used for fusing pure silver pieces together without solder. This is the best option for enameling. Sandra McEwen explains it  very well in her youtube champleve videos.

 

 

 

Hallo Nina

Champlevé-Granulation

 

This is very a interesting information. I am familiar with the granulation process, but I have never associated it with Champlevé, although it is real obvious! The advantage of this connection of the sawn-out element and the base plate is that there is nowhere a solder seam that, under certain circumstances can be visible under transparent enamel .

To Cloisonné. Some enamel specialist books still state that the cloisonné-wires must be soldered on before the enamel is inlaid although there are better options now. If anybody prefer to solder the wires, he could certainly use this method derived from the granulation. It would be worth a try.

Champlevé on Copper. Visible Metal framework from Tombak 15/85
Sice about 15X Cm

Regards, Edmund

 

I use bluefuse to make bases for my enamelwork, because you avoid solder, and can heat your silver to a high temperature in order to fuse the surface to a high shine. Also no worries about solder doing something unexpected, no watching temperature. You can buy on etsy.
Lillian Jones

This is all really good advice. Sometimes where it's possible, I will do a very small flush rivet and hard solder if I'm worried about the connection on a complex piece.

 

That's a good tip. When parts of the design stood alone like an "island", I soldered on a "bridge" made of 0.8 mm wire. (shown broadly here in the picture!) After the complete soldering, the bridge and any excess solder are filed off. It is important that the bridge is also soldered with extra hard silver solder.