Hi

Roma here,

What I hope to accomplish here is to give the novice Jewelry soldering student a list of the tools needed to solder sterling silver and copper items such as earrings, pendants etc. Almost everything I list here is available in my store under roma_zone. I am going to divide the tools list into two categories. First thing is safety. Have a fire extinguisher handy. Keep a box of baking soda handy to neutralize a pickling acid spill. I teach intensive one day workshops in wire and metal jewelry arts in Dallas Texas.

I will have a instructional DVD on Soldering & Setting available in May 08

If you find this guide useful please vote yes at the bottom of the page.

Category 1 - Is the bare minimum of tools needed to solder sterling silver

• Butane Micro torch
• Butane Fuel ( I recommend Target brand ) found in the camping dept.
• Solder pad
• Silver solder paste
• A quench dish ( small dish of water )
• Solder pick ( to move thing on the solder pad while hot ) do not keep in the flame
• Locking fiber handle tweezers ( to pick up things that are hot )
• Steel wool ( to remove the black oxidation or fire scale that soldering creates on silver )

Category 2 - Additional tools that make soldering easier

• small crock pot w/ removable crock
• Acid pickling granules ( removes oxidation & fire scale from silver )
• Dish of clean water to dip newly pickled items in
• Copper tongs ( only tool that can go into the pickle pot )
• Third hand ( holdes small items during  soldering )
• Soft brass brush ( brush newly pickled items in clean water to bring out some shine )
• Silver polishing tumbler ( this tool will really bring out a high shine on your silver work )

Most tools I have listed here have good descriptions on basic use in my auctions.

Now lets touch on safety. When soldering with a torch you should do so in a well ventilated area. This can be accomplished by doing this near an open window with a fan turned  backward so it blows out the window and is sort of sucking the fumes away from you. Since the solder paste has the flux already mixed into it, it will smoke somewhat at the start of each new solder task. The fan helps with this.

In order to fully grasp the soldering process I recommend, Timm McCreight's book the   "Complete Metalsmith" it's easy to understand for the beginner. It hits on all sorts of metal working techniques and provides good working info for soldering.

I hope to add more guides as time permits. Small metal work / jewelry making can be deeply rewarding. When just starting out, try small wire solders. If you have any scarp silver wire around...do some test solders with them. You can make your own finding once you have mastered the art of not melting your work.  I am self taught and melted quite a bite of projects before I truly got the hang of soldering. A lot of boo boo's I recycled. Never discard what you think is a failed project. One of my most profitable designs came from an failed project.

Thank you for taking the time to read my guide.

Roma