Construction Basics

<div class="jnlc-container" id="jnlc-container"> <div class="left-cont-SubLinks" id="left-cont-SubLinks"><img src="http://static2.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Const_Solde.jpg" width="360" height="200" class="floatLeft" /> Construction Basics Soldering Soldering is a manufacturing term, also known as brazing. Some basic construction and soldering principles include: 1. Make sure that all joins are recently scraped, cleaned, sanded, or otherwise bared. 2. Make sure that there is no light showing through a join. 3. Use a strong amount of flux. Batterns and Pripp's self-pickling fluxes can be used on gold without much worry of oxidation. When working with sterling silver, or base metals, use a white paste flux. Any non-fluoride fluxes are typically recommended. Begin by heating the metal, not the solder. Generalized heating works fairly well. Heat the larger part of the item, not the smaller. This allows the heat to transfer down from large to small part. If possible, pre-melt the solder onto the smaller part, so that as the heat rises into it from the larger part the solder is sucked down onto the larger part from the smaller. It is a good idea to bounce the flame onto the metal off the soldering brick. Use a nest to accomplish this. Place a small bundle of very thin iron binding wire under the piece being soldered which lifts it off the brick and allows the jeweler to bounce the flame off the brick and up onto the piece from beneath. Always keep the flame in motion. An exception can be made when soldering with a mini-torch, which spot heats one section to make it flow. When using larger sources of flame, such as acetylene or an air torch like a Prestolite, constant motion is the rule. 4. Use a titanium pick to plant the solder. Cut small chips, pre-flux the chip, and the bent titanium pick will heat up. Then touch it to the fluxed chip. The chip will stick to the pick and can be moved over towards the piece, heating the chip on the pick. It balls up and rolls down to the end. Plant it onto the piece and go back for another chip. Titanium wire can be obtained from Reactive Metals Company or sometimes for free from bicycle shops in the form of a bent titanium spoke. The reason for using a bent piece of titanium is to keep the jeweler’s line of vision from being obstructed. A bent pick allows the jeweler to pick up items and move them around without having to put down the pick and use a pair of tweezers. 5. Use small solder balls because they leave less mess when melted. Be careful not to boil all the good material out of the solder ball when making it. The moment it turns into a ball, remove the flame. 6. Set up your solder area in a logical manner, eliminating the need to reach over the flame to reach tools. Organize to insure safety, speed and a smooth operation. These principles are applicably to the workbench and all other working spaces. 7. Use binding wire when soldering. Traditionally, goldsmiths free-hand soldering jobs. This is fine for a production situation, where the same motion is repeated over and over. However, it is less productive for single construction jobs. Take the time to wire the product with thin, iron binding wire. Ten minutes of precaution spent wiring something can save a half an hour of dealing with the resulting mess that may happen from rushing a job. 8. Use tension loops. Twisted wire cable is looped every 1-2 cm and twisted to make rows of tension loops. Always twist the cables in the same direction to prevent them from being inadvertently loosened later on. They may be tightened to allow stress to spread throughout the binding system. This prevents the wire from suddenly giving way. Tension loops open the possibilities for more complex wiring situations. 9. Never wire across open spaces. As the metal softens, the wire can cause the piece to bend inwards and collapse. Instead, use hooks and the tension loops to redirect pressure against the strongest structures of the object being soldered. When hot, everything becomes soft and pliable, therefore, utilize structural strength to replace material strength at the temperatures required for soldered construction. 10. When bridging a seam with binding wire, use thicker wire (16 gauge (1.5 mm) and up) and make a bridge to lift the binding wire up off of the seam. This prevents it from being soldered down to the seam. The bridge wire should loop up and away from the seam to avoid contact with it. The ends of the thick wire bridge are bent up and away from the metal surface being joined so that they do not scratch the surface they are on. 11. Pickling is not necessary every time you heat the metal. Sometimes, taking the metal and rinsing it in a cup of hot water. This will wash away the flux in a few seconds. 12. Most of the basic soldering and construction principles are primarily concerned with structural strength. It is important to remember stress and use. Assume the client will be rough on their jewelry. They will bend, twist, yank and pull it on and off. Overbuilding to absorb stress can help prevent breaks and damage. 13. Use cut-and-slot construction, which is similar to cutting out paper dolls. Score and bend, whenever possible. Use a separating disk and finish up with a file to give an exact bend. Make the part out of the largest piece of sheet you can. Work on a small part as long as possible while it is attached to a much larger piece of metal. This will serve as a handle. Always leave handles on small parts as long as possible to make it easier to work with them. When possible, even finish them while attached to a handle. The last thing to do is to separate the part from the handle. 14. Make something out of one sheet, as opposed to several. Make sure it's scored and bent with cut and slot insertion. When assembling a piece comprised of several components, try to make them out of the same piece for the best results. For instance, to create a box where the lid portion is to be the same size and shape as the bottom, the jeweler would want to use gold from the same sheet. It's the same as matching cloth from the same bolt to make a perfectly matched suit. When creating an integrated piece, make the components out of the same unit. Then, cut them after the shape has been constructed. <a href="/pages/manufacturing"><img src='http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Back1.png' alt='' /></a> </div> <div class="links-cont" id="links-cont"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2"> <tr> <td><a href="/pages/scoring-bending-tips">Scoring & Bending Tips</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="/pages/designing-your-own-system-safety">Designing Ypur Own System & Safety</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> </table>   </div> </div>

2008-08-04T14:15:04-04:00

construction-basics 372092

2008-08-04T14:15:04-04:00

145692

Construction Basics 2008-11-04T12:11:02-05:00 <notextile> <div class="jnlc-container" id="jnlc-container"> <div class="left-cont-SubLinks" id="left-cont-SubLinks"><img src="http://static2.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Const_Solde.jpg" width="360" height="200" class="floatLeft" /> Construction Basics Soldering Soldering is a manufacturing term, also known as brazing. Some basic construction and soldering principles include: 1. Make sure that all joins are recently scraped, cleaned, sanded, or otherwise bared. 2. Make sure that there is no light showing through a join. 3. Use a strong amount of flux. Batterns and Pripp's self-pickling fluxes can be used on gold without much worry of oxidation. When working with sterling silver, or base metals, use a white paste flux. Any non-fluoride fluxes are typically recommended. Begin by heating the metal, not the solder. Generalized heating works fairly well. Heat the larger part of the item, not the smaller. This allows the heat to transfer down from large to small part. If possible, pre-melt the solder onto the smaller part, so that as the heat rises into it from the larger part the solder is sucked down onto the larger part from the smaller. It is a good idea to bounce the flame onto the metal off the soldering brick. Use a nest to accomplish this. Place a small bundle of very thin iron binding wire under the piece being soldered which lifts it off the brick and allows the jeweler to bounce the flame off the brick and up onto the piece from beneath. Always keep the flame in motion. An exception can be made when soldering with a mini-torch, which spot heats one section to make it flow. When using larger sources of flame, such as acetylene or an air torch like a Prestolite, constant motion is the rule. 4. Use a titanium pick to plant the solder. Cut small chips, pre-flux the chip, and the bent titanium pick will heat up. Then touch it to the fluxed chip. The chip will stick to the pick and can be moved over towards the piece, heating the chip on the pick. It balls up and rolls down to the end. Plant it onto the piece and go back for another chip. Titanium wire can be obtained from Reactive Metals Company or sometimes for free from bicycle shops in the form of a bent titanium spoke. The reason for using a bent piece of titanium is to keep the jeweler’s line of vision from being obstructed. A bent pick allows the jeweler to pick up items and move them around without having to put down the pick and use a pair of tweezers. 5. Use small solder balls because they leave less mess when melted. Be careful not to boil all the good material out of the solder ball when making it. The moment it turns into a ball, remove the flame. 6. Set up your solder area in a logical manner, eliminating the need to reach over the flame to reach tools. Organize to insure safety, speed and a smooth operation. These principles are applicably to the workbench and all other working spaces. 7. Use binding wire when soldering. Traditionally, goldsmiths free-hand soldering jobs. This is fine for a production situation, where the same motion is repeated over and over. However, it is less productive for single construction jobs. Take the time to wire the product with thin, iron binding wire. Ten minutes of precaution spent wiring something can save a half an hour of dealing with the resulting mess that may happen from rushing a job. 8. Use tension loops. Twisted wire cable is looped every 1-2 cm and twisted to make rows of tension loops. Always twist the cables in the same direction to prevent them from being inadvertently loosened later on. They may be tightened to allow stress to spread throughout the binding system. This prevents the wire from suddenly giving way. Tension loops open the possibilities for more complex wiring situations. 9. Never wire across open spaces. As the metal softens, the wire can cause the piece to bend inwards and collapse. Instead, use hooks and the tension loops to redirect pressure against the strongest structures of the object being soldered. When hot, everything becomes soft and pliable, therefore, utilize structural strength to replace material strength at the temperatures required for soldered construction. 10. When bridging a seam with binding wire, use thicker wire (16 gauge (1.5 mm) and up) and make a bridge to lift the binding wire up off of the seam. This prevents it from being soldered down to the seam. The bridge wire should loop up and away from the seam to avoid contact with it. The ends of the thick wire bridge are bent up and away from the metal surface being joined so that they do not scratch the surface they are on. 11. Pickling is not necessary every time you heat the metal. Sometimes, taking the metal and rinsing it in a cup of hot water. This will wash away the flux in a few seconds. 12. Most of the basic soldering and construction principles are primarily concerned with structural strength. It is important to remember stress and use. Assume the client will be rough on their jewelry. They will bend, twist, yank and pull it on and off. Overbuilding to absorb stress can help prevent breaks and damage. 13. Use cut-and-slot construction, which is similar to cutting out paper dolls. Score and bend, whenever possible. Use a separating disk and finish up with a file to give an exact bend. Make the part out of the largest piece of sheet you can. Work on a small part as long as possible while it is attached to a much larger piece of metal. This will serve as a handle. Always leave handles on small parts as long as possible to make it easier to work with them. When possible, even finish them while attached to a handle. The last thing to do is to separate the part from the handle. 14. Make something out of one sheet, as opposed to several. Make sure it's scored and bent with cut and slot insertion. When assembling a piece comprised of several components, try to make them out of the same piece for the best results. For instance, to create a box where the lid portion is to be the same size and shape as the bottom, the jeweler would want to use gold from the same sheet. It's the same as matching cloth from the same bolt to make a perfectly matched suit. When creating an integrated piece, make the components out of the same unit. Then, cut them after the shape has been constructed. <a href="/pages/manufacturing"><img src='http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Back1.png' alt='' /></a> </div> <div class="links-cont" id="links-cont"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2"> <tr> <td><a href="/pages/scoring-bending-tips">Scoring & Bending Tips</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="/pages/designing-your-own-system-safety">Designing Ypur Own System & Safety</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> </table>   </div> </div> </notextile>