soldering gold filled wire -

gypse

Moderator
Registered: 12/05/04
Posts: 2,082

Posted 10/02/06 at 10:38 AM	Reply with quote #1

Hi All - I'm under the impression that you can not solder gold-filled wire - but I see that Rio has 14K/20 Gold-Filled Solder-Filled Round Wire - 18g in its catalog. Description says it is ideal for chains and jump rings. Can gold filled be soldered?????
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castocreations

Registered: 05/01/07
Posts: 5

Posted 05/01/07 at 12:07 PM	Reply with quote #2

Hi there. I'm brand new to this forum after searching on this very topic. This is an old post but I'm curious if this can be done...well, I know it can be done because I know a jeweler who has done it. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice???
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lgd

Registered: 03/14/05
Posts: 62

Posted 05/01/07 at 12:25 PM	Reply with quote #3

The difficulty with torching 14KGF is that 14K has enough copper in it to develop fire scale, but there is not enough 14K there to work with in trying to abraid the firescale off without abraiding all of the 14K off. To help work around that, dip the pieces to be soldered in a saturated solution of boric acid and rubbing alchohol, then burn the alchohol off, leaving a protective coat of boric acid all over the GF. Solder with easy 14K solder, and get it done as quickly as possible.
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castocreations

Registered: 05/01/07
Posts: 5

Posted 05/01/07 at 01:12 PM	Reply with quote #4

Quote: Originally Posted by lgd The difficulty with torching 14KGF is that 14K has enough copper in it to develop fire scale, but there is not enough 14K there to work with in trying to abraid the firescale off without abraiding all of the 14K off. To help work around that, dip the pieces to be soldered in a saturated solution of boric acid and rubbing alchohol, then burn the alchohol off, leaving a protective coat of boric acid all over the GF. Solder with easy 14K solder, and get it done as quickly as possible. Fantastic! Thank you so much for replying. Now I'm going to have to practice.
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wireddragonfly

Registered: 12/10/04
Posts: 137

Posted 05/09/07 at 09:51 AM	Reply with quote #5

I saw some solder listed at Monsterslayer that said it was for use on 14kgf. Have not tried it, but I use Monsterslayer for some other items I can't get from my normal suppliers.
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ahbeeyay

Registered: 08/10/08
Posts: 1

Posted 08/10/08 at 12:14 AM	Reply with quote #6

http://www.pasternakfindings.com They have a product called "gold filled solder paste" Haven't used it - just found it tonight...
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gypse

Moderator
Registered: 12/05/04
Posts: 2,082

Posted 08/10/08 at 10:44 AM	Reply with quote #7

Quote: well, I know it can be done because I know a jeweler who has done it. Yes, I've run into people also that insist that you can solder with gold filled and proudly show off their bezel set stones . . . problem is, the soldering process has totally changed the nature of the gold filled. I think it ends up melting both the inner jeweler's wire and the outter lay of karat gold together. Instead of a gold looking piece, it is an odd color. And it tarnishes!!! So what good is it. I sincerely doubt it can legally be called gold filled anymore. The little bit I've read about the gold filled solder pastes, I think they are more intended for small spot "welds", like to attach end caps, etc. And the solder filled wire from rio would again be just to spot "weld" the join in a ring.
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gypse

Moderator
Registered: 12/05/04
Posts: 2,082

Posted 10/06/08 at 10:07 AM	Reply with quote #8

Well, I was next to a person this weekend that was selling soldered jewelry made of sterling silver and gold filled wires. First time I've seen soldered gold filled that looked clean and professional. Plenty of repeat customers coming to her. I asked her about soldering gold filled. She said she had been doing it for about 20 years. She said you basically need to be very good at soldering to solder gold filled. She said most people that are good enough to solder gold filled choose to solder solid gold. However, when I asked her about soldering bezels from gold filled sheet for stones, she said she wouldn't do it. She seemed to think gold filled sheet was not as good for the soldering process as gold filled wire. She really didn't state any reasons why . . . Anyhow, she was making points similar to Gary above - - USE GOLD SOLDER - not silver solder! - know how to pick solder - control the amount of solder and where you are going to put it - get the torch on and off quickly - do not let it sit there - don't overheat it - prevent firescale, so it doesn't have to be cleaned She uses a proprietary solution that she makes herself, but basically said that to solder gold filled, you have to understand how to prevent fire scale and make sure that you do the entire operation without mucking up the metal with firescale.
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NancyF

Moderator
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 1,318

Posted 10/06/08 at 01:25 PM	Reply with quote #9

Very Interesting! I will be playing with solder soon I hope....so I'm glad I saved lots of scraps to practice with.
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amandajewls

Registered: 01/12/10
Posts: 1

Posted 01/12/10 at 10:29 PM	Reply with quote #10

This is very old post, but why not add what I've seen? I'm just venturing into filligree and have found a neat free set of 3 videos produced by Jeanne Rhodes-Moen, author of Silver Threads. And guess what? She goes through the entire process of creating a rather elaborate soldered pendant and gold filled wire is the second of many wires she heats and attaches onto the pendant. The piece then undergoes a TON of subsequent soldering points! So yea, I guess gold filled CAN be soldered and reheated. She does use a LOT of flux and pickles after each additional wire added to the piece. Below is the third of her videos
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NancyF

Moderator
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 1,318

Posted 01/14/10 at 09:14 AM	Reply with quote #11

Thanks for the additional info!
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MikiCatDesigns

Registered: 10/18/09
Posts: 1

Posted 02/03/10 at 07:47 PM	Reply with quote #12

And I'll ad an update. You can purchase solder-filled 14/20 gold-filled wire, square or round, from Rio Grande. Makes it very easy to make your own jump rings and designs with a minimum of effort. Simply join, flux and "spot" weld together.
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