How to Make Fancy Solder Jewelry

You can make a fancy silver ring using soldering techniques.

Metal soldering, which is a basic metalworking skill that involves joining two pieces of metal together, is often used in jewelry making. Soldering techniques are applied to making rings or loops, attaching clasps and pins, creating stone settings and more. One of the most common types of metal used in jewelry making is sterling silver, which is soft and easy to solder. You can make your own fancy jewelry pieces by learning to solder silver in this ring project.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Paper
• Scissors
• Rubber cement
• Sterling silver sheet metal
• Jeweler's saw and blades
• Jewelry file
• 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit sandpaper
• Ring mandrel
• Wooden mallet
• Flux
• Small paintbrush
• Silver solder
• Wire clippers
• Large ceramic tile
• Fire bricks
• Soldering tripod
• Soldering torch
• Copper tongs
• Pickle pot
• 20 gauge sterling silver wire
• Round nosed pliers
• Flat nosed pliers
• Soldering clamps
• Polishing cloth

Instructions

Shape the Metal

1. Measure the size of the ring you need to make, using a measuring tape or a piece of string. Draw a line on a sheet of paper that is as long as this measurement. Turn the line into a rectangle that is as wide as you would like your fancy ring to be.

2. Cut the rectangle from the paper. Attach the paper to your silver sheet metal with rubber cement.

3. Cut the rectangle from the sterling silver sheet metal, using a jeweler's saw. Make sure to stay on the paper lines, so that the cuts are fairly straight.

4. Remove the paper and rubber cement residue from the sheet metal. Wipe the metal down with water.

5. File the rough edges of the sheet metal rectangle smooth with a jewelry file. Stop filing when you cannot make the edges any smoother.

Prepare the Ring

1. Take the 220 grit sandpaper and sand the edges of the rectangle to the best of your ability, then switch to the 320 grit sandpaper. Once the deepest scratches have been removed, work with the 400 grit sandpaper. Use the 600 grit sandpaper to finish.

2. Hold the rectangle over the ring mandrel and tap on it firmly with the mallet until it conforms to the shape of the mandrel. Continue tapping on the rectangle until you can make the short edges meet completely flush with each other.

3. Paint the short edges with a small amount of flux. Press the edges firmly together.

4. Place the ring onto a soldering tripod. Cut a small piece of silver solder with the wire clippers and place it over the "seam" between the short edges of the ring.

5. Place a large ceramic tile on top of a table. Place fire bricks on top of the tile, then the soldering tripod on top of the fire bricks. Put the torch and the tongs nearby.

Solder the Ring

1. Turn the soldering torch to a low flame. Move the flame over the ring, heating it up evenly, until the solder melts. Remove the flame.

2. Pick up the ring with the copper tongs and place the ring into your pickle pot.

3. Remove the ring from the pickle pot once the fire oxidation has been mostly removed. File down any excess solder that has leaked out of the "seam." File and sand the seam until it disappears.

4. Slide the ring onto the ring mandrel, until you cannot slide it anymore. Tap the ring all over with the mallet until it fits the ring mandrel perfectly. Remove the ring from the mandrel.

5. Cut a piece of silver wire that is about 3 inches long. Grip 1 end of the wire with the round nosed pliers and roll it into a loop. Repeat this on the other end.

Finish the Ring Design

1. Grip each loop with the flat nosed pliers and roll them toward each other, until they meet in the center. You should have 2 connected spirals.

2. Paint the center of the spiral wire design, where the 2 spirals meet, with a small amount of flux. Paint flux onto the ring surface where you would like to attach the wire design.

3. Put soldering clamps into your soldering area. Attach the ring and the wire to the clamps, arranging them so that they are held tightly together. Cut a small piece of solder and place it over the flux area.

4. Heat up your torch to a low flame and move it over the silver ring until the solder melts. Remove the ring with the copper tongs and place it into the pickle pot.

5. File and sand away any excess solder from the ring. Polish the ring with a polishing cloth.

Tips & Warnings

• Your pickle pot should be a heated pot filled with pickle solution. Some jewelry makers use an old crock pot to heat the pickle solution, while others use pots specifically sold for pickling.

• You can make any design you like with the wire. Experiment with forming the wire into different shapes.

References

• Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing
• The Encyclopedia of Jewelry Making Techniques

Resources

• Ganoksin: The Complete Gem and Jewelry Making Resource