Soldering A to ZPart Three

•Jigging Up•Helpful Tools•Binding Wire•Solder Weights and Customized Tools•Solder Flow Inhibitors•Heat Sinks

•Thermal Conductivity•Step Soldering•Examples of Complex Fabrications•Exercise 5: Butt Joint•Exercise 6: Wire to Flat Sheet•Exercise 7: Wire (Upright) to Sheet

It’s better to take an hour to “jig-up” a soldering job than it is to spend hours cleaning up a sloppy

outcome!!

Helpful Soldering Tools

Swanstrom Tungsten-Tip Soldering Pliers and Magnetic Base System $125

You can spend a lot of money on fancy tools that probably work at least as well as they claim to……..

•T pins (also called wig pins) can be pushed into the fire brick to hold

things snugly in place

•They can be modified by cutting and/or bending

•They should be coated with liquid paper if there is risk of soldering them

to your work

Illustration from Charles Lewton Brain’s “Soldering Hints and Tricks”http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/solder.htm

However, the most mundane tool mght just be the best and most versatile!

Thin iron binding wire is good for wiring pieces

together.

It comes in different gauges -- avoid using heavy gauge binding wire when possible.

Twist several thin pieces together to form a cable -- it’s less likely to burn out during soldering and it can expand and contract slightly to avoid indenting your work.

Never use galvanized or other coated wire for binding

Stainless steel binding wire does not rust like iron will, and it also holds up longer under high heat.

Be Inventive!Custom clips may be made from:

•cotter pins•coat hanger wire

(burn the pant off first)

Remember – don’t use galvanized or coated materials

Make a clamp from a cotter pin and a heavy nut

•The cotter pin is bent after the nut has been slid onto it

•When the nut is turned, it “bites” into the cotter pin and locks itself

Idea and diagram from Charles Lewton Brain

Other Tips From Charles Lewton Brain:

•Loop and twist your wire cable; make rows of tension loops like these when

possible (always twist in the same direction). They are easily tightened or

loosened to allow stress to be spread evenly throughout the binding system.

•Avoid wiring across open spaces as the metal may collapse inwards. Instead use

hooks and tension loops.

Note: All metals expand when heated

•When crossing a seam with binding wire, use thicker wire or sheet metal strips to

make a bridge that lifts the binding wire up off the seam.

•This prevents the binding wire from being soldered to your work.

• Bend all wire ends up/away from the surface of your work so they do not scratch

or leave marks on your metal.

Diagram by Charles Lewton Brain

Solder weights

You can also use large magnets to help hold steel tools in place

Modify self-locking tweezers for soldering wire parts or prongs

Visit http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/solder.htm

to read more of Charles Lewton Brain’s “Soldering Hints and Tricks”

From Emma Gerard: http://emmagerard.blogspot.com/2012/04/april.html

Commercially Available Soldering Aids

Solder Flow Inhibitors

Yellow Ochre (Mix with water)

GraphiteCorrection Fluid

Heat Sinks

nuisanceor

necessity?

Heat sinks are often an unintended consequence of jigging with metal tools such as tweezers, pins, clips or wire.

Heat sinks can also be used intentionally to protect earlier seams or delicate parts.

Other things that can be utilized as heat sinks are chunks of copper or steel, and un-galvanized washers or nuts

How Heat Sinks Work

Thermal conductivity: A material's ability to conduct heat

•Thermal conduction is responsible for transporting heat through a solid

•Heat (energy) travels more quickly through some materials than others.

•High thermal conductivity occurs when heat transfers across a material at a high rate

•Materials with high thermal conductivity (most metals) absorb the heat coming from another object quickly; that is why they are widely used in heat sink applications

•Silver and copper have very high thermal conductivity

The rate of conduction depends on three

factors:

•What the solid is made from

•The temperature gradient, which itself

depends on the difference in temperature

between the inside and outside surfaces

•The thickness of the material

•The area of the solid

On the other hand, materials with low thermal conductivity (like soft firebrick) are insulating.

Proof of this is the fact that an ice cube will melt faster on a sheet of metal (high conductivity) than on cardboard (low conductivity).

Build a fire brick “oven” for times when you need maximum heat

The firebrick will radiate heat back onto your work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy1NeGiRi_I

Video on Heat Transference in Soldering

Start video at 1:23 secs

Conduction Soldering:

•Applying the torch heat from below, with work supported on a tripod and screen

•Heat is evenly diffused from the supporting object (the screen) to the work being soldered

•Great method for soldering delicate parts that might collapse or melt under direct heat (like fine wire work being joined to sheet)

Step Soldering: Planning for Sequential Soldering Operations

•Generally, when a fabrication requires

multiple soldering operations the normal

sequence is to use the highest-melting

solder first (hard) and work down to the

lower melting solders so that no previous

seam will re-melt and open up.

•Good planning, grouping of soldering

operations, and using a solder inhibitor

(Liquid Paper/Whiteout correction fluid)

will allow you to use each grade of solder

more than once without risk to the integrity

of your fabrication

•Always try to plan your solder sequences

so that you can use hard or medium

solders for joints that require more

strength and easy solders for parts that

are delicate or that might be at risk for

accidental melting.

Grouping Your Soldering Operations –

Try to consider all your options for joining parts

Can you join your parts in separate groups of two or three units using hard and medium solder, then assemble all the separate groups into one single unit using easy solder?

Examples of Fabricated Jewelry with Multiple Soldering Operations

Candi Leung

Angela Bubash

Sydney Lynch

Diane Falkenhagen

Diane Falkenhagen

Exercise 5: Butt Joint

•Use the long rectangular copper strip in your kit

•Cut both ends at a 90 degree angle to the long sides; use the mini square to insure you have perfectly “squared” ends

•Bend strip into an oval form so that the ends touch completely and are light tight

•Solder ends together using medium solder – use the solder ball method or flat pallions placed on the outside of the ring form; solder on top of a soft fire brick.

Note: Butt joints cut on an angle will have more surface contact area and will result in a stronger join, but are more dificult to do and often not necessary.

Exercise 6: Soldering Wire to Flat Sheet

•Bend 12 gauge wire into an interesting design

•Flatten with mallet

•Sand underside

Place flat wire on flat metal sheet.

Suspend on tripod and heat from below.

Choose the solder ball method: placing tiny solder balls periodically along length of wire (remember surface contact is minimal so not much solder will be required)

or

Choose the sweat solder method – pre-melt solder on the underside of the wire

Exercise 7: Soldering Wire UprightOnto Sheet

Using the 2” rectangular sheet copper, drill 2 holes corresponding to the size of the 18 gauge copper wire (.040”), then cut your copper wire into several pieces and practice soldering wire to sheet:

1. Bend one piece of wire into a “U”shape then Insert the two ends into the drilled holes in the copper sheet and solder simultaneously

1. Hold a single wire with third-arm/tweezers onto the surface of the copper and solder

2. Hold a single wire with insulated tweezers, hold while soldering

3. Repeat the last two steps several times to get the hang of it!

Hold this wire with third arm

Support this wire freehand with insulated tweezers!

Wire ends pass through drilled holes and into brick

When setting up with the third-arm or when inserting wire into drilled holes, prop the solder pallion up against

the wire so that gravity will pull it down when it flows.

When hand-holding wire for soldering:

•Pick up solder ball on end of wire, melt it onto the wire, then hold wire down onto sheet and re-melt the solder.

•Pull the torch away and hold wire for several seconds before letting go

End Part Three