Deep Dive: Pickle and Soldering | Jewelry 101 

Thanks Amy! Keep practicing and you'll get it! We hope to do more soldering videos in the future.

Hi Mrs. Green! Yes, Susan said a small crock pot will work!

that is a good tip to include re the brass brush! Thkx

Seems like this professional knows what she’s doing 🫠

Hi Nick! We're glad you are loving the videos and your never too old (or young in your case) to start something new! To answer your question, yes there is a video about how to make the ring Susan is wearing. It comes out tomorrow at Noon EST. It's called Advanced Soldering: Huggie Rings. So, set your alarm!

Would love that

I am not sure we would recommend it. You can try it, but since the pickle is an acid compound, we are not sure it won't harm the potpourri pot or you! If anything, you can just get a mini crock pot and set it to low. Safety first!

Not yet! But we can ask!

There is not, but thanks for the suggestion! Maybe we can talk Susan into demonstrating it in a future video!

Hi Howard! Susan says, "I have certainly seen that reaction! Also, you should always pickle the whole piece." As far as it being plumbing safe, we have to say no. Just call your local waste center and ask them how to dispose of it properly. Hope this helps!!

Hi! The pickle solution does not need to be heated, however, heating it does make it work faster. Just remember if you have it cold, you may want to let your jewelry sit in the solution much longer. Just take it out and checking it every 10 minutes or so and that will give you a clue as to how long it will need to stay in the cold solution. 10 minutes is a good gauge for pickle that's heated. Hope this helps!

Hi! Pickle cleans the fire scale off the piece after soldering. It can't hurt to do it. Usually if someone's finger is turning green, it means that they are having a chemical reaction to the copper included in the wire, especially those that are plated. You can coat your jewelry with an acrylic sealer that will help. Krylon makes a great one. Remember, that jewelry when worn over time, does need to be cleaned and than can help prevent tarnishing.

@@JewelSchool thanks so much

Great question! You'll need to check with your local recycling center to see if they will take and dispose of the pickle in their facility and they can tell you exactly what to write on it. Chance are they do and they will. This will save you a lot of hassle with trying to figure out how to dispose of it in another, maybe not so safe way. Here is the safety and data sheet for Sparex straight from Eurotool, the makers of this product: eurotool-com.3dcartstores.com/assets/images/Sparex.pdf Section 13 deals specifically with disposal. We will ask Susan to explain more about disposal in her next soldering video. Hope this helps!

This is not, but you can use it! In this video we used sparex number 2.

@@JewelSchool Could be hard to get it in germany ^^

There is a sterling silver soft solder paste you can use. They also make it in copper. If by jewelry store craft metals, you mean a plated wire, then you should not solder it because it will melt. You need to use .925 sterling, karat gold or bare copper only for soldering. Hope this helps!

Correct! 😀

Yes it can. Just be sure to use a gold solder paste of the same karat. You can use the pickle solution she uses in this video to clean it.

Hello Matthew! Yes, the pickle works best when heated. Susan is using a pickle pot or basically a tiny crock pot to keep it heated.

Jewel School thank you for the info

Hi Nick! You should probably turn the pickle pot off at night unless you have something that needs to sit in it overnight. Mostly you want to be safe with it. It shouldn't take it long to heat back up when you're ready to use it again! As far as soldering with plated wire, you should stick to pure metals like sterling silver, gold and copper. The plating burns off during soldering, so that's the reason why. And YES! The JoolTool is totally worth it! It cuts down on your filing and polishing and in the end, makes your pieces look much more professional. Here is a link for purchase: jooltool.com/collections/all/products/master-jewelers-kit-1 Good Luck!

The pickle should clean it thoroughly after torching (annealing), but you can hit it with some steel wool or a brass brush as well. As far as an ultrasonic, you may want to do that before polishing it and/or adding any stones. Think metal only! Once your stone is added, ultrasonic cleaners can harm your gemstones depending on what it is. Organics like pearls, amber and corals, should never go in an ultrasonic cleaner or be subjected to heat. Also delicate stones like fluorite, which is super soft and sensitive to abrupt temperature changes, or porous stones like turquoise and lapis should not be placed in there either. Good Luck!

Negative, ghost rider… the Annealing process is exactly a she explained… with some exceptions. However, she was not discussing those particular metals.

It would be safe to pickle the piece beforehand, so it's good and clean before soldering. It's really up to you!

That's way easier. Acetic acid content matter?

Yes it does! 😉

Hi! A quick internet search should get you what you need as far as soldering paste. As for the question about brass, the short answer is yes. The best solder paste to use is probably going to be a silver soldering paste, which contains flux, but you should get flux spray in addition to this. If you're concerned about the metal not matching in color, don't worry. As long as your joint is small, you can polish it down enough so that it won't be very noticeable OR you can simply oxidize or plate it! Good luck!

I've wondered about this, too. Please speak a little more about health risks and how to avoid them!

Hi, Ariane! I had the same question and I found this, hope this helps you! Don’t put steel into the pickle pot unless it is stainless steel. Stainless is safe in pickle. Remove all binding wire before pickling - unless you are using copper or stainless steel wire. Regular steel binding wire, cross-locks, tweezers, some soldering picks, etc. when dropped into pickle, that has free-floating copper molecules in it, will create an electrical current that plates all surrounding metal with copper called copper flashing. Link nancylthamilton.com/techniques/soldering/on-pickle-crock-pots-and-baking-soda/#:~:text=Stainless%20is%20safe%20in%20pickle,copper%20or%20stainless%20steel%20wire.

Look for a #65 soft sterling silver solder paste.We use the paste made by Eurotool specifically. We are all sold out of our soldering products at the moment with hopes to get more back in soon. There are some reputable online jewelry sites that come up when you do an internet search for solder paste. Keep checking back for links to products and thanks for watching!

@@JewelSchool thank you! I watch these videos over and over again. Got a torch coming today! Super excited... Might even make some cream brulee 🤣

Good question! We have one available right now. Supplies are limited so here is the link: www.jtv.com/product/pre-owned-annealing-supply-kit-incl-soldering-board-torch-head-pickle-pot-copper-tongs-more/PPP9500?mcid=XSOjsyt It's hard in our current climate to source materials, but we promise we are working on it! Thanks for watching!

we have never soldered with stainless steel and are not prepared to answer this question. however, there are plenty of soldering websites that addresses this very thing. You may also reach out to your local Facebook friends our search out silversmith communities in your area!

Hi Richard! Yes. Susan says, "pickle is a powerful cleaner and can remove plating."

Thank you!

You'll have to discard it an start over. Depending on what type of pickle you have, you'll need to consult the manufacturers directions on how to properly dispose of it.

Hello! We have actually never tried it!🤔 It's is our position here at Jewel School that you only use copper tongs to avoid contaminating your pickle. Pickle is a toxic acid compound. We don't know what, if anything, it might do to those particular materials (plastic or wood) or to your jewelry. Good luck!

@@JewelSchool awesome thanks for the info

Hi Jamine! Yes, the small brown terracotta pot contains room temperature water and is used to rinse off your piece after you've cleaned it in the pickle.

Hi! No, not currently, but we plan to have more soldering videos coming out this year for sure!

@@JewelSchool Thank you :)