I flux my solder as well as the piece. This has two benefits. First I cut my solder in batches and store in small petrel dishes so they do develop a bit of tarnish. As I use self-pickling flux, this tarnish is dissolved when I ball the solder. Second, melted flux acts like a glue which helps the balled solder to stick to the pick. It is important to remove the flame from the solder a second before touching the pick as the flux gets sticky as it cools. Timing is key here because the flux quickly cools to the point where it looses its stickiness.. I always have extra solder chips fluxed and ready on the block in case the first attempts fail. Finally, I try to get my students to get used to holding the torch with their non-dominant hand precisely so that when it comes to learning pick soldering, they have the coordination to handle the pick
Hello Malcolm, Thank you for sharing your technique with me and other viewers. I appreciate it. I hesitated to put in the video about fluxing the solder. Some people have trouble with the steel picks and too much flux causing the solder to flow onto the pick. You are 100% correct about the timing. And as you know, it all comes down to Practice, Practice, Practice. You sound like a great teacher! I am very happy to hear your suggestions and comments. Keep on watching and I'm hoping to hear from you in the future. Greg Greenwood
Greg, I send my students to your channel, I give them your videos as homework before classes. Can you do a video on one of the worst problems that affect students that have insufficient experience or errant guidance? The problem is using 20 gallons/pounds (ok, I exaggerate 🤩)/ too much solder instead of the least amount possible for a solid join. It seems like so many makers think solder is just liquid silver - part of the design of the piece, it's ok to just have those thick meniscus areas, etc.. This, as you know is a serious problem. And an especially egregious issue if using Easy Solder (very bad silver color match) which is taught and even encouraged by some. I think this is a very valuable area to understand in the beginning of a students journey. As always, thank you for really well taught and solid foundational content.
I agree with you 100%. We need to get as much information to students as we can. Sooo, my next video will be on that subject. Feel free to email me at. . Talk to you soon. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg a bit of feedback. Until a few days ago most of my soldering, hard soldering and welding has been on an electronic and industrial scale. Typically, I used thin 60/40 tin lead solder for electronic work and 1.5mm diameter silver solder rods or 2.5mm diameter Sil-Foss self-fluxing rods for copper which can bridge huge gaps. Yesterday I soldered a length of 0.25 mm thick silver, (which had Keum Boo gold on its face,) onto a piece of 1mm thick silver. I applied solder to the back of the gilded piece, so as to carry out a sweat soldered joint as you have shown us but I hadn’t applied enough solder, which of course I didn’t know until I saw that I didn’t get the beautiful little fillet that I expected. The prospect of taking the joint apart was not on and I knew that if I tried to add a pallion at the side it would be messy. Instead, I made about 10 tiny balls of solder, each about the size of a grain of sugar. I deftly placed them around the gilded part and when brought up to temperature they flowed in and under the upper piece and produced the fillet I wanted and saved the piece. I couldn’t have done that without your instructional videos. Thanks again, but can you produce a “How-to-get-to-sleep-when-you’re-over excited-with-your-new-hobby”, video?? Regards . . . Andy
Hello Greg! As always you videos are very informative and easy to follow. I have been watching other videos where the person was doing pick soldering but not melting the solder into a ball before picking it up. I tried this method with some success but find that balling the solder before picking it up made 1) easy to pick up and 2) easier to place. Thanks again for your informative videos. Please keep the coming!!
Hello bjones, I am very glad that I can help you. Thanks for your kind comments also. Another bonus when using balled solder, you have less of a residue area to clean up after soldering. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
One thing I've been trying to spread around like wildfire is to make a flux brush as follows: I take a refillable paint pen and add my liquid flux to it. After that, I then modify the brush by replacing the bristles with some fireproof cord off of old electronics. Nomex cord can be ordered off of amazon if you can't source it for free. For $4 I madr myself a set of auto feeding flux brushes which are perfect for annealing.
Hello jpd, Thank you for your very kind comments. I appreciate it. As for workshops or interns, I'm sorry but at this time I am not doing any. My new website will be coming out soon and I will have newsletters for special events etc. Keep checking this channel for the announcement and link to the website. Thanks for watching! Greg Greenwood
I'm a beginner when it comes to metalsmithing (I have a ton of experience with soft solder). I'm very excited to learn new things. This video was super helpful. Thank you!
Hello Deanna, I'm very happy to hear that you are learning metalsmithing. Glad I can help you. Check out my playlist about Soldering. You will pick up many helpful tips. If you have any questions in the future, please feel free to let me know. Greg Greenwood
I'm so thankful I found your video's you make understanding soldering so much easier idk if others just don't know how to demonstrate and explain at the same time of if they are just trying to get views for money but it's sad I've been trying to learn how to do this for months now and have watched 100's of videos and still couldn't do it. I was about to just give up on it. So thank you so much and please keep doing videos so ppl like myself can learn to soldier correctly.
Hello April, Thank you very much for your kind comments. I am very glad I can help you!! Check out my playlist for silver soldering. There are other helpful videos that you will learn from. Also, I am working on a video about multiple soldering joints in a small area, and learning how NOT to re-melt your prior joint. I should be finished with it soon. You can subscribe and ring the bell so you will not miss it. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
I’m confused as you said solder won’t stick to the titanium pick, but then later in the video when you balled up the solder you said to pick up the solder with your pick stating it will stick to the end of the pick, then place it where you want it on your project.? So are you saying solder will stick to the pick just enough to get it onto your piece then it will release onto your project because the project it hotter than the titanium pick? Is this correct? One other question- do you need to heat the end of your pick so the solder will stick to it when you go to pick it up? And do you need to flux the pick? Thank you so much Greg for all your content. It is such a godsend for new, self-taught metalsmith’s such as myself! You’re an incredible teacher, your explanations are always very simple and easy to understand. And you always include demos. Whenever I need to learn a new technique yours is the first channel I go to! There’s a lot of bad content out there for people attempting to learn this amazing craft. Thanks again. Sorry for such a long message. 😬🙏🏼
Hello Andrea, Sorry for any confusion. Solder will not flow onto titanium. (Like flowing onto silver). But it can be picked up with the titanium pick and be placed into position for soldering. I don't know the physics of this, but I'm sure it has to do with surface tension. Sorry I don't have the exact answer for you. Just make sure your pick is clean and cool. Practice this technique of picking up and putting down and you will start to feel more comfortable with it. You will learn what not to do and tricks that work for you. Practice, practice, practice. You can place the solder on your project when the piece is hot or cold. I suggest you start by putting the solder on your cold project. Less chance of it melting into a puddle while you are trying to position the solder. I hope this helps you. Thank you for your kind comments. I really appreciate it. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg this is my second comment today. Can you advise me? I’ve almost finished the piece that I’m making. A pendant, it has an opened back, sea glass centre, to be held in a bezel, with additional silver forms with Keum Boo gold on each side. Before I finish it off and burnish the bezel over the sea glass, I want to be 100% positive that I have removed any excess silver solder. What I have noticed is that solder discolours over time to a different colour to the silver. The sea glass that I have is a bit translucent and I have a little framework behind it that I don’t want to discolour and show up later as of course, once it’s sealed into place, I won’t be able to deal with it. Other than heating the work, is there any way to preferably stain either the silver or the solder so that it shows up for removal. I have loupes but even at times 20 I can’t see any excess solder but if I oxidise it with heat, then I can see traces of colouration. I know that egg tarnishes silver spoons, in the absence of any other suggestions I guess I could try dropping it in a whisked-up egg mixture. I wish I could send you a picture of what I’m doing, maybe I’ll just have to make another RU-vid video for you Greg. All the best . . . Andy
Hello Andy, Get yourself some Liver of Sulfur. It will oxidize the silver immediately, then you can give it a light buffing and it will hold the dark color for a looonnggg time. Thanks for asking. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg! I have a question. I'm making my second ring (big time newbie here) and I have followed all your directions and have cleaned my ring shank & solder well. I fluxed my ring shank. Heated ring well. I balled my solder and placed it on the joint. Heated the ring ... but the solder won't melt. I was timing it to see how long it would take and I was on the torch for 3 minutes. It never seems like it takes your solder much more than 30+ seconds to melt. I think I ruined the ring. Any ideas as to why this isn't working? I was using medium solder. Everything is Sterling silver.
Hello Dorrie, Sounds like you have done everything fine up to this point. I believe your problem is not enough heat. What kind of torch are you using? If your solder is not melting at that length of time, stop, pickle your pieces, reflux the solder joint, and start reheating. Turn up your torch and heat it fast and hot. Many times if you don't have enough heat, the flux will burn off and then you will never get the solder to flow. Let me know how this goes. I know you will get it to work. You can do it!!!! Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg I keep coming back to this video and encouraging others to look at it. At 4:29 you say that you like to add a bit more boric acid to your liquid flux. Do you add the powder to the fluid or do you apply it to the job? Like you I find I like the paste flux for gluing stuff down with. I'm just becoming to realise how useful the paste is for holding stuff together once you've got it hot enough to fuse into a glass form. I have been messing about trying to jig things together but now I realise that so long as I get it right, I can effectively glue the cold end of the job to the block and then solder the other end as needed. Thanks again . . . Andy
Hello Andy, Thanks for your questions and comments. I put the boric acid into the liquid flux. Just adds a little more "boost". Glad you are trying different methods. Keep it up. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg! I just found your videos. Thank you for being so thorough. Learning online is hard! How do you know when your piece is heated enough when you are first heating it after applying the flux? What do you look for? I think I’m applying too much heat. Thanks!
Hello Christie, Glad you found my channel! Welcome. After you put on the flux and start heating the metal. The flux will bubble and boil and then smooth out into a glassy film. Soon after that, the solder will melt. Watch some more of my soldering videos and you will see what I'm talking about. Also, I am working on a new video about soldering mistakes. Subscribe and ring the bell so you don't miss it. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwod
Hi Greg, thank you for all the information. Super helpful. I was taught to brush solder into place with a flush brush, but you have converted my to using a pick. The only problem is, after using the pick, mine has a bend at the very end now and some times I can't pick up the solder balls..? I flux the pick too, wondered if I'm doing something wrong? Thank you in advance 😊
Hello Maz kay, You are very welcome. The pick is a great way to place solder. I like to use a titanium pick instead of a steel pick. The steel will bend a little easier than the titanium and the solder will want to stick to the pick if it is steel. If you are getting a bend at the end, you are probably putting too much pressure on the pick. When the pick is bent, you can simply bend it back out straight with a pair of pliers. Take an old file and file the end to clean the pick. This will make it new again. You do not need to flux the pick. I hope this helps you. Ask any questions, anytime. Thank you for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hello William, I just replied to Wanda. Just practice, practice, practice... I am using a Presto-Lite Acetylene/Air torch. With a small tip. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood.
Hello Elmo, Sorry for the over sight. I don't use tungsten, I use titanium picks. But I know the tungsten work well. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Thank you sir I do have a question I have found a smith silver smith acetylene and air torch kit with tank just under 400 on rio grande supply is that equivalent to yours and can they be used like a smith little torch?
Hello Oklagrowma, The Smith Silver Smith Acetylene and Air torch is basically the same as what I have. I have the Presto-Lite Acetylene and Air Torch. I have used this torch for almost 40 years and love it. It has different sizes tips, so I can solder small pieces and larger tips for casting and annealing. The gas can be refilled or exchanged at most welding supply stores. It is called a B tank. I like it because I don't have to worry about an oxygen tank, which adds to the cost. I believe you will be happy with it for years to come. Thanks for your question. Keep watching. Greg Greenwood
I use wire solder a lot instead of sheet solder. When I feel it is dirty, instead of trying to clean it with emery paper, I just toss it in the pickle. This will remove any grease or oxides and of course can be done with sheet solder as well. In case I have some unused snips of solder, I keep them in small stackable porcellain dishes that I marked on the sides with the type of solder they contain. Those are also perfect to mix up reactive solder paste for granulation.
Hi Greg I'm delighted to see another video from you. As you know I'm just getting into silver work and loving every minute of it and your short precise guides are a really inspiration to me. Greg I haven't seen anything about your background or how long you've been in the jewellery/education business. I'm sure that your subscribers would also like to hear the story. Thanks again Greg I know how long it takes to prepare, shoot, edit and upload good videos like yours. By the way I take it that you saw my poor quality Ceum Boo prototype hotplate video? I only ask as your comment came through on another video that I made some years ago (that was about a bead annealing kiln that I made.) Question, do you know if can I use a stainless steel receptacle to work with Cooksonsgold safety pickle? or is Pyrex/ceramic the only real option?? I ask because I have seen someone on Pinterest using what looks like a little stainless steel dessert bowl. I guess it could just be hot water in the bowl but the guy took the dull red hot silver from the torch and dropped it in the bowl which was on a mat on a tripod, presumably to be heated with a gas torch . It'd be very convenient if I could do that for the little bit of work I'll be doing. Regards All the very best . . . Andy
Hello Andy, I don't know why my comment came to you on another of your videos. I don't know the composition of the Cooksongold safety pickle, but I am assuming that it is an acid like any other pickle. Do not use a steel receptacle for pickle! Use Pyrex. Pick one up at a thrift store. Very cheap. You can use the pickle cold, but it works better warm. Some jewelers quench their pieces in water before putting in the pickle. Either way is OK. Thanks for your questions. The best to you. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 Thanks Greg, from what I've read the pickle only dissolves copper oxide, not the copper. I rather like the idea of bring able to quickly heat up a copper or stainless steel vessel with a gas torch. I only need a very small amount of pickle at any one time. Some folks use baby bottle warmers but they seem to only go to about 35 deg C (95 deg F) The Cooksongold safety pickle is for use at 30 to 80 C (86 to 176 F) so I suppose 35 c would be ok but if I'm going to heat it I'd rather push it to the limit. Great news today, I've done my first Keum Boo fusing trial today, total success!! I've made a quick and dirty video of my efforts and I hope to post it latter today. All exciting stuff. I push the boundary a bit, but then I usually do. Regards . . . Andy
Hello Wanda, Good for you! Keep moving forward. Every time you try, you will learn more and more. You will get it!! Let me know how it goes! Greg Greenwood
Hello Vrikshk, Solder is a unique alloy. It is made of pure silver, copper, and zinc. I don't make my own solder, but there are many videos online that will show you how to make it. Thanks for asking. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg, I've just uploaded that video that I mentioned the title is . . . Keum Boo first time with miniature heater. Successful 9 February 2023 Kind Regards . . . Andy .
