Koruja jalometallista

Soldering part 3: what the f*** happened?

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Here’s me fixing the gaps in my tube.

A lot of things can go wrong when trying things out for the first time: this happens with soldering as well. There are certain things you can do to better the process, but it never be foolproof and a lot still happens just by chance.

Take the picture above: this was literally the third time I soldered it! This time it finally shut the gaping holes, and I was able to proceed to the next step which is tightening and setting the tube to the correct size by pulling it though the draw plate. But alas; my lip broke!!!

So that was a f$&#* great moment! Not only did the lip on the tube break off once, but it broke off TWICE!!!!!

  • Hard solder strategically placed.
  • My nice tube with all the soldering junk filed off.
  • I had to saw off big chunks of the lip, because the draw plate sizes were getting smaller.
  • This was my fix for the broken lip; milling the metal and flattening it.
  • I squashed that tube down!
  • Also squeezed with the bench anvil clamp.
The fixing and re-creating a new lip-process

So after some violent squashing of the tube, I was able to finally pull to the correct size, and alas, it was made to measure!

Outer diameter 4.1, inner 2 and wall thickness 1.1. Little throw in the measures, but I’m ok with that

Notice how the hollow is tear-drop shaped pointing at the seam. also notice my recent battle wound; more on that later!

I have to say, after going through the stress of problem solving the tube, I was ready to solder! At least I have a pretty good handle on that. The tube is now formed to the correct size and shape. Next I saw off the bit that is used for the setting. Requirements for correct tube height:

  • at least the full height of the stone,
  • desired height of the tube
  • and a small bit left for the BOTTOM of the setting

Tube will kind of hang off from the bottom (this is important to leave there so it can be shaped just like the rest of the ring).

But I almost forgot! There’s the hallmarking that could ruin your ring too!

Damage done to the outside of the ring from my over-eager hallmarking.

Hallmarking marks can be filed and sanded off, and if you weren’t too energetic while hammering, they shouldn’t affect the overall look of the ring.

Here’s a video of me sawing into my finger, dropping my solder bits, fudging with the ball burr, and still producing a totally beautiful ring blank for the next stage: SETTING! 👻

I used medium hard solder for soldering the tube into the ring blank.

Next blog post will be about setting the stone, and finishing the ring.