Soldering Tools for Jewellery: A Guide for Beginners
Get Started with Silver Soldering
Are you ready to get started with silver soldering but you’re daunted by the multitude of options? Here you’ll find a list of the essential tools that I recommend to get you started, along with what they’re used for and shopping links from my recommended suppliers.
A Fire Brick & Soldering Board
What are they?
These bricks and boards are made from vermiculite which is both heat reflecting and insulating up to over 1,000 degrees celsius (2,000 degrees Fahrenheit) and will protect your bench or work surface from damage when soldering.
How are they used?
These vermiculite bricks and boards are an ideal surface for all soldering tasks, as well as annealing and torch firing silver clay. Simply pop your piece to be soldered onto the brick and do your worst! I like to use a fire brick (the smaller one) for soldering smaller pieces and the board (the larger one) for long or large pieces. By placing the board underneath the brick you will give added protection to the work surface surrounding the fire brick, and it’s a useful surface to place hot tools or metals while you work on other pieces.
Where to buy them?
2. Fine Steel Tweezers
What are they?
Fine steel tweezers are an essential part of the soldering process. They are made of stainless steel and have a sharp pointed tip.
How are they used?
Use your steel tweezers to precisely position small paillons of solder onto your work. Try to keep them as clean and sharp as you can. If they become bent or blunt you’ll find it difficult to keep hold of those tiny pieces of solder!
*note: steel tweezers should never be used in the pickle
Where to buy a pair?
3. Brass Tweezers
What are they?
Brass tweezers are non-magnetic tweezers made of brass.
How are they used?
Brass tweezers are used for quenching jewellery in fresh water after soldering. Having a separate pair of tweezers for placing solder and for quenching is useful as you’ll find it easier to keep the steel ones sharp and clean of flux and other contaminants if you’re not also using them to quench. Because brass is a different colour from steel they’re easy to differentiate at a glance on your bench, and they won’t react with the jewellers pickle so you won’t accidentally contaminate your pot if you use them to pop your pieces in the pickle.
Where to buy a pair?
4. A Titanium Soldering Probe/Pick
What is it?
A titanium soldering probe is made up of a titanium point and a handle often made from metal or wood.
How is it used?
If your solder or metal moves, you can use the probe to reposition everything while soldering. Titanium has a high melting point (nearly double that of silver) and is a low thermal conductor so it doesn’t draw heat away from your pieces and your solder won’t melt onto it.
Where to buy one?
5. Flux/Borax
What is it?
Borax (sodium tetraborate) is a powdery white mineral that is used as a flux in jewellery making.
How is it used?
Borax is most often bought as a solid cone which is used in conjunction with a ceramic dish. When made into a paste with a small amount of water and painted onto and around a join prior to soldering it prevents the metal underneath from oxidising during heating, enabling the solder to flow cleanly.
Where to buy it?
6. A Small Handheld Butane Blowtorch
What is it?
A small handheld blowtorch very similar to a crème brûlée torch and great for small soldering tasks
How is it used?
These small handheld torches are used for small soldering tasks, annealing, and torch firing silver clay. They are simply refilled with butane lighter fuel making them highly accessible and suitable for small-scale, household, and rented studio spaces where large propane bottles wouldn’t be allowed/appropriate.
Where to buy one?
7. A Large Handheld Blowtorch
What is it?
A Large handheld blowtorch used for larger soldering and annealing tasks
How is it used?
A larger handheld blowtorch is really useful for larger jewellery pieces such as cuffs, bangles, trinket boxes, and napkin rings. It works in the same way as its smaller counterpart just with a larger flame
Where to buy one?
8. A Pickling Unit
What is it?
A Pickling unit houses the jewellers pickle at a consistently warm temperature. There are specifically-designed pickling units available to buy, but many jewellers use a slow cooker or coffee warmer to the same effect.
How is it used?
After soldering, jewellery is placed into the pickling solution in the pickling unit to clean. The purpose of the pickling unit is to keep the pickle warm so that it can clean the metal faster. Usually 3-5 minutes is enough to remove oxidisation and flux from your precious metal designs.
Where to buy one?
9. Pickle
What is it?
Pickle is the solution that cleans oxidisation, flux and other impurities from your jewellery after soldering or annealing.
How is it used?
There are many different types of pickle, but they most often come in crystalline form. When mixed with water (as per the manufacturers instructions) it forms a clear solution into which you put your jewellery.
Where to buy it?
10. Copper Tongs
What are they?
Solid copper tongs, usually with a curved or forked end
How do you use them?
Copper tongs are used in the pickle to retrieve clean jewellery from the solution. The copper won’t react with the pickling solution (unlike steel) making them a good choice to use. You sometimes also see plastic tongs used in the same way.
Where to buy them?
