I am a jeweler apprentice at a Jared Jewelers, and I have my own jewelry business. Your videos are very helpful as I am learning more about soldering rings :)
Greg a great video - again! Lots of dangers and tips one learns over the years, but then somehow momentarily seem to forget, especially when the pressure is on to get a piece out! This video I'm sure will save a lot of cursing!
Hello John, Congratulations on your retirement. Have fun and enjoy jewelry making. If you have any questions in the future, please let me know. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg I hope that you are well. Thanks for another great video. Not sure how I missed this video until now, as you say we can all make mistakes and forgetting one of the five, or simply thinking, "I'll get away with it this time". That always always catches me out!! It's usually the cleaning that I think I can get away with. I use Easyflow 2 flux which has good cleaning properties and I push my luck too far sometimes. Thanks to your help I'm enjoying my new hobby and I'm pleased to say that every month folks are buying my work. All the very best to you. Kind regards . . . Andy
Thank you, sir! Just about to go back to the bench after a couple of year’s absence. Making a birthday present for a friend. These tips are right on time for me. I’ve had trouble with solder joints (and thank you for the reassurance that all jewelers have had solder fails) and some of this was caused by not realizing the solder was about to flow. I had one teacher that kept saying, “look for the flash right before it starts to flow”. The what? It was like a religious experience for some. “I saw it! I saw the flash!” I wanted to shout, “hallelujah!”. Finally another teacher told me that i was seeing well and told me i had to get up close to the flame and not be afraid of the torch. Nothing about a flash. That and an optivisor really improved my success rate. You are in that same class of teacher. No mysticism, just facts and well-filmed examples. Thank you!
Hello Luna, Glad to hear your are getting back into making jewelry. The other teacher was correct. Do the correct steps, keep an eye on the work, know your torch. Success will follow! Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate it. The best of luck to you. Greg Greenwood
thank you so much for this video, I love your way of explaining, very informative and as well gripping. With your explanation I actually understand now why the mistakes that I kept doing happened all over again and again and how to prevent them. Before that, they were just mistakes and I didn't understand what was happening. I am super excited to go to my workbench tomorrow and try again and again ...and again!
Hello Talla, Thank you so much for your comments. I appreciate it. I am very happy that you are understanding why we make mistakes so you can do better the next time. That is what it is all about. I have always taught my students, if one understands why something is happening then the mystery is gone and we learn, gain experience, and become a wiser person. Now you will have the confidence at your workbench to try and learn. The best to you! Keep watching. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 yes! i feel so much more secure now, knowledge and understanding of how things work does help a lot, thanks for your work that you do here on youtube, I will keep watching your very instructive videos and keep practicing!
Hello Julietta, I have some videos about stone setting in my Playlist: "Stone Setting Techniques" . Argentium is a great metal and is used in a different manner than silver. I like the fusing properties and of course the non tarnish. If you are getting into Argentium, I would recommend that you look up Ronda Coryell. She has great videos on working with Argentium. I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hello Arynatasia, I don't have a video on soldering coins together, but check out my video on Sweat Soldering Part #1/ Sheet to Sheet. This video will show you how to sweat solder sheet metal together and you can use the same method when soldering coins together. I hope this helps you. Greg Greenwood
Thank you master! I used have problems with yellow ochre, so used to clean and redo it all the time. One question, let's say when soldering a cylindrical tube on a flat surface for example, like the end attachments, do I need to file the flat surface cylindrical? What if I have file that is too big than the tube? What to do in that case?
Hello Sasuke, Thank you for your question. No, you do not need to file the flat surface cylindrical. Try to file a flat surface on the cylinder. That will work fine. Let me know how it goes. Greg Greenwood
Thanks for this Greg. As always your videos are easy to understand and provide excellent information. One question. Some silversmiths I’ve watched colour code their solder with marking pens. Do you see this as a mistake and should be avoided?
Hello B. Thank you for watching and thanks for your question. I have always scratched E.M.H. IT. & X in my solder when I receive it. Of course that has been over 50 years now. ( I don't think we had colored markers back then!! ) Marking solder is a real personal thing with jewelers. It seems the way we learned is the way we always mark it. I know jewelers who color code their solder and think I'm crazy. But, markers do inhibit solder from flowing. So I don't see that it is the best way to go. Again, everyone is different and I will always respect what others do. We all can enjoy this wonderful world of jewelry making. Take care. Greg Greenwood
Thanks for the Video. Maybe you can Tell me why my soldering Points on my silver jewelrys are always darker thank the complete surface? I try it with soft, middle and Hard soldering, and also with hard solder which i Alloy with 20% more fine silver to keep it more white, i always clean the solder and the surface from the jewelry but the soldering Points are everytime visible even after Polishing.
Hello Jay, Silver solder, no matter what grade you are using, is an alloy that will have more copper in it than the sterling silver used in your projects. If you use too much solder and it "spills" out on your project and is not removed, the solder will always show up a little darker than the sterling silver. The best way to avoid this is to not use too much solder. Please watch my video "Best Way to Ruin your Silver Jewelry Project..." and also watch, Silver Soldering Series #3, Avoiding Silver Soldering Mistakes". These videos will give you some tips to help you. Thank you for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hi greg, do you think it would be possible to make a video on tips and tricks for flush setting? i am just learning this technique in school but find it to be tricky to control the setting burr so that the stone fits just right and perpendicular to the metal surface. I must be tilting the burr because in my test pieces the stones are often tilted when I try and burnish set them...Any guidance would be so appreciated!
Hello Katherine, Thank you for your comments and suggestion. That video is on my list. Using the burr is challenging for sure. But it only takes practice, practice, practice. It is hard to see that you are holding the burr perfect in all directions. When your practice metal is sitting flush on your bench, set up a small mirror showing the back view of when you are using the burr. This will help you get the feel of when the burr is perfectly straight. Of course this sounds silly and you can't be using this all the time, but it will help you get the feel when it is right. Hope this helps you. Greg Greenwood
Hi, Is there anyway I can solder the points of a triangular piece of sheet inside a circle of square wire so that the triangle points look crisp. I am trying to make a brooch for a friend that replicates the logo of the band Gong and am a bit stumped. The attachments would be tiny and I am thinking that I may have to make the whole thing solid, i.e. add another piece of circular sheet underneath the triangle inside the circle of wire but I’d rather not if there is a way to avoid it.
Hello Just ME, I would suggest to make the wire circle first, then cut the triangle to fit in the circle. If triangle is a little too large, then you can stretch the wire circle to fit exactly. Solder from the back and use VERY SMALL PAILLONS. You do not need a lot of solder to make the triangle solid. This will work well for you. Good Luck. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg, very good video. Do you know if silver can be alloyed with palladium? I have heard of 99% silver with 1% palladium for jewelry work. It is said to be 3 times as hard as 925 silver and hardly tarnish at all. I also imagine that it is harder to solder and work on. do you know anything about this?
Hello J.R. Thank you for your comment. I don't know about alloying palladium. But there is an alloy with Germanium. It is Argentium. The alloy is Fine Silver @ 93% and Germanium @ 7%. It is tarnish resistant and can be fused. It is an interesting addition to the silver family for jewelry making. Look into it. Thanks for asking. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 thanks for your answer. That sounds very interesting. Do you think you can process it and offer finished pieces of jewelry without legal problems? I heard the name argentium silver is legally protected and patented? Maybe I could just alloy 925 silver with Germanium instead of copper and mention it in passing without mentioning the name Argentium.😅 Thank you in advance for your inspiration, I will try out this alloy in the coming weeks.
Please make a video on how to make silver solder, what metals are mixed into silver, what percentage of silver and what percentage of other metals is good for making silver solder😅 thankyou!!
Hello, I like to purchase my solder from the refineries. It is always mixed properly and I don't have to worry if it is correct. The percentages are in this order: Silver, Copper, Zinc Easy = 60,25,15 Medium= 70,20,10 Hard= 76,22,3 IT= 80,16,4 I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hello, I like to use solder from the refineries. It is always the exact % and I don't have to worry if it is correct. Here are the percentages in this order: Easy=60,25,15 Medium= 70,20,10 Hard= 76,22,3 IT= 80,15 4 I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hello sir🙌 I'm sorry sir. I want to ask a question but it might be strange. Can this silver solder be applied to iron-containing media such as stainless steel? Because I saw some stainless soldering videos on UA-cam using silver wire. Thank you sir!
@@greggreenwood4628 Thank you for your answer sir. I have tried soldering stainless steel too using paste-shaped flux, but it does not flow well, ending up with very poor results. I don't know if it's wrong soldering or bad flux😅
@@greggreenwood4628 Thank you for your comment, I've just marked your video to show my students what pallions look like and how you've made the joint. Thank you for breaking it down so clearly, I'll be clicking on your vid a couple of times during the year for hard soldering if you don't mind thanks..
Hello Tater, You are more than welcome to use any of my videos to show your students. That is why I am making these videos to share with new and old students. If you have any questions in the future, please feel free to let me know. I am here to help. Greg Greenwood
Always grateful to learn from your years of experience!! It's always an honor to get a lesson from the studio. Thank
Hello Ben, My pleasure! Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Just starting out and practicing with copper. Your tutorials are invaluable, thanks.
Hello Theresa, Welcome to the wonderful world of soldering. I am glad I can help you. Keep watching. Greg Greenwood
I am a jeweler apprentice at a Jared Jewelers, and I have my own jewelry business. Your videos are very helpful as I am learning more about soldering rings :)
Hello Nicole, Thank you for your kind comments. I am very glad you are learning and growing. Good Luck. Greg Greenwood
Thank you so much. Such helpful reminders that are so easy to forget! Will keep my solder super clean from now on!
Hello Victoria, Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching. Greg Greenwood
Such awesome advice about flux! Thank u for posting ur great hints and knowledge!! 👏👏👍
Hello Jennifer, Thank you for your kind comments. Keep watching. Greg Greenwood
Greg a great video - again! Lots of dangers and tips one learns over the years, but then somehow momentarily seem to forget, especially when the pressure is on to get a piece out! This video I'm sure will save a lot of cursing!
Hello Stuart, Thank you for your comments. I appreciate it. Thanks again. Greg Greenwood
Newly retired and just picking up wire wrap jewelry (to start with). Thanks for all the insights.
Hello John, Congratulations on your retirement. Have fun and enjoy jewelry making. If you have any questions in the future, please let me know. Greg Greenwood
Thank you so much for another wonderful video! You're an amazing teacher!
Hello Samuella, Thank you so much! I appreciate it. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg I hope that you are well. Thanks for another great video. Not sure how I missed this video until now, as you say we can all make mistakes and forgetting one of the five, or simply thinking, "I'll get away with it this time". That always always catches me out!! It's usually the cleaning that I think I can get away with. I use Easyflow 2 flux which has good cleaning properties and I push my luck too far sometimes. Thanks to your help I'm enjoying my new hobby and I'm pleased to say that every month folks are buying my work.
All the very best to you. Kind regards . . . Andy
Hello Andy, Glad that your work is selling. I'll send you an email to catch up. Greg Greenwood
Thank you, sir! Just about to go back to the bench after a couple of year’s absence. Making a birthday present for a friend. These tips are right on time for me. I’ve had trouble with solder joints (and thank you for the reassurance that all jewelers have had solder fails) and some of this was caused by not realizing the solder was about to flow. I had one teacher that kept saying, “look for the flash right before it starts to flow”. The what? It was like a religious experience for some. “I saw it! I saw the flash!” I wanted to shout, “hallelujah!”. Finally another teacher told me that i was seeing well and told me i had to get up close to the flame and not be afraid of the torch. Nothing about a flash. That and an optivisor really improved my success rate. You are in that same class of teacher. No mysticism, just facts and well-filmed examples. Thank you!
Hello Luna, Glad to hear your are getting back into making jewelry. The other teacher was correct. Do the correct steps, keep an eye on the work, know your torch. Success will follow! Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate it. The best of luck to you. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 ❤️❤️❤️
👌
Another excellent tutorial. Forwarding this to my students.
Hello Malcolm, Nice to hear from you. Thank you for your comment. Hope your students learn. Let me know how things are going. Greg Greenwood
Such a helpful video for newbies and a good reminder for those who are just past newbie status. Thanks for your time and knowledge!
Hello Kim, You are so welcome! Thank you for watching. Greg Greenwood
Learned a lot from you Greg! Just made an almost perfect ring using your tips❤
Hello Mandy, EXCELLENT! Proud of you. Keep it up. Greg Greenwood
Great to hear you again. Always great advice!
Hello Marco, Nice to be heard! Thank you for watching and commenting. I really appreciate it. Take care. Greg Greenwood
Your videos are so informative and helpful! Keep them coming! Thank you
Hello Carol, Glad you like them! I appreciate your comments. Greg Greenwood
Great smithing coach.
Thank you. Greg Greenwood
thank you so much for this video, I love your way of explaining, very informative and as well gripping. With your explanation I actually understand now why the mistakes that I kept doing happened all over again and again and how to prevent them. Before that, they were just mistakes and I didn't understand what was happening. I am super excited to go to my workbench tomorrow and try again and again ...and again!
Hello Talla, Thank you so much for your comments. I appreciate it. I am very happy that you are understanding why we make mistakes so you can do better the next time. That is what it is all about. I have always taught my students, if one understands why something is happening then the mystery is gone and we learn, gain experience, and become a wiser person. Now you will have the confidence at your workbench to try and learn. The best to you! Keep watching. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 yes! i feel so much more secure now, knowledge and understanding of how things work does help a lot, thanks for your work that you do here on youtube, I will keep watching your very instructive videos and keep practicing!
Hello Talla, Thank you, I appreciate it. Enjoy. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg thanks for great videos you a King hew a nice day
Hello, Thank you very much. Keep watching. Greg Greenwood
Thank you Greg ❤
Hello Vivi, You are more than welcome. Thank you for watching. Greg Greenwood
Brilliant summary. 💯
Hello Torsten, Nice to hear from you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Greg Greenwood
Excellent video as ever.
Hello Nick, Thank you very much and thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
thank you so much for this!!!
Hello Ana, You are very welcome. Thank you for watching. Greg Greenwood
I have a problem with this, not fit thank you very much, I will try to follow your tips ❤
Hello Elisa, You can do it! Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Thank you!!!
Hello Mia, You're welcome! Greg Greenwood
Great. As usual.
Hello 999fine, Thank you very much. Greg Greenwood
good teaching
Hello Man, Glad you think so! Greg Greenwood
Good job.👍🍻
What model torch?
Hello William, Thank you. It is a Smith Little Torch. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hi could you do a video on how to solder a crystal or stone to silver, specifically Argentium please 🙏🏻
Great videos 👍🏻
Hello Julietta, I have some videos about stone setting in my Playlist: "Stone Setting Techniques" . Argentium is a great metal and is used in a different manner than silver. I like the fusing properties and of course the non tarnish. If you are getting into Argentium, I would recommend that you look up Ronda Coryell. She has great videos on working with Argentium. I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Greg, can you show a tutorial how to solder coin together? coin belt
Hello Arynatasia, I don't have a video on soldering coins together, but check out my video on Sweat Soldering Part #1/ Sheet to Sheet. This video will show you how to sweat solder sheet metal together and you can use the same method when soldering coins together. I hope this helps you. Greg Greenwood
Thank you master! I used have problems with yellow ochre, so used to clean and redo it all the time.
One question, let's say when soldering a cylindrical tube on a flat surface for example, like the end attachments, do I need to file the flat surface cylindrical? What if I have file that is too big than the tube? What to do in that case?
Hello Sasuke, Thank you for your question. No, you do not need to file the flat surface cylindrical. Try to file a flat surface on the cylinder. That will work fine. Let me know how it goes. Greg Greenwood
Thanks for this Greg. As always your videos are easy to understand and provide excellent information. One question. Some silversmiths I’ve watched colour code their solder with marking pens. Do you see this as a mistake and should be avoided?
Hello B. Thank you for watching and thanks for your question. I have always scratched E.M.H. IT. & X in my solder when I receive it. Of course that has been over 50 years now. ( I don't think we had colored markers back then!! )
Marking solder is a real personal thing with jewelers. It seems the way we learned is the way we always mark it.
I know jewelers who color code their solder and think I'm crazy. But, markers do inhibit solder from flowing. So I don't see that it is the best way to go. Again, everyone is different and I will always respect what others do. We all can enjoy this wonderful world of jewelry making. Take care. Greg Greenwood
Thanks for the Video. Maybe you can Tell me why my soldering Points on my silver jewelrys are always darker thank the complete surface? I try it with soft, middle and Hard soldering, and also with hard solder which i Alloy with 20% more fine silver to keep it more white, i always clean the solder and the surface from the jewelry but the soldering Points are everytime visible even after Polishing.
Hello Jay, Silver solder, no matter what grade you are using, is an alloy that will have more copper in it than the sterling silver used in your projects. If you use too much solder and it "spills" out on your project and is not removed, the solder will always show up a little darker than the sterling silver. The best way to avoid this is to not use too much solder. Please watch my video "Best Way to Ruin your Silver Jewelry Project..." and also watch, Silver Soldering Series #3, Avoiding Silver Soldering Mistakes". These videos will give you some tips to help you. Thank you for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hi greg, do you think it would be possible to make a video on tips and tricks for flush setting? i am just learning this technique in school but find it to be tricky to control the setting burr so that the stone fits just right and perpendicular to the metal surface. I must be tilting the burr because in my test pieces the stones are often tilted when I try and burnish set them...Any guidance would be so appreciated!
Hello Katherine, Thank you for your comments and suggestion. That video is on my list. Using the burr is challenging for sure. But it only takes practice, practice, practice. It is hard to see that you are holding the burr perfect in all directions. When your practice metal is sitting flush on your bench, set up a small mirror showing the back view of when you are using the burr. This will help you get the feel of when the burr is perfectly straight. Of course this sounds silly and you can't be using this all the time, but it will help you get the feel when it is right. Hope this helps you. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 Thank you for the tip, the mirror is a great idea!!
Hello Katherine, You are welcome. Let me know how your progress is going. Greg Greenwood
Hi,
Is there anyway I can solder the points of a triangular piece of sheet inside a circle of square wire so that the triangle points look crisp. I am trying to make a brooch for a friend that replicates the logo of the band Gong and am a bit stumped. The attachments would be tiny and I am thinking that I may have to make the whole thing solid, i.e. add another piece of circular sheet underneath the triangle inside the circle of wire but I’d rather not if there is a way to avoid it.
Hello Just ME, I would suggest to make the wire circle first, then cut the triangle to fit in the circle. If triangle is a little too large, then you can stretch the wire circle to fit exactly. Solder from the back and use VERY SMALL PAILLONS. You do not need a lot of solder to make the triangle solid. This will work well for you. Good Luck. Greg Greenwood
❤
Hello Wizard, Thank you. Greg Greenwood
Hi Greg, very good video.
Do you know if silver can be alloyed with palladium? I have heard of 99% silver with 1% palladium for jewelry work. It is said to be 3 times as hard as 925 silver and hardly tarnish at all. I also imagine that it is harder to solder and work on. do you know anything about this?
Hello J.R. Thank you for your comment. I don't know about alloying palladium. But there is an alloy with Germanium.
It is Argentium. The alloy is Fine Silver @ 93% and Germanium @ 7%. It is tarnish resistant and can be fused. It is an interesting addition to the silver family for jewelry making. Look into it. Thanks for asking. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 thanks for your answer. That sounds very interesting. Do you think you can process it and offer finished pieces of jewelry without legal problems? I heard the name argentium silver is legally protected and patented? Maybe I could just alloy 925 silver with Germanium instead of copper and mention it in passing without mentioning the name Argentium.😅
Thank you in advance for your inspiration, I will try out this alloy in the coming weeks.
Hello J.R. Unfortunately I cannot advise you on the argentium question. Thank you for watching and sharing. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 no Problem, thanks a lot for your answers!👌
👍
Please make a video on how to make silver solder, what metals are mixed into silver, what percentage of silver and what percentage of other metals is good for making silver solder😅 thankyou!!
Hello, I like to purchase my solder from the refineries. It is always mixed properly and I don't have to worry if it is correct. The percentages are in this order: Silver, Copper, Zinc
Easy = 60,25,15
Medium= 70,20,10
Hard= 76,22,3
IT= 80,16,4
I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hello, I like to use solder from the refineries. It is always the exact % and I don't have to worry if it is correct. Here are the percentages in this order:
Easy=60,25,15
Medium= 70,20,10
Hard= 76,22,3
IT= 80,15 4
I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
Hello sir🙌
I'm sorry sir. I want to ask a question but it might be strange.
Can this silver solder be applied to iron-containing media such as stainless steel? Because I saw some stainless soldering videos on UA-cam using silver wire.
Thank you sir!
Hello Jurnalis, Yes it can. Make sure you use borax flux. Thanks for watching. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 Thank you for your answer sir.
I have tried soldering stainless steel too using paste-shaped flux, but it does not flow well, ending up with very poor results. I don't know if it's wrong soldering or bad flux😅
Hello Jurnalis, Sorry, I don't know what is going wrong. You Tube may have some other suggestions for you. Take care. Greg Greenwood
dnt pallions 4:36 6:29
Hello Tater, Sorry, I don't know what your question is. Greg Greenwood
@@greggreenwood4628 Thank you for your comment, I've just marked your video to show my students what pallions look like and how you've made the joint. Thank you for breaking it down so clearly, I'll be clicking on your vid a couple of times during the year for hard soldering if you don't mind thanks..
Hello Tater, You are more than welcome to use any of my videos to show your students. That is why I am making these videos to share with new and old students. If you have any questions in the future, please feel free to let me know. I am here to help. Greg Greenwood