Basics of Soldering with Swarovski crystals

MJSA Education Foundation PRESENTS
An occasional series of articles offering instruction and tips for basic jewelry making and design.
This month’s step-by-step article is contributed by Swarovski (swarovski.com), a Patron of the
Foundation and a key sponsor of its initiatives.
Basics of Soldering
with Swarovski Elements
By Nick Regine Soldering, with its
high heat and potential to turn jewelry parts
into glistening puddles, can be intimidating
at first. But if you learn the basics and
practice a bit, you’ll see that it is much less
ominous than imagined. In this step-by-step,
Nick Regine, Swarovski’s Professor of Crystal,
offers instruction and tips on how to master
the basics—in this case, by soldering a post to
an earring made of Swarovski cupchain.
MJSA Journal
The Basics…
Here are a few key things you should
know before starting:
• Solder will not fill in a large gap; it
will only fill in small spaces.
• Flux is a chemical that makes the solder flow. If you don’t use enough, the solder will ball up and not flow evenly.
• Heating a piece of metal for too long
a period can cause the metal to oxidize,
become weak, and possibly burn.
• Heating a crystal for too long is not
good for the foil: It will burn and make
the crystal look as if it contains black marks.
• Too much solder is not good, as it
makes the piece look unattractive. Not
enough solder will make the piece weak
and insecure.
• For greater ease, use a jig or fixture to
hold together the pieces you are soldering.
• Safety is priority: Make sure to tie
loose clothing or long hair back before soldering, as either can be a hazard. Also,
always be aware of where your torch is
pointing, so as not to burn yourself or set
something on fire.
What You’ll Need…
You can use either coil or pellet solder
(right). If you use coil solder, you will also
need a wire cutter. Other materials needed
(below) are a butane torch, tweezers, safety
glasses, a soldering fixture (J-Board or
black carbon sand), liquid flux (unless
your solder already contains flux), and
water for quenching. (Go to page 42.)
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The Steps…
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
The Professor of Crystal, Nick
Regine is the star of Swarovski’s
“Ask the Professor” video series,
which gives expert instruction
on how to master such tasks as
gluing, hot fixing, soldering, and
basic jewelry making. For a step-by-step instructional video on soldering, go to MJSA Journal
Online at MJSA.org, or visit Swarovski’s
“Create Your Style” YouTube channel, www
.youtube.com/createyourstyletv.
1. Spray the J-Board with water so it does
not burn during soldering. (You will not
need to do this if you are using black carbon sand to hold your work.)
2. Press the Swarovski Elements cupchain
into the J-Board. The cavity will hold the
finding in place while you are soldering.
3. Turn on the butane torch and pre-heat
the area of the cupchain where you will
apply the solder.
4. Pick up a piece of solder with the tweezers and dip it into the flux.
5. Put the solder on the cupchain where
you want to join the two pieces together.
6. Pick up the earring post with tweezers
and hold it on top of the solder.
7. Move the torch around in a fanning
motion, as this will help spread out the
heat.
8. Quench the soldered piece in cool
water before handling. The water should
be cool, but not cold. (Placing a very hot
crystal into cold water will cause it to
crack.)
9. The final piece, with both findings
joined.
MJSA Journal
(Note: Soldered pieces will need to be
plated afterwards. You can solder plated
pieces, but it will cause a slight change in
the color of the plating.)
Soldering is a technique that takes time
to master. However, if you practice, use
common sense, and (equally important)
have fun, you will be producing professional products worthy to carry your name
in no time. u
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