How to solder a gold chain at home: making solder, soldering technology with a soldering iron and cases of complex repairs

A chain is a product consisting of many links. The appearance of the decoration depends on their shape and method of fastening. Moreover, these parameters also determine the resistance to tensile loads. But even the strongest chain will break sooner or later; the likelihood of this increases if the product is pulled sharply. Accordingly, the jewelry still has to be sent in for repairs. Sometimes the damage goes away on its own. First, prepare tools and consumables. Additionally, you should study the question of how to solder a gold chain at home. In cases where the repair is complex, you need to contact a workshop.

Common causes of damage to gold chains

You can prevent the rupture of the product, but to do this it is necessary to eliminate all negative factors that contribute to damage to the gold and create conditions for the long-term use of the jewelry. Causes of ruptures and breakdowns:

• natural abrasion of links: the chain consists of elements that are mobile relative to each other, constant wear promotes friction of the links, as a result, the natural process of abrasion of the precious metal develops, in the weakest places the product breaks;
• active use of the clasp: intensive wear of jewelry, which accelerates the wear of the elements of the lock, since it has its own resource (determined by the design and characteristics of gold), with frequent wear it decreases, parts break;
• sudden movements: even a new chain can break; in this case, the cause is considered to be an accident when the jewelry is unexpectedly touched.

Soldering procedure

Soldering gold will require you to first prepare the surface. We clean the soldering area and treat it with flux. In this case, a protective film is formed on the surface of the gold, which will resist the appearance of oxides and subsequently allow the solder to spread evenly over the surface of the gold.

Brands and properties of solders.

Naturally, this procedure is performed immediately before soldering. Before this, the chain must be returned to normal condition: the links must be connected using the damaged part. As a rule, this is one of the links of a chain or clasp. It is at this point that the connection is made. The entire chain parts are put on the open link, we insert a metal cylinder of the appropriate diameter inside the damaged link and crimp the link using pliers (or tweezers).

The chain is connected, the soldering area is treated with flux - everything is ready for the final procedure. First, we prepare a small piece of solder of a suitable size to repair the damage. He should be in close proximity to the repairman.

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What can you fix at home?

Typically, gold soldering is carried out when defects of a certain nature appear:

• damage on the inside of the product: it is more difficult to independently restore the integrity of the product when a crack appears on the front side, especially if the links are wide - the solder seam will be visible;
• incomplete rupture of one link in a complex weave: most often damage occurs to one of the sections, the metal here bends, breaks, it is necessary to return it to its original shape, solder it;
• rupture of the ring on the lock: this area is not noticeable, it is easier to repair than chain links - just make a seam with a soldering iron, and aesthetics in this case are not so important.

Torn gold chain

Chain repair

Using the described method, gold rings and chains with fairly large links can be soldered. To solder a gold chain with small links, there is another technology.

Gold sawdust is mixed in castor oil with the addition of phosphorus. In the damaged chain, all bent and torn areas are carefully aligned.

The work must be done with a very thin instrument using a magnifying glass. After this, the damaged section of the chain is moistened with the resulting solution.

As a result of this, tiny gold filings fill the places where the links break. If you now place this section of the chain in the flame of a burner, the gold particles will melt and fill the gaps.

And one last thing. Before starting soldering, especially if it is being done for the first time, you should assess the risks associated with possible damage to gold jewelry . Perhaps in this case it is preferable to use the services of a workshop.

Basics of the metal soldering process: refractory and low-melting solder, flux

The temperature at which gold melts is 1064°C. But this meaning changes depending on the content of this component. Before repairs can begin, the material is heated. Individual sections are connected using special materials, without which gold soldering is impossible:

• flux - a composition of several components, used to prevent the formation of an oxide film on the material being processed, and also helps to increase the fluidity of the solder as it heats up;
• Solder - a material in the form of a wire, used to create conditions under which broken metal parts will be connected, it is distinguished by a lower melting point than that of a restored gold product.

There are different types of solder:

• low-melting: changes structure at temperatures below 300°C;
• refractory: melts when the temperature exceeds the limit of 300°C.

Moreover, the second option is characterized by improved characteristics. The properties of a material are determined by its composition. Low-melting solder most often contains tin, lead, and refractory solder: copper, silver, zinc, gold, etc. But solder is chosen not only taking into account the characteristics, the color of the material is also taken into account.

It must match the shade of the chain, and therefore refractory solder is used.

You can make the mixture yourself.

What to do if the silver chain breaks?

Silver is a very popular precious metal. Silver reflects light perfectly and is suitable for any skin color, which is why jewelry, in particular chains, are often made from this precious metal. They are worn as a necklace or bracelet. Silver chains are classic and charming jewelry. They come in a variety of sizes, styles and shapes, ranging from small to massive, from traditional to modern.

Silver is a fairly durable material, however, chains made from this metal can be fragile and often break. Most products can be easily restored, but to do this you need to master silver soldering. This is one of the most basic jewelry making techniques. Silver soldering is used for invisible seams and adding individual pieces of metal. Soldering is also very often used to make chains.

To repair a broken piece of silver jewelry and reunite the two pieces of a broken chain, proceed as follows:

1. Soak the two ends of the repair chain in an acidic solution for 5 minutes. Use the solution used to clean silver before and after soldering.
2. Place a small piece of silver solder directly between the parts to be joined. There should be no more solder than the size of the individual links.
3. Make sure the solder is in contact with both sides.
4. Heat the solder with a small nozzle and wait until it melts.
5. Turn off the nozzle.
6. Allow the solder to cool and harden.

Important! If the silver chain is broken, you can replace the damaged link. To do this: carefully open the damaged ring using needle-nose pliers and remove it from the chain. Then take a new ring made of silver and place it first on one end of the chain and then on the other. Using needle nose pliers, gently press the new ring until it connects.

Manufacturing standard solder: composition, proportions of metals, shape

The composition of the solder differs depending on the sample. If you don’t have the right size wire at hand for soldering, you can make it yourself:

1. Prepare components for soldering to repair 585-grade jewelry. Among them are gold, silver, copper, respectively: 585, 115 and 185 parts.
2. Metals are melted down.
3. Brass is introduced - 135 parts, it can be replaced with cadmium - 112 parts are taken.
4. The melt is poured into the mold, and after the metal has cooled, the product is given the desired shape on an anvil (it is pulled out).

Important! It is also possible to make flux for soldering gold; you will need borax (10 g), boric acid (100 g), distilled water (100 g).

Soldering of gold products

Solder Preparation Tools

The components of the material are taken in a certain dosage, which is determined using a pharmacy scale. Other tools and devices that may be useful at the solder preparation stage:

• a form that allows you to obtain the thinnest possible wire;
• containers for determining the dosage of components;
• burner;
• crucible – a container for remelting, which is resistant to high temperatures.

Protective covering

At the request of the owner, the accessory can be strengthened by applying a special coating. With the help of special techniques, not only the appearance is improved and the desired effects of jewelry (shine, color, texture) are enhanced, but also the service life is extended - “wear”. Among these techniques is, for example, rhodium plating. Rhodium is a metal of high hardness and, accordingly, wears out more slowly than gold. Rhodium plating can be white, black, or colored.

Many people believe that rhodium plating or plating, for example, with ruthenium, will keep jewelry in the “like new” stage for a very long time, but jewelers are skeptical about this thesis. Yes, men's chains are especially often coated with ruthenium, since the stronger sex tests everything for strength. But dishonest jewelers, seeking to optimize the process at any cost, try to thin the layer of rhodium or other material as much as possible, turning it into something purely symbolic.

The visual effect of such coatings is obvious, especially in cases where the stone requires a specific background. It is still worth wearing jewelry carefully, without subjecting it to unusual overloads.

We repair a gold chain ourselves at home. Process technology

When you plan to repair a gold chain yourself, you must follow the instructions. This will allow you to avoid serious mistakes (if you have no experience in performing such work). Main stages:

1. Preparing a product that requires repair. The damaged area is being restored; it is necessary to return the shape to the ring or link that is broken. Then it is fixed with a vice, so that the hand does not tremble, and the quality of the soldering remains high.
2. Clean metal. It should be additionally degreased, which will improve the adhesion of materials.
3. Flux is applied. It is prepared in advance, because work must be completed quickly (due to the risk of overheating).
4. Heat the metal on the damaged section of the chain.
5. Add solder and continue heating.
6. Clean the seam by removing excess solder.

Important! The thickness of the burner torch can be adjusted; a heater is used to heat small parts.

The work ends when the color of the solder becomes the same as that of the gold being restored.

Sanding and polishing

If the thing fades over time and loses its “chic-brilliance-beauty”, it doesn’t matter. For a soft metal like gold, this is quite normal. In addition, everything can be returned. To do this, you just need to ask the master to polish it. But first, of course, sanding, which will remove scratches, microcracks and abrasions. And only then polished to a mirror shine. As a result, all irregularities disappear and shine is restored. This procedure also has a disadvantage: if a coating has been applied to the jewelry, it will be erased. But it can also be restored.

Caring for gold. There is very simple advice here: it is better to remove the product before any water or cosmetic procedures. Sea water is especially unpleasant for gold - not in terms of its destruction, but in terms of purity. At least once a year, take your jewelry to a repair shop and ask for it to be cleaned. If for some reason this is not possible, do the procedure yourself, but take all precautions, especially when cleaning things with stones.

What you need for soldering at home

When studying the intricacies of the question of how to solder gold correctly, you need to immediately prepare the tool and equipment for the job:

• soldering iron;
• a vice, pliers or tweezers if small parts of the chain were damaged;
• needle files - used to clean the seam after soldering is completed;
• gas burner - prepared at the solder preparation stage;
• fevka - to adjust the size of the burner torch;
• jewelry drill, polishing equipment.

Consumables have already been prepared. If it is not possible to make solder yourself, you should buy it in advance.

Suitable types: PSR2, PSR2.5.

Processing the soldering area

Once you've finished and the piece has cooled, it needs to be processed to make it look nice. You need to clean the surface with a file. This work is complex and painstaking; you will have to deal with small details of gold, which is difficult to grind.

An engraver or drill would be good for this. It could also be used for surface polishing. If you work carefully and diligently, you can solder the product so that it does not differ from new.

With certain skills in working with a gas burner, soldering a gold product is not so difficult. Even if you don’t have such skills, you can cope quite successfully if you follow the instructions exactly.

The nuances of soldering gold at home

Beginners should learn more about the renovation process. First you need to practice on ordinary metals, using solder of a suitable composition. If you start working right away, there is a high chance that the product will be damaged. It is important to learn how to solder a gold chain at home: pay attention to the features of cleaning the areas that are planned to be connected, and the subtleties of applying flux, introducing solder, and performing grinding.

Soldering flux - powder

Clean and degrease the surface before soldering

Soldering is the process of melting metal products of different types in a limited area. High quality seams are ensured provided that thoroughly cleaned elements of the product are joined. To remove contaminants, alkaline solutions are used; the ambient temperature is +60°C and above.

Then the metal is additionally treated with an organic solvent.

Apply flux and join the parts end-to-end or overlapping

Sections of the broken chain are joined in different ways: end-to-end and overlapping. The second option is preferable; it provides a more reliable connection, but cannot always be implemented, which is determined by the configuration of the chain links.

Before connecting parts of the product, flux is applied.

Introducing solder and heating it to the same color as gold

Burnout of the components in the solder when heated provides the desired result. The parts are firmly connected, the trace of the crack disappears. At this stage, the color of the seam, which is formed during soldering of the gold chain, acquires the same color as the base metal of the product.

Soldering and seam processing

Before starting soldering, you need to adjust the burner flame to the required thickness of the torch. Then uniform heating of gold begins in the joint zone.

It is necessary to accurately determine the moment when solder can be introduced into the joint area. Typically, this phase of soldering is marked by some change in the color of the heated area. The “sense of metal” comes with experience; the first attempts will most likely be unsuccessful.

After heating the product, a solder rod is applied to the joint. The solder must be oriented relative to the burner flame in such a way that the required amount melts.

Excess molten solder will either drain from the product, or after soldering it will have to be removed with a needle file or drill. Do not forget that gold predominates in the composition of solder!

The molten solder should wet the joint and fill the gap at the future seam. The consistency of the melt should be maintained in such a state that it does not flow off the part, being held by surface tension forces.

Heating does not stop until the solder matches the color of the product material. This is a signal that the cadmium contained in it has burned out and the soldering process can be completed.

After the gold has cooled, you can begin its final processing. Larger irregularities are smoothed out with a file; final finishing grinding is best done with a drill with the finest-grained attachment.

If the filler material was chosen correctly and the grinding was done efficiently, the soldering location should not be determined by eye.

The main criterion for excellent chain soldering

The quality of the seam obtained during soldering depends on various factors:

• degree of metal cleaning before starting work;
• applying flux;
• solder composition;
• proper handling of solder, it should not be overheated;
• choosing the method of connecting the metal sections of the chain will determine how long the product will last, which means that this factor is the main one when assessing the quality of the soldering.

Soldering gold products requires high precision and accuracy

Features of working with jewelry

There are several features that distinguish jewelry soldering from soldering used for household and technical purposes:

• the aesthetics of the solder joint, as the main goal of the work performed, along with the necessary strength;
• performing operations with very small parts that require the use of specific tools and devices;
• working with expensive materials containing precious metals - silver, gold, platinum.

For obvious reasons, only professionals can carry out high-quality jewelry soldering. But no one is prohibited from trying their hand and learning the intricacies of the process.

Question-answer section

How to solder a gold chain at home with a soldering iron?

Expert opinion

Pribrezhny Gennady Valentinovich

Jeweler 6th category

The process of connecting chain links is conventionally divided into stages:

1. Preparation of gold products, as well as flux and solder.
2. Application of flux.
3. Adding solder after heating the gold.
4. The connection of the links of the product, the chain in the problem area is fixed end-to-end or overlapping. The metal heats up here, which ensures a reliable connection.
5. After soldering is completed, the seam must be cleaned and the metal is ground.

How to solder a gold ring at home using improvised materials?

Expert opinion

Grishanov Mikhail Petrovich

Jeweler, director of the Grishanov and Co. workshop

To repair gold jewelry, consumables are used that are prepared independently: flux for soldering gold can be made from borax, water and boric acid, and solder is created from various metals (selected taking into account the material of the ring). They are universal and are used to restore the integrity of various jewelry. But repairing the ring is not so easy - the seams will be noticeable. It is recommended to contact a specialist with a similar problem. This will extend the life of the decoration.

Options for damage to jewelry

What even happens to a ring, pendant, brooch, earrings or bracelet? The chain may break, the ring may crack, a chip or crack may appear on the pendant, and a stone may fall out of the earring. Almost any problem can and should be eliminated. But sometimes you still need to clean and polish the gold jewelry, enlarge or reduce the ring, fix the lock... You can’t count everything, and factory defects are not uncommon.

You need to understand that repairing gold products is a responsible and complex undertaking. As a rule, it can be performed by a master who has the appropriate equipment. How often do accessories break? Everything is simple here: the more often we wear it, the faster the precious item becomes unusable.

A long gold chain can be snagged and broken. In addition, the chains increase over time. This does not mean that they become larger and heavier - they simply become thinner and seem to stretch. Jewelers say that a chain measuring 50 cm can lengthen by 6 cm over time.

Repairing jewelry in a workshop

Jewelers use a standard scheme for restoring the integrity of a product:

1. Preparing the decoration: cleaning, fixing.
2. Choice of flux and solder.
3. Soldering. At this stage, workshops use special equipment - laser.
4. Cleaning the seam, polishing the product.

To repair silver and gold jewelry, you should contact the jewelry workshop closest to your home. Salons in different cities:

Advantages of laser soldering at a jeweler

Positive qualities of technology:

• high accuracy;
• small radius of the light point;
• performing soldering in areas where access to the broken part is limited;
• no metal stress effect;
• increased corrosion resistance;
• no need to use filler material;
• the ability to solder coated products without the risk of damage.

Equipment

The metals that are most often encountered in jewelry are primarily gold and silver. The technology for soldering these metals requires high temperatures.

Heating of the parts to be connected and melting of the solder is carried out using gas-flame equipment. These can be installations running on gas or gasoline. Much more often gas devices are used for jewelry work. This is due to the fact that gas equipment is more convenient to use and does not create discomfort due to a strong odor (as is the case with gasoline).

The compressed gas in the cylinder is ready for use; it is supplied due to its own pressure. When using gasoline, a gasoline-air mixture is prepared, which requires compressed air. That is, in this case the use of pumping or compressor equipment is required.

The device used for jewelry soldering must be equipped with a gas burner with a flame intensity regulator. To perform jewelry work, it is advisable to have two burners.

One of them, more powerful, is used to melt metals in crucibles. The other should have a thin torch for heating and soldering miniature components.