12. Can You Weld or Solder Gold Filled? Welding filled vs solid - Free Permanent Jewelry Training
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2022
- I often get asked: Can you solder or weld gold filled jump rings and jewelry components? As the popularity of permanent jewelry (aka Forever Bracelet, Sparks Bracelet, welded body jewelry) skyrocketed recently, many people want to know if you can weld gold filled jewelry, and if yes, what happens down the line? In this video, I explain what is gold filled, I demonstrate how to weld a gold filled jump ring using the Orion Micro Welder mPulse, and show the effects of a welded bracelet, after it has been worn for about six weeks by my daughter (who swam in both a chlorinated and a salt water swimming pool multiple times, who does a lot of outdoor sports while wearing sunblock, and who is far stickier and sweatier than we would like to admit).
Note on Micro Welder I have used in this video:
Orion Micro Welder mPulse 30 is made by Sunstone Engineering, in the USA. Stones And Findings is a premier licensed distributor for Orion Micro Welders.
You can purchase it here 👉 bit.ly/orion-micro-welder-sf
FREE SHIPPING in USA and Canada ✈️
🌎 If you are located elsewhere, you can email me and I'll find the licensed reseller in your country.
About us: Stones And Findings is a wholesaler of premium jewellery components. We supply many stores that weld permanent bracelets. Our chains and components are high quality and well made (gold filled chains are American and all 925 silver chains are made in Italy).
You can shop our extensive collection online at wholesale prices by first creating an account (you do not need a business license). You will get instant access to prices and shopping cart at the bottom of this page:stonesandfindings.com/my-acco...
WHAT IS GOLD FILLED:
Gold Filled is an American metal manufacturing process and legal standard of quality . Gold filled is two sheets of solid karat gold (most popular being 14kt gold) bonded over (or for wire, rolled in tube) a core of brass. Sometimes it is one sheet of gold over a layer of brass for such things as hollow form.
For a piece of jewelry to be legally stamped with the telltale ‘GF’ marking, its weight must be at least 1/20th solid gold. This explains the typical stamp you would expect to see on gold filled articles: “1/20 14K GF”, which means that 5 percent of the piece is 14 karat gold. Due to the surface layer of gold-filled jewelry being about 100 times thicker than any plating, gold-filled pieces tend to last much longer, and are considered ‘lifetime jewelry’.
Gold plated jewellery is made using a thin layer of gold to surround base metals or silver. The fine layer of gold is set using the method of chemical or electrochemical plating. It is the cheapest of the three forms of gold jewellery (solid karat gold, gold filled and gold plated), and is the quickest to tarnish.
Gold filled lasts far longer than gold plated because it has 100 times more gold than any possible plated process. How long gold filled or plating lasts depends largely on the chemical makeup of and the care with which the person wearing the jewellery takes - which varies widely.
SOLDERING VS WELDING
Soldering requires flame, flux and solder. The area around the seem to be attached together must be heated sufficiently to allow the flux and solder to flow. This gets tricky when soldering around heat sensitive things such as: spring mechanisms in clasps that can warp, gemstones that can crack, and not in the least, skin for permanent bracelets. You can solder gold filled by lowering the heat, using a lot of flux and a lot of easy solder.
Micro Welding, on the other hand, does not require heating the general area, or the use of flux or solder. The electrode runs a current through the piece to be welded and melts the two sides together. However, without the use of gold solder to cover the metal, some of the brass core in gold filled will become exposed as it is mixed with the gold in the melting process. The area is very small, especially if you are using lower power settings, as I have done in the video. However, there will be a bit of exposed brass.
WELDING GOLD FILLED VS WELDING SOLID GOLD
As you can see from the video, after 6 weeks of harsh wear, there is a tiny dot of black on the weld. It is noticeable upon closer inspection and the colour would vary depending on the person's ph balance. If you are welding as a business, you need to keep in mind whether the customer will be bothered by that. If they will be, or you are concerned, you can use solid gold jump rings with gold filled chains. You cannot visually tell a gold filled chain from a solid gold chain, and the chain is not the area that you will be welding. The key is the jump ring and the cost difference is not huge because it is small. It is a matter of personal preference and economics. 
Хобби
Thank you for clearing up the difference. There are a lot of companies selling gold plated as gold filled and its hard to compete with that.
I understand completely! It's been very difficult, but I think only time can separate those providing low end/fakes and those who hold true. They risk ruining their reputation and business. This is also why we do not sell gold plated and we test everything - so our customers don't have to. Temptation is always there to chase the fast dollar. Over the years, I've lost some customers, but I've gained many, many more. We have a reputation for being one of the best in the business - reliable and excellent quality. It's a matter of philosophy and patience. Good luck.
Thank you for sharing your tips, tricks and know how with us!!
It's our pleasure, thank you so much for watching!
Love your explanation and tutorial!
Thanks so much! You've made my week. It's all low budget and I film when no one is around. It's great to receive encouragement.
This is good to know!
Glad you liked the video, thanks for watching
Thank you for sharing this! So welding is like soldering without the solder and flux. Is there an efficient way to solder forever bracelets? Say at markets? I’m still researching and gathering data. Am not sure if soldering requires significantly more time with flux application.
YOu cannot solder permanent bracelets because the heat would burn the skin. Or perhaps I've misunderstood your comment?
Thank you for the video! What about charms? Do they need to be gold filled? As long as I use quality jump ring will it be ok?
No, they do not need to be gold filled. However, know that this is for permanent jewelry and whatever charms you use, they should be able to withstand being worn in the shower, pool.... I would strongly advise against gold plated brass or copper. The plating will last only a few months.
Can you use the welder with gold filled wire (specifically square, but also round). I've had my eyes on this machine for quite some time but I cannot find any videos of wire being welded (the 20ga, full hard wire that you can cut to your desired length). If I wanted to weld to pieces of wire together, on top of each other, would this work?
Yes you can. First, you can weld gold filled, as I have demonstrated in this video. Second, you can weld wire together - see my video on the welding beaded permanent bracelet. Effectively, the threading chain is a wire and has no loops. It is 22 gauge thick, if I remember correctly. When it is very thin, you ball it a bit first. See the video. There is not difference between connecting two 20ga wire and the two ends of a jump ring that is 20 ga thick. For square, you would shape it afterward. THat said, you will have a weld mark on gold filled.
hi there! what is the longevity of gold filled chains would you say? or gold filled charms?
It is supposed to be billed as a life-time product, because normal wear and tear would never grind it down so much, past the thick sheet of gold. As far as the permanent bracelet is concerned, my 11 yr old daughter (who swims, sweats, uses sun block and showers everyday) has had her gold filled bracelet for 10 weeks now, and it looks new. I am going to post another update in a month or so.
hi there i’m wondering if you use a solid gold jump ring, will it still leave behind the mark where it was welded?
if you use solid gold, you can remove any oxidation after you weld with fibreglass bristle brush (comes standard with any Sunstone welder or it's just $15 on Amazon) or you use argon gas, it will not leave a spot nor will the mark darken over time in the future. We wholesale solid 14k jump rings and they're a couple of dollars each. It's just the matter of the modest additional cost - many people do this.
Hey Dana! When I weld filled gold it looks welded bur when I test the strength the welded part snaps. Is this suppose to happen?
Hey Mimi, you should not be able to snap it open. I welded a bracelet on my 11 yr old daughter and it lasted 7 months of harsh (and I mean harsh) wear. It finally broke when she got it caught on a handle bar, but the break was not at the weld. That is how secure it should be.
What does it mean when I weld and it creates a flat edge on the jump ring. So it's no longer round.
It just means your power is rather high. It's not a bad thing. You can use a pair of round nose pliers to shape it round a bit (or tiny pair of pointy tip pliers to do the tap, tap tap to shape). At 24ga or 22ga, should use 7 w. if your electrode is super sharp or new, you might want to dial it down to 6w. People don't care that it is slightly warped, as long as it is welded securely.
What is the power required for the 14k solid gold jump ring weld?
that really depends on the thickness. I find that for 24ga and 22 ga, 6w does it perfectly in one go. Try 7w - higher sometimes compensates jittery hands.
So basically welding is like soldering but without the flux and solder? Correct my understanding if im wrong
You're absolutely correct - welding uses electrical current to fuse the two sides together. No flux or solder needed.
Can’t seem to get gold filled to weld! Is there some trick to it?
There isn’t a difference in welding gold filled vs solid gold or sterling silver. Most common is not closing jump ring properly, not waiting until after snap before releasing pressure. I’m editing a video right now where I show the common errors and how to avoid them. Pls subscribe to our channel and remember to click the bell icon and you’ll get notification when I post within the next few days.
Would sterling silver be recommended for the forever bracelets if you want to go the silver route?
Hi, What welding machine do you use?
I use the Orion Micro Welder mPulse, and now I also own the Orion PJ. They are made in the USA. Link is below. Until June 30/2023, if you purchase through us, i am offering two 15 min one-on-one sessions for training and support. Thanks
Dana
Are you using argon?
No, I stopped using it. I bought the tank and regulator, the gas used up quickly and a hassle to refill. Argon reduced fire scale, but didn’t eliminate it entirely anyway. I still had to clean it.
@@stonesandfindings what do you use instead of argon?
Thanks but that wouldve been easier to see if you had used a larger jump ring, for demo purposes.
Next time - I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the suggestion
Can you weld gold plated?
yes you can weld gold plated. In fact, you can weld anything that conducts electricity. However, you DO NOT want gold plated basemetal findings and chains for permanent jewelry. The plating will come off with that kind of intense wear (swimming in pools, sunblock, sweat, soap...) in a couple of months. People will get very upset and want a refund. Plated chains are ok with a claps and people can take them off to shower or swim, but not ok for permanent jewelry. If it is gold plated over 925 silver, that will be ok. When the gold wears off, only silver is exposed - will not change the colour of the skin and won't turn green. Most people are not allergic to silver, whereas there is a lot more brass and copper allergies.