Jewelers Benchpin Forums

rjt wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 12:26 pm Here is a good medium solder recipe that worked well for me.
5g pure gold
1g pure silver
1.6g pure copper
1g pure cadmium
Melt it in a clean crucible. pour it into a metal ingot mold. roll the ingot into thin wafers or sheets.
You should end up with around 5.5 penny weight of solder when you are done which will be a good amount depending on how many jobs you do and how much solder you use. some jewelers have a bad habit of using too much solder. If they made their own solder they would be more frugal with it. your mileage may vary.

This is great!
From "The Jeweler's Bench Reference" by Harold O'Connor:

GOLD SOLDERS

18kt (750) gold
7.5g fine gold
0.3g fine silver
1.0g copper
1.2g cadmium

14kt (585) hard solder
0.585g fine gold
0.180g fine silver
0.150g copper
0.085g cadmium

14kt (585) medium solder
0.585g fine gold
0.115g fine silver
0.185g copper
0.115g cadmium

Light-fusing gold solder
2.0g fine gold
9.0g fine silver
5.0g copper
1.0g zinc

SIMPLE GOLD SOLDERS

18kt gold simple solder
1.25g 18kt gold
1.0g fine silver
2.25g 18kt gold
0.50g fine silver
0.25g copper

14kt gold simple solder
2.0g 14kt gold
0.5g fine silver

SOLDERS FOR A GIVEN KARAT GOLD

4g gold to be soldered
1g fine silver

We have used these recipes for decades.  Some of our Jewelers prefer to not make their own solders, so we also buy solder.  It may be in my head, but I think when we make our own solders our Jewelers are more confident with the solders and as you mentioned they are more frugal with it as well.  I like the self-sufficiency of making our own solders as well.

Thank you for sharing your solder recipe!

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