Day 59 Soldering a Bezel to a Shank

Today let’s put the final touch on all the pieces I have been working on and get them into one piece. I wanted to get it all finished, stone set and polished today, but I ran out of time, so I will have to finish later. Today we will just finish soldering.

The shank I am getting ready to use has been soldered together, so I need to find where the solder joint is. How I do this is take a nice “bushy” flame from my Mini Torch and slowly heat the ring, not too much to melt the solder, but just enough to make the ring discolored. You can either let air cool or you can cool in regular water. Once the piece has cooled, look closely and you can tell where the solder joint is.

Once you identify the solder seam, mark the shank using a set of Dividers the same width of the bezel you are using so you cut out the solder seam. Cut out the shank using a Saw Frame, I use a 3/0 Saw Blade along the inside of the marked line.

File the inside of the shank flat to match the bezel. Pinch the shank a bit to add tension so it will hold the bezel in place when soldering. Add just a little solder on one side, to tack in place so you can adjust the other side, then solder the other side. Remember that solder follows heat, so add the majority of the heat to the shank, which is the thicker area, therefore will require more heat.

Now that you have the bezel soldered into place, clean up the solder joint on the inside of the shank with a #4 Crossing Needle File. After you get the excess solder and the seam blended, finish with 400 Grit Sandpaper, then 600 Grit Sandpaper.

Last, clean up the excess solder from the solder seam on the top and sides of the bezel. The less solder you use, the less you have to clean up. Files, rubber wheels, and sandpaper, are what I used to clean this up and get it ready to set and polish.

On the next post, I will finish this project. Thanks for following along, and if you find value in this content, or if you like to keep up to date on the goings-on here, make sure to Subscribe to this Blog Via Email (link in the upper right corner at www.JewelryMonk.com)

Now, go make someone smile with your abilities!

Doug