Here is a storage tip from @shira_hanna_designs - “Here’s a great #rainyday organizational tip for the #instasmithies . I pre-prepped my wire solder (silver) and sheet solder (gold) into clean, flat little pallions and then organized them into these super cute and tiny containers labeled on both the top and bottom so there won’t be any mix-ups. It’s a tedious task that will save me time and keep the work more efficient when I’m in the zone.💫⁣
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For the non-smithies, solder is one of the ways that allows us to join pieces of metal together. There’s also fusing (in some cases) and cold connections like rivets, which you’ll see a lot of in my work. Depending on the precious metals being used, the job to be done and what stage a piece is in, a thoughtful solder choice can make a huge impact. This was one of the first lessons I learned when I first started, thanks to @metalwerxstudio ! For example, “hard” solder flows at a higher temperature than “medium” and “easy” and is used in the earlier stages of work. The hard solder will be less likely to re-flow later down the line when using medium, and then easy. And when I’m soldering chain links I usually go for easy to reduce the risk of melting. We also select solder by metal type. For example, plumb 18kg solder will match 18k gold best because in the end it’s the #detailsthatmakethedifference ✨✨” Thank you for all of this helpful info Shira! We appreciate you!