What I Did On My Solder Vacation

[Tre V]

   I had my soldering class today, and I enjoyed it very much. Let me start by saying that I waited 2 months for this class, only to have round two of the flu this week. Yesterday I had to get my weekly trip to town out of the way, to come home to a very cheerful message on my machine saying to bring an un-foiled project, cut and ground, about 10" . Well that lets out Mt St Helens. So quickly, a relative term, I threw together a 10" project, which took about 3 hours to draw out, find glass, and cut out. Not the thing I wanted to do after shopping with the flu, but I really wanted to be at this class.  Then I decided to play to the message again before taking a large dose of Nyquil and going to bed.  UH-OH. I wasn't listening...she actually said..a 10  PIECE project.  Mine had about 20 pieces. Now I'm thinking I'll wind up being the student from Hell who can't follow directions.
    Much of what she said in class was review..how to clean the glass prior to foiling, how put foil on so that it actually sticks, using a fid, etc. Then she got to the tricky stuff..the stuff  that's hard to describe..is your iron too hot, too cold, too dirty..
Are you using enough flux, too little, paste, liquid, gell? I have recently been dipping my solder in the flux, kind of wiping off the excess on the lip of the flux bottle. She uses a 1 1/2" square of standard kitchen sponge that she keeps in an (empty) yogurt container. She puts it on the lid, squirts flux on the sponge, uses that instead of a flux brush. I found I had better control with this than a brush. Then she leaves it out and used the sponge piece to wipe flux onto the solder as she goes. It worked very well.  Then when she's done for the day she just pops the sponge into the plastic container and puts the lid on. The sponge stays good for a few months before it starts to dissolve from the acids.
    I was putting my iron tip on the foil right at the seam, where the two pieces of glass meet,  and wound up with flat seams, and I was too stingy with solder. She had me try putting the tip right where the glass and foil meet, on one side of the seam, at a 45' angle, and leaned toward the foil, slow down, and apply the solder. Holy Cow! A bead!  It's a miracle! Well..sort of..every new thing I learn takes practice.
   I used a geode in the center of my piece, and the edge is ..rocklike.. so she showed me a decorative solder technique where you apply a bead at the seam, then go back with a damp but not dripping wet sponge on the non dominant hand, and iron in the dominant hand. Heat the bead and while it's hot, dab it with the wet sponge. It makes a very rough spatter bead. At first I wasn't fond of it, but for certain applications, it looks good.
   Mostly I need to get a better handle on my particular iron, be more generous with the solder and   SLOW DOWN.
    All in all it was a good class, and I'm glad I went. I was hoping for a miracle pill for my soldering technique, and just like my diet, there isn't one. 

[Kev]

So glad you had a good time and learned something from your class....that's what it's all about. So she wipes the foil pre solder with the flux dampened sponge instead of a brush?

[ct4mom]

Tre, Sounds like you had a lot of fun and learned a bit too.  I too wish there was a pill for solder But I guess it takes practice. I like the tip about the sponge and flux sounds like a good idea.  I have done the solder with the wet sponge tecnique and its pretty cool on certain things.I did it on my busness card holder.

[Tre V]

So she wipes the foil pre solder with the flux dampened sponge instead of a brush?

  Yes. For me it was easier to get the flux where I wanted it instead of painting alot of it on the glass with a brush. Then she uses the sponge to put flux on the solder as she uses it off the spool. The way I was dipping it before used way too much solder and even with a plastic tippy tub around my flux bottle, I was still inclined to knock it over.
   She also teaches a decorative solder class, but that's another day.

[Tre V]

 I too wish there was a pill for solder But I guess it takes practice. I like the tip about the sponge and flux sounds like a good idea.  I have done the solder with the wet sponge tecnique and its pretty cool on certain things.I did it on my busness card holder.

  If I could choose between a pill for solder and a pill for the diet....I'd choose the diet pill!! 

[Tre V]

Here's the project..unfinished and unwashed. I still have to do the backside, and figure out how to finish it, ie border, and zink, wood frame etc. It does show that sponged solder around the geode though..

[ct4mom]

very pretty Tre

[Tre V]

Thanks Diane. I was told that the purple in the geode, which is dye, will fade with time in the sun, but that's ok..the crystals are pretty too

[Kev]

Pretty Tre..reminds me of a white pansy.

[Anne]

Thanks Diane. I was told that the purple in the geode, which is dye, will fade with time in the sun, but that's ok..the crystals are pretty too

Tre, as long as you don't hang the rose in an east or south window the geode should be ok, they just fade a lot in full sun and uv. I have one that's been in a northwest window for over 5 years and it's fine.

Thanks for the soldering info, the flux sponge sounds like a good idea.  Did she wear gloves?

[Linde]

Nice soldering, Tre. I really like your flower and the use of the geode. I agree with Kev, it reminds me of a pansy.

[Amber]

Wow, your solder lines look great!! And I think I'll have to try that decorative soldering with the sponge... it sounds neat.

[Barbara]

Very Nice Tre,  It's looking like you got something out of the class.  The last class I went to the instructor oiled the glass to cut it and used a dry cutter.  I just shook my head in disbelief

[Kev]

Oiled the glass?...hahaha....well that seems like a perfectly good waste of time...lol

[Lou Ann]

Tre,

that looks really nice; now that you've shown yourself you can solder like this, it should come a little more naturally...

I'm going to have to try that sponge application idea because I've been having a lot of problem with my new liquid flux -- thanks for sharing

Lou Ann

[Audrey]

Tre, your soldering looks so good.
Did the instructor wipe all the solder as it came off the spool with flux as she used it, or just when it seemed needed for some reason?

[Malinda]

Very Nice Tre,  It's looking like you got something out of the class.  The last class I went to the instructor oiled the glass to cut it and used a dry cutter.  I just shook my head in disbelief

, you're kidding right...how strange??

[Graham]

Oiled the glass?...hahaha....well that seems like a perfectly good waste of time...lol

Well, whatif you just Windexed it? Like it's gonna be squeeky,eh. Then, wouldn't oiling it make sense??  Like they say "The squeeky glass gets the oil."

Ya gotta wonder sometimes, where instructors get some of these ideas.

The sponge-on flux idea is an old one, pushed for many years by Dennis Brady. It works, but so do lots of other methods. I often use the sponge when doing the back of a panel that I have soldered quickly on the front. It prevents the accumulation of puddles of flux in the unfilled seams, which in turn cause those pesky little "volcanoes"

Sponging the flux onto the solder, on the other hand, would IMHO only be benefit when soldering tight little spots on 3-D work.

[Barbara]

I couldn't believe what she was doing either.  I took the class to meet other people in the area playing with glass and I stopped taking the class after I realized I knew more than her about foil work.  Yes she put oil on the glass then rubbed it around with a cloth.  Graham, that is the "squeky wheel gets the grease" and if she took out a grease gun I would have been out of there faster.  I do clean the glass first with windex but I use a cloth to roll the cutter on to clean and oil the cutter.  I don't like leaky cutters.

[Tre V]

Did the instructor wipe all the solder as it came off the spool with flux as she used it, or just when it seemed needed for some reason?

Yup, as it comes off the spool, each time, not a lot, just a little. And yes, we wore gloves..that darned flux stings like the dickens!