Hello!
This is my first post on here and I am fairly new to metalsmithing - just been doing it for about 3 years. I am working on a pretty complex piece right now - probably the harderst project I have ever had! I have many soldering joints very close to each other. I initially had issues with solder flowing in joints I didn't want, so I read some and found out that I could use paprika and water to cover over the joints I didn't want to flow. That worked! Now I am having an issue with the piece not getting hot enough for the solder to flow. I piece I am working on is bird-like, and have two large wings with 18 guage copper and a narrow strip of sterling 22 guage connecting the wings. I am trying to attach the wings to the body - and it connects to two small hoops 8mm diameter, but the narrow strip of sterling isn't getting hot enough and if I mage to get the solder to flow it immediately flows to the inside of the two hoops. I tried again and again to get the whole piece hot enough before soldering that narrow strip, but the piece seems to cool before I can get to it and the heat disperses. Do any of you know any tricks? I tried putting the wings in a bath, but that seemed to do the opposite of what I wanted and the heat just transferred to the water and heated up the water. I'd appreciate any tips you all mgiht have. Thank you so much!!!!
