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WHY STANDARDIZE?
For years bench jewelers have been poorly informed about the melting characteristics of the solders and karat gold alloys that they use. This proposal was undertaken for one purpose only: to standardize the designation of solder for the benefit of the bench jeweler. Under a standardized designation, the bench jeweler could use solders from a variety of manufacturers and expect similar behaviors across the board. They would be able to select the solder for a specific application based on the strength of the required bond. These tables have been developed with the behavioral relationships between the karat metals and solders used to join them in mind.
In addition to making the bench jeweler’s life easier, this system will benefit manufacturers when they bring new products to market. They will have a universal system for the designation of solder and a tool that can help to identify gaps within their product lines.
But this is just the starting point: Implementing such a system requires industry consultation and a trial period—and feedback from you!
Gregg Todd is corporate training/SLI administrator for Stuller Inc. in Lafayette, Louisiana. He first presented this research at the 2005 Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology. E-mail your feedback to gregg_todd@stuller.com.